Hopper gets shocked

John Hopkins is undergoing intensive electric shock treatment in Jerez to ensure he returns close to 100 per cent fitness for the season’s opening GP in Qatar on March 10, 2007.

With the final IRTA test getting underway tomorrow (Friday), Hopkins has already ruled himself out of the three-day session as he recuperates from the injuries he suffered in a massive crash last week in Qatar.

Although he suffered two broken toes on his right foot and a fractured left wrist, the most troublesome injury is his right wrist, which still remains visibly swollen exactly a week after the Doha spill.

Hopkins has had further X-rays today in the Jerez circuit medical centre but again it proved inconclusive.

He now plans to continue electric shock treatment and is due to fly home to Miami early next week to begin daily laser therapy.

The 23-year-old factory Suzuki rider said: “Everything is healing up nicely after I got a whole week’s good rest in England. 

“I was bruised for a while but the muscles are coming back and I’ll start to train next week. The only issue is my right wrist. 

“The condition of it hasn’t really improved at all. I still can’t hold a bottle of water and I’m still continuing to get X-rays and while I haven’t had a proper bone scan its looking like I’ve torn two tendons inside the wrist. 

“Sometimes sprains can be just as bad as broken bones so right now I’m having a lot of electric shock therapy and all next week I’ll be home in Miami getting laser therapy. 

“My toes are a nightmare. They don’t really hurt until you step on them and you feel them re-breaking and it’s just a pain in the ass.”

Despite the problems with the right wrist, Hopkins remains adamant that he will be riding his new GSV-R800 when the season gets underway in the Middle East in just 16 days time.

“I think it will be a little painful in Qatar, but it won’t slow me up at all. There might be a little bit of teeth gritting throughout the weekend. 

“I’ll be in Qatar racing. I worked too hard over the winter for us not to be there and be competitive,” said Hopkins, who told MCN he will sit out this weekend’s Jerez session so as not aggravate the damaged tendons.

“At a push I could ride but I don’t see the point in possibly damaging the tendons anymore than what they already are,” added Hopper, who relived the nightmare crash in a chat to motorcyclenews.com this afternoon at a rain lashed Jerez.

“I tipped in, the rear stepped out and my heart skipped a couple of beats. I was hoping I was going to bring it back but before I knew it I was flying through the air and I just remember heading face first into the gravel trap. 

“It was a 100mph motocross crash because I landed straight in the gravel trap,” said Hopkins.