As we predicted, American John Hopkins has signed with Crescent Suzuki out of the U.K. to partner Leon Camier in the 2012 World Superbike series.
Hopkins rode for the team in the British Superbike series in 2011, and missed out on the title by a whisker in the last race of the season; not bad for racing on tracks he’d never seen before on a bike new to him.
During 2011 he made a couple of Moto GP cameos as a fill-in for the Suzuki team, and in the last one damaged a finger which has since gotten badly infected, putting him in the hospital. His doctors say he’ll be fine in time for testing and the season.