Moto Rapido Ducati’s John Hopkins has kept up his stellar good form and has placed the Panigale on P2 for the first MCE British Superbike race at Thruxton. Now he is feeling confident that he can challenge for podiums, and ultimately race wins with the package he has.
The former MotoGP star, who is substituting for the injured Jakub Smrz, is enjoying riding the Ducati and that was evident to see when out on track today. He feels comfortable, and likes the consistency with the throttle which has helped him achieve a super quick time, of a 1’14.676.
He was only 0.2 seconds off that coveted pole position, which ended up going to Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes. But the American still went under the lap record set by Gregorio Lavilla (also on a Ducati) in Q3, and it is a case of so far so good for the Portsmouth-based rider. The last time a Ducati won a race in BSB was back in 2010, and Hopkins would like to put the Panigale on the top step tomorrow.
“It is one of those things, and it is a bike that I enjoy riding and it is much easier to get the lap times - and it is exactly how I like to ride a bike,” said Hopkins, speaking to bikesportnews.com from the track.
So can Hopkins stay up the sharp end and get on to the top step of the rostrum? Well, he certainly thinks he can.
“Yes, I think so - Josh put down a super quick time, but we have the pace to run with them, and if we can get away together it should be a good race. Big thanks to the team, the consistently under the throttle is great, and it has real consistent power too.”
