John Hopkins, who currently sits in second in the 2011 British Superbike point standings, will not be racing this weekend at Cadwell Park. Hopkins has already secured his spot as one of the 6 title fighters, but he'll miss out on valuable points this weekend as the BSB riders will have three races at Cadwell Park.
Hopkins injured his right hand during a crash while racing as a wildcard at the BRNO MotoGP race. Hopkins was on the fence about riding at Cadwell Park this weekend, but doctors have advised the Samsung Crescent Rider to give his injury another week to heal before hopping back on a motorcycle.
"Unfortunately Hopper's hand is not healed enough to race this weekend and while this is disappointing to us and the fans it is the right decision when we consider the upcoming Showdown phase of the Championship," said team manager Jack Valentine.
"Hopper's been in daily contact as he's undergone intensive laser treatment and hyperbaric chamber sessions. He's explained the external pins are expected to be removed on Wednesday, but of course the weekend is too soon after that for his hand to be sufficiently healed.
Hopkins currently has 18 podium credits this season. His main title rivals, Tommy Hill and Shane Byrne, have 21 and 20 credits respectively. After the Cadwell Park round, each of the 6 title fighters will be given 500 points plus their podium credits. They will then fight for three more rounds before the champion is crowned.
"We will, we suspect, lose a few podium points to our rivals in the Showdown, but to race a Superbike at a track such as this when you don't have 100% strength in your throttle and brake hand is simply too dangerous both to the rider and his competitors and would only stand to slow Hopper's recovery from the injury," Valentine continued.
"The team will nonetheless be at very near full-strength as we look forward to giving Jon Kirkham additional resources for the weekend. He'll have two crew chiefs working for him as well as his regular crew of mechanics and we hope this will fast track his set-up, allowing him to get back to where he belongs; at the front of the field."
