John Hopkins scored the ePayMe Yamaha team their best result of the 2016 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship season so far yesterday (Sunday) at Knockhill, claiming a fourth place in the opening race and finishing just 0.114s from a podium finish.

As the team headed north of the border, confidence was high following the recent test at Snetterton and Hopkins was instantly showing a strong pace, running inside the top five in free practice, with the combined times putting him just 0.3s adrift of the pace-setting lap in the dry.

The American rider was confident of pushing for a leading position in Datatag Qualifying, with the wet conditions setting in for the afternoon giving the team another challenge, but Hopkins was determined and qualified on the second row with team-mate Stuart Easton starting from the seventh row in an incredibly close session.

In race one Hopkins was dicing with the leading pack and had enjoyed a spell at the front of the field. The ePayMe Yamaha rider narrowly missed out on the team’s first podium finish but was aiming for an even stronger performance in race two as Easton finishing in 17th place.

Hopkins made another strong start to race two, battling within the freight train of riders inside the top six when a crash ended his hopes of a repeat performance. The Californian sustained a shoulder injury and is visiting specialists this week to ensure a rapid return to fitness.

Hopkins said: 

“The first race was great for us; the ePayMe Yamaha was working really good and we were then just trying to improve a little bit of the mid-range power as we were just losing a little bit of punch coming out of the corners.

“The bike felt great all race-long and I had been monitoring the gaps between us and I was trying to save my tyre until the end of the race to try and make a move on the brakes, but I just ran out of time. I did go for it and I got alongside Mossey coming out of the fast left-hander, but he was too defensive and there was no room for me to get through.

“We wanted to build on that for race two but unfortunately I crashed. I will be seeing some doctors this week to see what we can work on with it so that I am back to full fitness as soon as we possibly can.”

Easton said: 

“It was another tough weekend for us and it was disappointing for me as it was my home race, but we have looked at what we can work on for the next round. We had a good test at Snetterton recently so I am hoping that when we go back there we should be in a stronger position to repeat the top ten finish we had at Brands Hatch.”

Team owner Tommy Hill commented: 

“The weekend was going so well and John felt really confident of two strong finishes and it definitely started out that way with our best ever finish with a fourth place in race one and so close to the podium.

“In race one John was lacking a bit of the punch out of the corners but the podium really did feel like it was on reach – something that we know that we are capable of achieving. We made some improvements for race two before the rain and again John was in a strong position until an unfortunate crash.

“He has been for a check up today and will be seeing his specialist so fingers crossed he will be back to full fitness soon. We were all gutted for him though as he had such a strong performance and we know we have more to come like that this season for sure.

“Stuart had a frustrating weekend and we have been struggling together to find out what he needed to move forward at Knockhill, but we have been working as a team to try and get him back to where we know he is capable of being ready for Snetterton.”