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Silver Bullet is one of only a few Websites worldwide that receives Desiree Crossman`s newsy behind the MotoGP scene column (not always PC). She reports on #21 John (Hopper) Hopkin`s MotoGP exploits and her own as they travel the globe.
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Hi everyone,
Well John had a decent time in Sepang. The first two days that he was there, he called me a few times telling me about the bike and some changes that they made. I told him I saw the new bike design on some of the websites, and he said his bike was the same as it was last time. So I assume the new design will either be introduced in South Africa or the IRTA tests which are coming up here shortly. Since I wasn\'t there, John and Alex Hoffman were hanging out a bunch, hitting up Kuala Lumpur and whatever else guys do.
The first few days of the test, John called me and let me know what was going on. He and Kenny lacked some time on the track amongst all the other riders cause\' I guess the bikes had some lingering problems. He said he and Kenny did about 20 laps total the first two days there. On the third day of testing, Mat Mladin rode the bike for the first time around the track. Apparently he only rode it for an hour or so before coming into the garage, confirming alot of what John and Kenny had stated about the bike. He didn\'t do too bad getting into the 2min 07sec margin.
After Mat finished riding, John rode it later on that day. He told me that although they still have ALOT of work to do, he was confident everything is gradually moving in the right direction. I can\'t remember exactly if it was either Thursday or Friday, but one of those days, Suzuki\'s target was to get into the 2min 03sec margin and John did it, so of course it boosted everyone\'s moral even more cause\' now they can advance. He also said that the Bridgestones are working well and he stayed consistent in his lap times. Consistency is key isn\'t it? Not too bad of a test.
On Friday, John rode in the morning and then left that afternoon to catch a flight back home. He didn\'t get in until midnight Friday night, our local time and the next day was the San Diego Supercross. John signed up to do the Crossover Challenge that Suzuki puts on. It\'s where different athletes, celebrities, or TV personalties ride a heat on stock 125\'s. In his case, the past two years it conflicted with testing, so he wanted to redeem himself. He was still contemplating whether he would be up to it or not having just arrived the night before, but he loves riding MX so he wanted to give it go. His teammate was Jeremy Toye, who is the owner of Lee\'s Cycles down here and an avid roadracer as well so they were stoked. Well..............in the first practice heat, there was a double that he wanted to clear. Unfortunately, after a few times of trying to clear it, he cased it and fell, so he was pissed. It sprained both his ankles pretty bad so he\'s going to be taking it easy for the next couple of weeks. But they are sprained and he isn\'t going to be moving around alot. We plan on getting it checked out again this week. Although it\'s pretty funny how it happened, it made up his mind not to race. So instead of sticking around, we left and went home. He drank a beer and passed out. Jetlag kicked in. I guess a few guys went down on that same jump. Oh well, *&^ happens.
Now we\'re here just relaxing, taking it easy and gearing up for the next test back in Sepang. I\'ll be going to that one so I\'m excited. I\'m getting ancy being home so I\'m looking foward to it. Checked up on the latest on Rossi, sounds like he\'s adapting to the M1 very nicely.
Until then,
Desiree
