MCN’s top ten BSB riders: 10th

With all the dust settled on yet another highly competitive year in the MCE British Superbike championship, MCN have taken the opportunity to look back on the season and sort our top ten riders – based on more than just race results!

10th: John Hopkins

• Championship position: 10th
• Wins: 0
• Podiums: 0

To say that 2014 was disappointing for John Hopkins is somewhat of an understatement. Not a single trip to the top step of the podium all year long let alone second or third, it’s the longest drought he’s had since the dark days of the Kawasaki MotoGP project.

Where did it all go wrong for him? Turing up after almost eighteen months away from racing was always going to be tough for the former MotoGP podium finisher, and he never really gelled with either the Tyco Suzuki bike or team.

Coming from a career of bikes with fancy electronics, the BSB rules, massively overhauled since his rookie championship second place in 2011, was a major hindrance; Hopkins jumped from the best electronics packages the Japanese factories could build to a bike without even a quickshifter.

At least that gives him room for improvement in 2015, however, and the American has already been linked to a number of teams both in WSB and in BSB. World Superbikes, with its more open electronics rules, could be just what he needs to regain his confidence next season.