Hopkins sees specialist

Suzuki’s John Hopkins will see a specialist in Derby tonight as he battles to recover from broken bones sustained in a sickening 120mph+ highside in testing yesterday.

The Rizla man has broken two toes on his left foot, but more worrying is the possibility of a broken right hand. Swelling in Qatar was too severe to show meaningful X-rays, and the British-based rider is travelling back now, with an appointment to see an orthopaedic expert to fully assess the injury and a work out a recovery plan.

A hand break will almost certainly rule him out of the final MotoGP test at Jerez, abut though he would be unlikely to be fully recovered by the first race on March 10 it would not necessarily mean he wouldn’t be able to ride at all.