The grief I got for being critical of Jacob Smrz in the opening round of the 2015 BSB series - basically not being uncritically
supportive (maybe fair enough, given I was a guest of Ducati Uk) - seems vindicated given Hopper jumped on the Panigale
and proved its worth. So here's Ducati UK's PR guff with which (this time) I
agree with wholeheartedly. Hopper's brilliant and so is the Panigale. If the
same was true of Smrz he'd still be in a world championship series
Heroic Hopkins scores best ever result on Ducati Panigale debut
- Amazing
performance by former BSB runner-up
- Fastest
ever lap set by a Panigale at Brands Hatch
- James
Egan gets his best finish in National Superstock 1000
From the very beginning of the
weekend Hopkins looked to be at home on the Italian superbike, and as the
sessions progressed the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati team has had to make
only a handful of set-up changes to ensure the former MotoGP rider was
comfortable and fast.
Hopkins actually set his best time
of the event in the second of the three part qualifying session on Saturday (18
July) – a lap of 1:25.881s was a full 0.623s faster than the previous best for
the bike around the iconic Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. Despite not being
able to quite match his performance in the final Q3 shoot-out it was ninth on
the grid for race one.
The incident-filled battle included
two safety car periods, however Hopper maintained a level head and fought with
the front pack right up to the chequered flag.
With just a couple of laps to go
Hopkins made his move on Michael Laverty in fifth into Graham Hill bend but
missed a gear exiting onto the Cooper straight meaning that Laverty could
re-pass. Although John couldn’t quite make another move stick, he eventually
crossed the line just 0.084s behind in sixth to the delight of the Lloyds
British-backed team.
Race two saw another very strong start for the 32-year-old, and in the early laps the #15 bike was running an impressive fifth. As the race progressed, however, Hopkins noticed an issue with the clutch that meant he began to lose positions, and ultimately on lap 14 had to retire the bike. While it was a slightly disappointing end, the weekend as a whole was a big boost for both rider and team.
John Hopkins said: “Today ended up a little bit bittersweet once again. Coming
into the weekend my main goal even before getting on the bike was to get into
the top 10 and I would have been ecstatic just to achieve that. But the way the
weekend went my goals just got further and further up. In race one we were well
within reach of those goals, and although I wanted a top five, I was still
really happy with sixth. Unfortunately at the end of that race I was just held
up by Laverty – I was struggling to get by him as he was quite late on the
brakes also. I did make the pass but missed a gear, hit a false neutral and
then on the last lap couldn’t get by him.
“I had good start to the second
race, I was feeling good and got into a nice rhythm on the first two or three
laps. Unfortunately something happened to the clutch, so being out of the
points I decided to bring the bike home rather than doing any damage to the
bike. Overall I’m extremely happy and confidence-wise this has been
amazing, this bike is 100 per cent capable of being on the podium and a little
more time under my belt I am definitely the person that can put it there. I’m
not properly bike-fit as I have not been racing for such a long time so I will
be a bit sore at the end of the weekend. However I haven’t enjoyed myself on a
motorcycle like this in a long, long time – so a happy rider is a fast rider!
Steve Moore said: “We have proven the bike, proven the team, proven the pace
of the engine, proven that we have an amazing fan base and gained a top six
finish. The target at the beginning of the year was top six finishes and to
make the showdown, and first time out Hopper gets top six. A bit of a shame
about the clutch, he uses the clutch where previous riders haven’t so it has
showed up a weakness that we haven’t experienced before. Now we know that we
can get it fixed and move on to Thruxton which is our home round and where the
bike is really strong.”
Like Hopkins, Egan got faster and
faster over the three days, securing ninth on the huge Superstock grid with his
best ever lap of the Grand Prix track at Brands Hatch.
The South African racer moved up a
couple of places and soon found himself embroiled in a titanic battle for fifth
that ran right to end of the contest. With yellow flags at the final corner,
James had to ease off despite being in a position to pass, drawing alongside
the Kawasaki of Alex Olsen across the timing line to register just 0.022s behind
in sixth. This mirror image of Hopkins’ results are a season’s best for both
rider and team, making it a top weekend for the Ducati Panigale in both
classes.
James Egan said: “I’m really pleased with the result – we’ve really got to
try and push for a top five now – it was so close and a real photo finish! It
was a proper scrap from start to finish which is always so exciting. Our lap
times weren’t quite as quick but that’s because we were swapping positions and
banging fairings so much! In the closing laps it was like skating on ice –
fortunately the tyre wear is pretty good on the Ducati, but of course all the
top guys in this class have got their bikes dialled in and it’s never easy to
pass. My bike has unique strength, we’ve got great punch off the turns and it’s
now becoming more natural for me to use that punch to my advantage. I’m feeling
at home, and it was good to have a proper scrap and have fun out there.
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