5 Minutes With… John Hopkins
Hopper is Home!
By Chris Jonnum

For the first time since February, John Hopkins is in California. The Suzuki rider—make that Red Bull Suzuki rider for one race—flew in from Assen on Sunday, and we met with him and girlfriend Desiree Crossman yesterday for lunch. Hopkins let us turn on a tape recorder for his wide-ranging conversation as he heads into next week’s Red Bull USGP at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca—an event Hopper calls “the most important weekend of my life.”

On why the Red Bull USGP is important:
I think having such a race in America is actually going to open eyes and knock the borders down and let the sport grow in America. That’s what I’m more interested in. I’ve dedicated my life to this sport, and I always will. It’s not that I want to be selfish and say, “Don’t watch this, don’t watch this; you’ve got to watch us because we’re better.” It’s just that I know how it is. I think the sport’s so awesome.

On what American fans are in for:
It’s just opening the eyes of the American public to what MotoGP has to offer, because there’s nothing like it in America. I went to a British Superbike race in England, with my friend, Jeremy McWilliams. They wheeled out his bike like they were going to start it, and I was just about to cover my ears—me, Randy Mamola and Shayne Byrne. Then it was just, brum, brum, brum. The thing was quiet!

On what’s so special about MotoGP:
Everything that goes into the race—just the emotions, the sights, the sounds, the competitiveness, the professionalism, everything. The American TV doesn’t really capture that. You watch the races in Europe, and it’s all live. They show the racers before they put their helmets on, they show them when they take their helmets off, they show the facial expressions, they show the emotion. Everything is just built up all around it. The commentators are different, and everything is just so much more intense. I think just the sounds of the bike are going to blow people away. On lap one, when everyone comes around, it’s loud!

On how competitive the Suzuki GSV-R will be at Laguna:
I think it’s going to be all right. If you were going to ask me what the best bike around Laguna is going to be, I’d have to say the Yamaha, because the bike’s on rails, everywhere. And power delivery is going to make a huge difference at Laguna—just how the bike gets off of the corners, with the throttle connection and everything in between. It’s so tight. I think it’s going to be the better tracks for Suzuki.

On Bridgestone not yet having won a race in 2005:
“The amount of progress they’ve made in such a short time, no one can really complain about that, because no other tire manufacturer could do it, to actually make the progress they are on Michelin. Michelin has been at the top of this for so long, and Bridgestone just came into it. And now they’re coming into it with full force, with Kawasaki, