Although Carlos Checa topped the timesheets during Friday's provisional qualifying session, the real story was wildcard rider John Hopkins going fifth quickest after the American topped the morning practice
Althea Racing Ducati’s Carlos Checa topped the timesheets in Friday’s provisional qualifying session of the Silverstone UK round of the World Superbike Championship, with Supersonic Racing’s Maxime Berger surprisingly turning the second quickest time in the session on his Ducati. Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes and Aprilia Alitalia’s Leon Camier recorded the third and fourth quickest times respectively at their home round.
But the real sensation at Silverstone was the performance of wildcard entry John Hopkins, who is campaigning the British Superbike Championship for the Samsung Crescent Suzuki team. The American was the quickest rider in the morning practice session, and after staying firmly in the top six for most of the first qualifying session in the afternoon, Hopkins once again topped the timesheets with eight minutes remaining. A front tire vibration from a different spec tire than what he is normally used to in BSB competition forced him into the pits however, and by the time he was able to get back out after switching back to his normal spec front tire, he was only able to go third quickest before time ran out and other riders improved their times to leap ahead of him in the results.
Making his performance even more impressive is that Hopkins has never ridden the Silverstone circuit before, while much of the WSBK field has data from last year’s event in August. The California native has been impressing the BSB paddock with his ability to learn the notoriously tricky British circuits, and that skill is certainly paying off here in his wildcard ride at Silverstone.
"I knew the pace would be raised a bit from this morning as the track conditions improved and we all had a better idea of the track,” admitted Hopkins about his morning practice time. “I felt more comfortable and happy with the way the session went.”
Although both the BSB and WSBK series use Pirelli spec tires, the WSBK system is much more complicated, with larger variety of tires to choose from. “The tire system is slightly different to what we have in BSB with a slightly different allocation,” said Hopkins. “We used a different front tire as we were getting good grip with the equivalent rear, but I went out on track and was suffering from big vibrations so I came straight back in to the pits. We went back out after changing to the front tire we had used before and I was able to push the front again. But I am happy to end the day fifth fastest despite having that issue and losing a bit of time and know we can push again tomorrow. I have now done about 60 laps of the track and I am going to do what I always do at BSB events; sleep on it and then I always manage to come back stronger the next day."
Photo Gallery: 2011 World Superbike Silverstone Friday provisional qualifying, Checa on top, wildcard Hopkins fifth - Sport Rider Magazine
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