This will be his 2nd MotoGP wildcard of the season. His first was at Brno, where he unfortunately missed the race after crashing out durning qualifying and damaged his finger. Hopkins also raced at Jerez when he was deputising for the injured Alvaro Bautista and managed to finish in a solid 10th place.

John Hopkins:
“I am really pumped to get this chance to ride in a MotoGP race with the Rizla Suzuki team. I thought after Brno that I wouldn’t get the opportunity again and was really disappointed that I missed out there due to a silly mistake, so to be heading to Sepang is fantastic. It is one of my favourite tracks and I know it well because we used to test there a lot. My main focus is on the British Championship at the moment, but as soon as that is over I will be in MotoGP mode and putting all my efforts into getting a good result at Sepang and showing that I can perform at the highest level. I really want to get back into MotoGP and this is a great chance to show what I can do.

“Again I need to thank everyone at Rizla Suzuki for giving me this opportunity and my Samsung Crescent team – I hope that by the time I get back on the MotoGP bike we will have been celebrating something really big at Brands Hatch!”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“We’d intended to give John at least one outing on the Rizla Suzuki Grand Prix bike this year and we’re delighted that he’ll join us in Malaysia to form a two–man team with Álvaro. Sepang is one of John’s favourite tracks and also one that the GSV-R has performed well at in the past. What happened in Brno – with John’s injury – and the way he has worked so hard to come back from it, and challenge for the British Superbike Championship, has only reaffirmed his commitment to success and getting back to the top level. Let’s hope at Sepang we manage to line up at the start of the race with two Rizla Suzukis and that Álvaro and John can show what they and the team are all capable of producing.”

With Bautista back to full fitness, and the Suzuki looking like it is getting closer to having a competitive setting, this will be an interesting one to watch for timing comparisons between the two riders.

Here is what they both had to say:

Álvaro Bautista:
“I’ve been relaxing since the last race with a few days at the beach and now I’m training hard and looking forward to Brno. The last two races have been very positive and I think as a whole we are in the best position we have been since I’ve been in MotoGP. We need to continue with the progress we’ve made recently and the results will start to come. I had an injured back at Brno last year and couldn’t ride at my best, but I’m 100% now and will be pushing from day one. I hope John has a good weekend and enjoys himself; it will be good to have him there as it will give us the chance to push each other along. I’m sure we can work well together to get a good setting for the GSV-R and it will be nice to have a team mate again! I’m excited about the Brno race – I will be giving my maximum!”

John Hopkins:
“This is my third race in as many weeks and I am really looking forward to it! It’s been very busy and doing these three different championships back-to-back is quite a challenge, but I am really excited to be back in amongst the big boys at MotoGP. When I rode at Jerez earlier in the year I’d had no real 2011 racing experience so it was a bit ‘in at the deep end’. It was also the first time I’d raced with my wrist working properly since the operation, up until then it was still healing and the few times I’d been on a bike in 2011 had been for pre-season tests and the filming shoot at Qatar. Now I feel that I have gained more confidence and I’m riding better than ever. I’m really pumped that the race is at Brno because it is one of my favourite tracks and I hope I can go well. I’m under no illusions that it will be tough, because the other guys have been racing on MotoGP bikes all season and I’ll need some time to get up to speed with the bike and tyres, but I’ll be giving it all I’ve got to try to get a good result for the team.”

Hopkins had told crew chief, Paul Denning, before the race that a top 10 finish would be his dream goal for the race.

John Hopkins:
“Well, I finished where I wanted to – I certainly wanted to get into the top-10! That was the goal for the whole weekend, but I did wonder if it was going to be a reality when I started on Friday. We pushed right from the start of practice and chipped away little-by-little to bring the lap-time down and just went about the job as professionally as possible. My main target at the start of the race was to try and jump up as many places as possible and get up into the group, because I knew that if I was in there I would be able to follow some guys and do the lap-times. We made up some positions early on, although I dropped back a few places and made a few mistakes – including a huge moment in turn three when I lost the rear and hit the paint – the bike was 90º sideways underneath me, when I should have been going forward! I was able to keep it upright and hang on to a group that included a couple of Ducati’s and some other guys in a battle for eighth. Then suddenly the tyres dropped off a lot, but this was my first time in the wet for a while on a MotoGP bike and I’d never used the Bridgestone wets, so we didn’t have the electronics set completely in the right way and I chewed up the tyre way too much at the beginning of the race. I dropped off the pace quite dramatically for the last part of the race and I saw many riders crashing, so I knew I was close to the top-10, but my main aim was to finish and bring the bike home.

