Rizla Suzuki have this afternoon confirmed John Hopkins will get another crack at MotoGP in 2011, this time with a wildcard entry at the Sepang round in Malaysia at the end of next month.

Hopkins, who is currently leading the British Superbike Championship, rode for the team at Brno but crashed in free practice, badly damaging the third finger on his right hand. After two operations, he is still in considerable pain but able to win at BSB level.

“I am really pumped to get this chance to ride in a MotoGP race with the Rizla Suzuki team. I thought after Brno that I wouldn’t get the opportunity again and was really disappointed that I missed out there due to a silly mistake, so to be heading to Sepang is fantastic," said Hopkins.

"It is one of my favourite tracks and I know it well because we used to test there a lot. My main focus is on the British Championship at the moment, but as soon as that is over I will be in MotoGP mode and putting all my efforts into getting a good result at Sepang and showing that I can perform at the highest level. I really want to get back into MotoGP and this is a great chance to show what I can do.

“Again I need to thank everyone at Rizla Suzuki for giving me this opportunity and my Samsung Crescent team – I hope that by the time I get back on the MotoGP bike we will have been celebrating something really big at Brands Hatch!”