Don’t call the silly season over just yet, as the rumor mill has begun to churn away on Anglo-American John Hopkins. Finishing 10th in the AMA American Superbike Championship, Hopper had a mixed season with the M4 Suzuki squad, missing several races because of a wrist surgery. Now finally on the mend, Hopkins is being linked to the Crescent racing team in the UK, which is headed by former Rizla Suzuki MotoGP boss Paul Denning, and if true could be heading back to his other motherland for the 2011 racing season.
While John Ulrich’s M4 Suzuki Race Team has not announced anything about renewing a contract with Hopper, a number of riders still remain without a job in the AMA Pro Racing series, namely Jake Zemke who finished 3rd in American Superbike this year. This fact could be complicating matters, as any team would likely want to secure Zemke as a rider at this point in the post-season, which could mean Zemke is in the running to take Hopper’s spot in M4 Suzuki.
While the validity of this rumor still remains in question (our AMA sources are still out at the bars at the time of this writing), Hopper could be viewing British Superbike as a stepping stone to get back into World Superbike and possibly MotoGP. Although doctors have encouraged Hopkins to retire from racing, we imagine the Anglo-American is keen to get back to top international motorcycle racing.
Hopper returned to AMA Pro Racing after the Kawasaki WSBK team folded in 2009, and the vaporware FB Corse MotoGP team failed to materialize after an embarrassing set of false announcements.
Source: Bike Sport News via Two Wheels Blog
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