“It has been an amazing weekend and I’m so grateful – again – to Rizla Suzuki for giving me this great opportunity, it’s been great and I’ve really enjoyed it, just to see everybody in the GP paddock has been awesome! Hopefully in the future you’ll see more of me here, but for now I need to concentrate on the BSB championship and we’ll see what happens. I once again want to say how thankful I am for this chance and it was great to see my ‘away-from-home family’ in the Suzuki garage again!”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“John said to me yesterday that a top-10 would be a dream result in his comeback ride and to achieve it was richly deserved. He’s not put a wheel wrong all weekend, made no mistakes and shown clearly both his potential and that of the GSV-R. The race itself was crazy and just to keep the bike on two wheels for the last third of the race was an achievement in itself. It’s actually a shame that we used up the tyres more quickly than some of our competitors, because for the first 10-laps John was in a six-way battle for eighth place and quite comfortably matching the lap-times and manoeuvres of those around him. It’s the first time the 2011 bike has been used in the wet so the data from today should allow Suzuki and the team to make the bike a little more user friendly on the tyres. I would like to pass on my personal thanks to John for the fantastic job he did here in Jerez, he showed true professionalism and it was a pleasure to have him back in the team.

“It was also great to have Álvaro here this weekend to support the team; we really appreciate his efforts to drive down from Madrid. He’s looking well and the recovery is going in the right direction. We hope to make an announcement regarding our plans at the next two races as soon as possible.”

Hopkins has pretty much impressed everyone this weekend so far, but it is unclear if he will get another chance to race with the Rizla Suzuki team after this weekend’s action in Jerez – Bautista is already aiming for a return by Estoril (however unlikely that currently seems), and Hopper will be on BSB duties.

Here is what Hopper had to say:

John Hopkins:
“I don’t really know where to start! It’s been a good day and we’ve taken everything step-by-step to get where we are. It was good to sleep on the track last night – not literally – but to sleep with it in my mind! This morning we went quite a bit quicker, which we expected to do and again we haven’t made any geometry changes whatsoever to the bike. All we’ve changed has been the electronics and the riding position a little bit, but that has just been some fine tuning. It’s amazing the technology that MotoGP bikes have these days – it is just insane! There are so many changes that can be made for each and every rider, you can easily get lost – that’s why I’m lucky to have such a good base setting to start with. We were able to put in some good times and consistent laps and I’m getting more comfortable with myself and my riding lines. For qualifying I was way too excited at the start and I was making too many mistakes, rushing into the corners and running wide all over the place – I was just a little bit too happy with myself out there! I had to come in and calm it down and breathe a bit before I went back out again. I managed to get a tow from a couple of riders because I need to get as much help as I can this weekend. At the end quite a few people crashed all around me and I was looking for someone to follow to help me learn the lines again. I got behind Dovizioso and Stoner on my last softer tyre and although I made quite a few mistakes on my fastest lap, I still ended up going over two seconds quicker than I did yesterday. I am very pleased and it feels so awesome to be back out there, especially in front of the Jerez crowd. I’m having so much fun on the motorcycle and really excited about riding, I can’t wait to get out there tomorrow and try and get the best result possible. Obviously the goal is to try and get into the top 10 and if we can that would be great. Most importantly though I want to go out and enjoy myself and put on a good show for the fans and the sponsors and especially for the team for all the faith that they’ve put in to me – I hope I can reward them with a good result.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“These two days have demonstrated two things. One that John Hopkins still deserves to be riding at the top level of the sport, and secondly, that Suzuki has done a great job to develop the GSV-R into a package that – without any adjustments at all – has allowed John to qualify the bike so competitively. Over two years away from riding a MotoGP machine – and the amount of braking force and mechanical grip that they have compared to production bikes – means that John’s timing is inevitably a bit off and also that whilst he’s very fit, there is a difference between normal fitness and MotoGP racing fitness. The 27-laps tomorrow will be tough, but irrespective of what happens in the race itself, John has done a fantastic job so far and we couldn’t have wished for a better stand-in for Álvaro.”

