Fixi Suzuki's John Hopkins has officially been ruled out of next weekend's World Superbike opening round at Phillip Island following his testing crash at the Australian circuit and subsequent medical examinations.

The American was spat off his GSX-R1000 through the second corner and suffered a broken bone in his right hand. He is expected to go under the knife next week but should be back in the fray at Imola in early April. He will be replaced by Aussie Josh Brookes.

"John's having regular hyperbaric chamber-treatment to get the swelling down before having surgery early next week. Therefore he will definitely miss the opening round here at Phillip Island. But, the good news is that he will be fit for Imola," said team boss Jack Valentine.