Perhaps John Hopkins and crew jumped the gun when he left the AMA for Grand Prix racing. Though he had some success in the AMA he was still quite young and unproven on the world's stage. He did finish fourth in points back in 2007, but since then didn't really get the results he'd hoped for. He's gone back to basics for 2010 and will be riding for Team M4 Monster Suzuki in the AMA this year.
From Suzuki's press release:
John Hopkins has signed for Team Hammer, which will race as M4 Monster Suzuki in this season's AMA Superbike Championship along with Daytona SportBike ace Martin Cardenas.
Both Hopkins and Cardenas have Grand Prix experience and the M4 Monster Suzuki team looks to present its most aggressive challenge yet in AMA Pro Racing. While both racers already have garnered a remarkable amount of
experience, they're just now entering the prime of their careers: Hopkins is 26 years old while Cardenas is 27.
Said Hopkins: "I'm really excited to be working with the team and team owner John Ulrich again. We had a lot of success when I raced with them at the beginning of my career and I'd like to thank Monster, M4 and all the rest of our sponsors for making it happen. I'm also happy to be back on a Suzuki motorcycle again. I'm feeling healthier than I have in a long time. I think my fitness level is up there with the way it was in 2007 and I'm looking forward to getting out there on the track and enjoying racing again.
"I have the chance to ride the bike a little bit today at a Fastrack Riders track day at Fontana and I'm really pleased. It is just a shakedown test but the bike feels really comfortable to me. My goals are to learn the bike and the tracks, have a healthy season, perform to the best of my ability, and see where that leaves us in the championship. I'm really happy to have a ride with a great team and be healthy again and I'm looking forward to having a good season."
Said Ulrich: "I have full confidence in John Hopkins and his abilities. I really enjoyed working with John before and I'm really looking forward to working with him again. There is no doubt in my mind that he knows how to ride a motorcycle and now aged 26 he's got seven years of Grand Prix experience under his belt. With seven AMA Pro Racing Daytona SportBike race wins in 2009, Martin Cardenas has already demonstrated the potential created by putting a great rider with Grand Prix experience on a competitive
motorcycle built by the Team Hammer crew in Alabama, and we're looking forward to creating the same situation with John. I am proud to welcome John and his family back to the AMA Pro paddock and I am very excited to be fielding him in the AMA Pro Racing National Guard American Superbike Championship. With the combination of Martin Cardenas and John Hopkins on M4 Suzukis, we have an exciting opportunity to make great things happen in
2010."
Hopkins, born in California to British parents, raced for Team Hammer as a teenager and won the 2000 AMA 750 Supersport and 2001 AMA Formula Xtreme titles before joining the MotoGP circus with the WCM Yamaha team. In his first season in Grand Prix "Hopper" impressed while racing a two-stroke against primarily four-stroke competition and his rise was chronicled in the movie Faster. The next season, he was signed to the factory Suzuki team at 19 years old. Hopkins raced five years with Suzuki before joining the factory Kawasaki MotoGP team for 2008. While in Grand Prix, he won a pole
position, finished on the podium four times, twice earned fastest laps honours, and took fourth place in the 2007 MotoGP championship, proving himself to be one of the top riders in the globe's elite racing series during his seven seasons there. Hopkins joined Stiggy Racing Honda to race World Superbike last year and flashed his enormous potential on occasion during an injury-hindered season.