American John Hopkins will replace Alvaro Bautista as Suzuki’s sole rider for the second MotoGP race of the season in Jerez after the Spaniard broke a thigh bone in practice for Sunday’s opener in Qatar.
Suzuki said in a statement on their website that they had sought and failed to find an immediate stand-in for Bautista at the Losail circuit.
Hopkins was too far away in the United States while Nobuatsu Aoki was in Japan and unable to travel due to the devastation caused by the recent earthquake and tsunami. Moto2 riders approached by the team had existing commitments.
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“Hopkins will join the team for the next round of the season at Jerez in Spain as a replacement for Bautista while the Spaniard continues on his road to recovery,” the team said. Yahoo! Eurosport UK
Team manager Paul Denning said: “The 2011 season hasn’t yet started and to have this huge disappointment already is very difficult to deal with.
“This sport is very extreme, and the edge between success and disaster is very small. We are all disappointed, but Bautista is the poor guy in hospital with a pin in his femur and a tough recuperation ahead.
“He has the strength of character and determination to come back from this, and on his behalf we’d like to thank everybody for their kind wishes and support.”
“Alvaro’s comeback timing isn’t clear, and John has British Superbike commitments that clash with Estoril and Le Mans, so we need to wait a while before any decisions for those races are made.” BBC Sport
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