Moto Rapido Ducati’s John Hopkins went under lap record pace during the second MCE British Superbike practice session at Brands Hatch and put down the third quickest time at the GP track.
The former MotoGP star was feeling confident after Snetterton and his team tested out two rear shocks and a different fork setting. It certainly improved his pace on the Panigale and that was evident to see today.
His team were pleased with the setup from Snetterton and the Moto Rapido crew had a plan and stuck to it. The free practice sessions were all about gaining a solid race pace and not just going out and setting a fast lap.
But on Hopkins quickest and final lap he clocked a 1’25.405 and that was on a tyre that had already done ten laps. The team also had a few updates on the rear brakes and the American rider is happy with the new adaptations.
“We had been very confident after leaving Snetterton. John had a pretty good weekend and we made a step with the bike with how he wants the bike to finish the turn, and that is absolutely crucial here,” said team principal Steve Moore, speaking to bikesportnews.com.
“We came here with a pretty confident setup, done a lot of homework and the guys at Ohlins have been pretty helpful. It has been a day of trying stuff out and at the end of the session pushing out a lap.
“In that session we managed to try two rear shocks and a different fork setting just rigorously sticking to the plan and literally got John out on the last lap with the results of testing those with the fork he likes and the shock he likes and he went straight out with a tyre that has ten laps on it and put that time in so we are pretty happy.
“We were working on race pace rather than ultimate laps so it is a bit of a cherry on top having a really good lap time but we are confident of running a good race pace now rather than one bite the screen lap.
“This is where we really expect him to be in the top five. We have a few updates of brakes and brakes are really important to John and we have a new update on the rear brake which is something we have been working on all year, and he really likes that now.”
