BSB: Hopkins to miss Snetterton round

John Hopkins will miss next week’s fifth round of the 2016 MCE British Superbike championship at Snetterton after breaking his collarbone in a crash at Knockhill.

The ePayMe Yamaha rider crashed out heavily while fighting for a podium spot in Sunday’s second race and while it was initially said he was ‘battered and bruised’, further checks have revealed the American sustained a broken and dislocated right collarbone, four broken ribs and a bruised right lung.

Hopkins will now see a specialist in order to fix his collarbone and, in hoping for the quickest possible recovery time, has opted to sit out of next weekend’s Snetterton round to avoid aggravating the injury.

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The news comes after Hopkins enjoyed his strongest weekend yet with Tommy Hill’s Yamaha squad at Knockhill, qualifying on the second row before going on to take fourth place after fighting for the lead in race one.

“It’s looking like John will miss Snetterton next weekend,” Hill told MCN this afternoon. “While you can try and ride with those injuries, it can often make them worse so we’re going to get John back to full fitness before he returns, as with the results we had at Knockhill, if he returns in as good a shape as he can and we have a really strong few rounds we can still get into the showdown.”

MCN understands Hill is considering options to replace Hopkins at Snetterton next weekend but nothing is finalised at this stage. 

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