Hopkins uses Stoner/Rossi tyre at Misano run

Attempting to replicate the kind of success experienced by MotoGP World Championship top two Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner, John Hopkins was trying out a new Bridgestone front tyre run by the duo as part of his post-race testing workload in Misano.

The Kawasaki rider, like Rossi and Stoner, had plenty of work to do in adapting his machine to the new compound, and as such this aspect occupied much of his day. Hopkins will be hoping that such work pays off at future races, although a lack of testing time means that the immediate introduction of the tyre will not be made to his allocation.

`We had to alter the bike a lot, but we are now the only team using the old type of tyre, basically because we´ve not had any chance to test,´ commented Hopkins, who missed the Brno test and the first Misano practice with a rib injury.

`This new specification tyre is definitely the future for us, but unfortunately it can´t be in my allocation until we´re completely happy with the way the machine handles with it. I´m pleased with the results of today´s test, but still have a lot of catching up to do with the upgraded bike.´

Hopkins also worked on chassis changes to his Ninja ZX-RR, with front end stability a focus for improvement. It was an objective shared by teammate Anthony West, who has been struggling for confidence on corner entry.

`We have some more direction with how we can move forward with the front-end troubles and I felt a lot more confident going into the turns, which resulted in a quicker lap time than we managed in the race. We also tried a different swing-arm, but this didn´t really make any significant difference for us,´ said West.

Hopkins´ fastest time at the test was a 1´35.879, whilst West clocked a 1´36.101.