EPayMe Yamaha’s John Hopkins will be forced to watch this weekend’s Thruxton MCE British Superbike action from the sidelines as the injuries he sustained in a crash at Knockhill haven’t healed sufficiently for the American to ride.

The Californian had hoped to be fit enough to race at the Hampshire track but ran out of time so team-mate Stuart Easton will go it alone as team boss Tommy Hill couldn’t secure the services of a second rider in the time period.

“I am extremely disappointed to miss this weekend. It has been a positive recovery as when I visited my doctor he was very impressed with the rate of healing and the bone is moulding together but the problem is where the fracture is, is right in the joint and that had to be reconstructed. Unfortunately soft tissue takes time to heal and the smallest thing could knock it back out of place and put me out for longer,” said Hopkins.

“As disappointing as it is to sit out this weekend we can come back to Brands Hatch and be fit. It is such a shame as it is a track both myself and the Yamaha has proven to be strong at and it would have been nice to try and achieve one of our best results of the year. I now have all my focus on Brands Hatch and doing everything I can to be there and I have no doubt I will be ready to go.”