Injured Hopkins to miss two races

John Hopkins will miss the next two MotoGP races of the season in Germany and Laguna Seca after his high-speed crash at Assen last time out.

The Kawasaki rider has had a string of injury problems this season and the leg injuries he suffered in the Dutch race have proved the final straw.

"The tibia is a bit dislocated and the doctor would like to correct this," said team spokesman Michael Bartholemy.

"He'd also like to operate on his knee as there's a big compression there."

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The team say they have no plans to replace Hopkins for the next race at Sachsenring, and are considering their options for the race in America.

"For Germany we would like to keep the bike free because it will be difficult to find anybody," said Bartholemy.

"But our idea for Laguna would be to put one of our American-based riders on the bike, maybe Jamie Hacking, Roger Lee Hayden or Chaz Davies."

There had been rumours that Marco Melandri, who is having such a troubled time at Ducati, could switch to Kawasaki but although talks have taken place, nothing is happening yet.

"After I knew how bad John's injuries were, I told Marco that we have a bike free for the next two events, but that he would have to find a solution with Ducati, to get out of his contract," said Bartholemy.

"This is not a Kawasaki matter. But now they have told me that he will continue with Ducati for the next two races for sure."

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