John Hopkins to ride Crescent Suzuki

American John Hopkins has signed for the Crescent Suzuki BSB team.

It will give the former MotoGP star an opportunity to rebuild his career after a series of injuries and the team an opportunity to prove Suzuki GB wrong not to back the Verwood-based dealership this year.

Hopkins said: “I’m totally stoked about coming to Britain to race with Crescent in BSB, as this will feel a bit like coming home because I have so many friends and family over in the UK.

“I’m 100% fit now and this will give me a great a great chance to prove that I’m still able to be competitive at the highest level. I’ve always dreamed of winning the World Championship – that’s still my goal – and I see this as a fantastic opportunity to get ambition back on track.

“I haven’t raced on many of the UK circuits, so that will be a big learning curve, but I’ll be able to get to grips with them quickly and hope to be on the pace as soon as possible.

“The Suzuki’s a great package. I know I can win races and obviously winning the title is the ultimate goal, so we’ll have to see what we can do.”

Team manager Jack Valentine added: “We needed a high profile rider and Hopper was the perfect choice. He already had the connection with Suzuki and Paul Denning (Crescent owner and Suzuki MotoGP team manager) through the MotoGP team. And he really wanted to come and prove himself.”