MotoGP Sepang test: John Hopkins unhurt in second Sepang crash

Factory Kawasaki rider John Hopkins escaped with cuts on his left elbow after he suffered a high-speed crash on the final day of testing in Sepang.

The American had completed 46 laps when he lost the front end of his ZX-RR machine in the double right-hander – Turns 7 and 8 – with just over 90 minutes of the test remaining.

“I just made a stupid mistake really. It was my fault. Instead of going dirt-tracking and moto crossing in the gravel I decided to take a tumble. I got in there a bit too hot and instead of recovering and running through the gravel trap I just decided to flick it in and lost the front. The smarter decision would have been to lift it up and go into the gravel. I guess you live and learn. It’s been a while since I crashed so I might as well get them out of the way early. It’s not a good place to crash because on the outside there’s a kerb and you slide and then hit the kerb and launch yourself and start flipping in the gravel, “said Hopkins.

Despite the late setback, which saw him pack up and head back to the UK before the final winter test of Jerez later this month, Hopkins ended the test with the third fastest time.

He clocked a 2.02.047 on his 11th lap this morning in more favourable and cooler conditions, with his best lap 1.1s faster than his best Malaysian GP time set on the Suzuki GSV-R last month. His time was just 0.236s slower than compatriot Colin Edwards, who ended the test quickest on race tyres.

New Tech 3 Yamaha rider Edwards posted an impressive 2.01.811, but Nicky Hayden topped the final timesheets with a 2.00.592. The 2006 world champion though used a soft Michelin qualifying tyre on his on his 21st lap of a mammoth 86-lap run using the 2007 Repsol Honda RC212V. Hayden’s best time on race rubber was also set on last season’s machine, though he completed the majority of his laps over the last two days on board Honda’s 2008 prototype V4.