Hopkins out after Assen fall

From motogp.com

John Hopkins is to fly home to the US to recuperate after suffering ankle and tibia fractures in a high-speed qualifying crash at the A-Style TT Assen on Friday afternoon.

Hopkins´ difficult debut season with Kawasaki took a decided turn for the worse in the Netherlands when the Anglo-American lowsided his Ninja ZX-RR at high-speed at the Ramshoek corner, smashing into the advertising hoarding and tire wall.

A broken bone (internal medial malleolus) in his left ankle and two tibia fractures have already been confirmed - and an additional knee injury is being examined - meaning Hopkins is to miss the races at Assen, Sachsenring and possibly Laguna Seca.

Already riding in some discomfort due to a back injury sustained at Catalunya earlier this month there were worrying scenes as he was stretchered away after the crash, initially without moving. Though he was later seen walking on his way into the Clinica Mobile he is certainly out of luck given his recent series of DNFs, in addition to this crash which could see him miss his home race in California.

Kawasaki´s competiton manager Michael Bartholemy told motogp.com, "He has a break in the ankle and two fractures in the tibia, one old fracture that has opened again and one new. At the moment they have put on a cast and said he should not move his foot for 20 to 25 days. There may also be some damage to his knee so there will be another scan shortly.

"Sachsenring will not be possible for him, so I hope that we will be back for Laguna Seca, but anyway we want to wait until he is 100% fit because he is still carrying the Barcelona injury and I would prefer that he comes back at 100%."

Kawasaki will now analyze its data from Friday´s Assen qualifying session to determine the cause of Hopkins´ crash and will make a decision on whether to field a replacement rider at the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland in the coming days.