John Hopkins' run of bad luck with hand injuries continues. The American has suffered yet another broken bone in his right hand, after crashing during a private World Superbike test at Phillip Island, ahead of the first round of the series in just under two weeks' time. Hopkins highsided at Turn 2, landing on his right hand, and fracturing a bone at the base of the hand.
The crash was doubly unfortunate for Hopkins. The American landed on his right hand, the hand which he had only recently had surgery on to remove the damaged ring finger. That injury had been sustained in 2011, the American crashing during practice for a wildcard appearance at the Brno round of MotoGP. Hopkins then had to cancel a second wildcard appearance at Sepang after the strain of riding a MotoGP bike separated the bone which had already partially healed, and eventually led the American to have the finger amputated.
Hopkins has now flown home to California to have his hand examined by his specialist Dr Chao. The American is in doubt for the first round of World Superbikes at Phillip Island, but with over six weeks until the second round of WSBK at Imola in Italy, he should not be forced to miss any other races.
Below is the press release from Suzuki announcing Hopkins' injury:
