Happy Hopper

John Hopkins seems to be happy with his new ride. Conditions were mixed at the Almeria track where he got to try both dry and wet, tyres and settings. It's interesting to see his comments comparing a SuperBike to a MotoGP bike: "After my disappointing season last year, it's great to get out on track and enjoy riding a bike again. I've never been on a Superbike in my life but the size of the motorcycle makes a big difference and suits my style. It feels good to be able to move around on the bike again and feel it spinning coming out of the corners." Let's see how he does playing in traffic. With the top three to five riders running very fast already and Hopper still learning the bike, I don't see him finishing any higher than 6th this weekend ... if he's lucky. Not that I'll be watching him anyway with Spies, Haga and Biaggi providing all the entertainment at the front. The question is how many others will be able to keep up with them like Kiyonari did in the last race.