John Hopkins believes the ePayMe Yamaha team are in a stronger position going into this weekend’s second round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park (April 30– May 2) following last week’s official test at the Cheshire circuit.

The Californian scored his first ever race win at the circuit back in 2011 and arrives this weekend feeling confident that the ePayMe Yamaha team have taken a step forward with their development as he bids to close in on his rivals after scoring a top ten finish at the Silverstone season opener.

Hopkins said: 

“I am actually really looking forward to this weekend as I feel that the time we set at the test didn’t truly reflect the positivity of the official test. We had tested on used tyres as usual, because consistency is what is important over race distance. It was the first time that we had really made big changes to the chassis setting, so we did lots of shorter runs of like five laps, come in and change, then repeat the process. I feel that we left the official test with a better base setting than we had at Silverstone, even though we had a crash which ended the day a little early before we had the chance to try for an outright lap.

“I feel that we have made big steps forward; as I have said before, the potential is massive with the Yamaha and I feel that we are getting closer to scratching that surface now and we plan to pick up where we left off at the test on Saturday.

“Oulton Park is a track that I really like and have great memories of because it was where I scored my first BSB race win so I am excited to get back there this weekend. I feel that it should suit the Yamaha’s characteristics; we didn’t get the start to the season we had hoped for at Silverstone so we want to put it all together this weekend and get to where we know we are capable of being in the races.”

The next round of the MCE British Superbike Championship takes place during the May Bank Holiday weekend at Oulton Park (April 30 - May 2), for more information and to book please click HERE

---