Hopper: more speed

Injured American John Hopkins reckons Suzuki’s new GSV-R 800 needs more power.

The 23-year-old believes this is necessary to ensure it will be a competitive force when the new MotoGP world championship kicks off in Qatar on March 10, 2007.

Hopkins, who is expected to be fit for the first race after breaking his left wrist and right foot in a testing crash last week in Doha, said: “The Ducati seems to be the fastest bike on the straight.

“But we are able to get behind it and not lose any time down the straights and that’s important. Things have been good but there is still stuff we need to improve and we could do a little better. 

“I’ve got behind a couple of the Ducatis and the Yamaha and they can get out of the corner a little bit better. 

“We are not losing anything down the straight but just the initial hit out of the corner we are still improving on. Whether that’s traction control, rideabilty or horsepower, that’s still to be determined.”