Hopkins ended the first practice session in last place, which was to be expected given the lack of time he has spent on MotoGP machinery since the left the paddock in 2007.

In the second Free Practice session Hopkins managed to shave a bit extra off his time to clock a 1’42.305, and finishing ahead of Toni Elias in the process to take 16th position.

Here is what Hopper had to say about his ‘first day back at school’.

John Hopkins:
“Today was basically just about getting a feel for the bike and getting used to being back in the team. I wanted to get comfortable today and I didn’t want to go out and do anything stupid – that’s for sure! Since I was last in MotoGP they’ve changed to 45-minute sessions so that was a bit different, I would have liked a lot longer on the bike to get a better feeling, but that was not possible. In the two sessions we altered some of the electronics, but we haven’t changed anything on the chassis because it felt great, there was no need to change the geometry because the base setting was so good. Obviously it’s where I expected to be position wise, it’s a tall order from not riding a MotoGP bike for so long and only having ridden about 150 to 200 laps on a superbike in the last seven months, there was certainly a lot to learn on the first day. I am actually quite confident that we can improve a lot tomorrow after I’ve had the chance to sit back, relax and think about things. I followed some people at the end of the day and I realised there are a lot of places where I need to change my lines, but that’s normal really.

“I am just extremely pleased to be in the MotoGP paddock again and out there with the best riders in the world. There is a huge sense of gratitude from me because I never thought I’d be in this position so soon again in my career, so I want to say a big thanks to everyone at Rizla Suzuki for giving me this opportunity. I just want to be able to improve my position a bit more over the weekend and pay everyone back for giving me this chance.”

Tom O’Kane – Crew Chief:
“Everybody in the team is really happy with the way John has ridden today. Our target was for him to come here, learn about the tyres, learn about the bike again and have fun. In the afternoon session he closed the gap on the leaders – compared to this morning – and although the wind affected everyone this afternoon and John wasn’t 100% comfortable in the conditions, he still did a very good job. I think that once John has had a chance to sleep on things tonight, the corners won’t come up on him so quickly and he’ll be able to react better and find the lines to improve on his times.”

Hopper last rode for Rizla Suzuki in 2007, before his move to the Kawasaki team. Hopkins will take to the track for the first time on Friday for two free practice sessions. This is followed by a further free practice session on Saturday morning and then the hour-long qualifying session in the afternoon.

It is still unclear as to when Bautista will be fit enough to return to racing, but the team are confident that he will make an apperance at Jerez as a spectator.

Here’s what Hopper had to say:

John Hopkins:
“I was shocked by what happened to Álvaro, especially after such good winter testing, and I really wish him a speedy and full recovery – I wanted the opportunity to get back on a MotoGP bike, but not under these circumstances. I’m under no illusions that this will be tough weekend for me, as I’ve not been on a GP machine for a couple of years or ridden the new control tyres – except for the filming I did in Qatar a couple of weeks ago – so I realise this will be a step up from what I have been riding recently. The bikes have moved on in the last three years, but when I rode the GSV-R at Losail it seemed so familiar and I immediately had a good feeling, but that was at filming pace, so it’s going to be a lot different at race pace! I know the Jerez track well, so it’s not like I need to learn a new circuit and I also know the team well so that that will help a lot. I will certainly be trying as hard as I can to get a good result and make sure that I don’t disappoint anybody – myself included. I want to say a big thank-you to Suzuki and Rizla for giving me this opportunity and I intend to pay back their faith with a good performance on my return to MotoGP.”

Despite the disappointment, there is positive news in that Alvaro Bautista’s operation to fix his broken femur was deemed a success. Buatista had surgery this morning to re-align and pin the bone in the Hamad Medical Corporation Hospital in Doha.

Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“The 2011 season hasn’t yet started and to have this huge disappointment already is very difficult to deal with. The winter tests have been consistent and competitive, especially bearing in mind Álvaro’s ‘race-day’ mentality and his love of fighting with the other guys rather than just riding – we always expect more from him in the races than in the tests, so everything was looking good. The reason for the crash was quite simple – pushing too hard in this section without enough temperature in the new tyre – very similar to Rossi’s accident in Mugello last year. But the real reasons behind that – maybe feeling some pressure after losing track time on Thursday night with the arm pump, wanting to get back into the top group of lap-times as soon as possible – are more complex and unfortunately Álvaro paid a heavy price. This sport is very extreme, and the edge between success and disaster is very small. We are all disappointed, but he is the poor guy in hospital with a pin in his femur and a tough recuperation ahead. He has the strength of character and determination to come back from this, and on his behalf we’d like to thank everybody for their kind wishes and support, especially the doctors and staff of the Clinica Mobile who came to the hospital at 2.00am last night to check on the situation and lend their valuable advice and assistance.

“With regard to the Qatar GP, we really wanted to find a suitable rider and have the Rizla Suzuki on the grid tomorrow but the logistics for John or Nobu simply didn’t allow it. Also, the Moto2 teams who have riders with MotoGP experience, that we discussed the option with, were understandably reluctant to release a rider at the first round of the championship. Our reason to explore these options was simply to support the Championship, Rizla and all our partners, but ultimately it is a huge ask to expect any rider to jump for only qualifying and the race and expect too much – safety and common sense have to play their part as well and we fully respect those decisions.

“John isn’t happy with what happened to Álvaro, but I know he will do a solid job for us in Jerez, and we are hoping to arrange a shakedown test beforehand. Álvaro’s comeback timing isn’t clear, and John has BSB commitments that clash with Estoril and Le Mans, so we need to wait a while before any decisions for those races are made.

“Thanks to all Álvaro’s and the team’s well-wishers, we greatly appreciate it and we will do everything we can to recover quickly from this situation.”

John Hopkins will make his return to the MotoGP paddock as a Rizla Suzuki guest.

Hopkins recently joined the Samsung Crescent Suzuki team in British Superbikes in an aim to re-build his career following surgery to his wrist to enable him to keep riding. Hopkins will assist Rizla Suzuki with some PR filming planned for the test weekend and will be watching the progress of the 2011 Suzuki GSV-R around the 5,380m Losail circuit with interest as there have been rumours that he may get a wildcard MotoGP opportunity during the 2011 season.

Álvaro Bautista:
“After the two good tests at Sepang we have a better idea about the bike and a good setting to start with at Qatar. This final test will be very important for us, as it will be the last time we can make some more improvements to the GSV-R before the first race. I am really looking forward to racing again and that can’t come soon enough for me. The team has worked very well in the pre-season and we need to carry this on and into the rest of the year.”

An American (okay, so we know he is part British) has yet to win a BSB race, so Hopper could become the first as he sets out to re-build his racing career, which has suffered in recent years with injury and poor decisions, amongst other factors.

John Hopkins:
“I am really looking forward to BSB and working with Crescent again, it will obviously be a different crew but I know they are a great group of guys and that will be a good foundation to start the season.

“It is going to be a huge challenge for me, I know there are new tracks to learn, but I am not too concerned, I have to say with a passion for motocross I am definitely looking forward to Cadwell Park! I have seen the racing and photos from there and I can’t wait to have a go myself.

“I have seen BSB races before and I know that there is some tough competition there, so I am excited to get started – especially as I haven’t raced most of the other riders before. It is pretty much a level playing field in terms of the riders and their experiences, but that always makes for the best racing.

“Everyone says how close BSB is and I know that it will be the same this season, but I know I am joining one of the top teams and we will have been testing ready for the start of the championship

“I have been unlucky with injury in past seasons – that comes with the territory but I can honestly say that I am fitter than I have ever been before, both mentally and physically. I know I had a reputation in the past, but it has all changed and my focus is on racing and I am really enjoying it.

“I wouldn’t be coming to BSB if I didn’t think I could be successful and I think it will be a better stepping stone for my future. The team had a great season last year and I am confident in them and the bike that we will be up there where we need to be.

“My style really suits the Suzuki and I am looking forward to riding the full-blown Superbike again, as in the U.S series the bikes are more restricted.”

Despite saying that in MotoGP he found himself working with the data guys more than the crew chiefs, and that he enjoys having more rider control on Superbikes, Hopper still sounds like he is missing the MotoGP machines……..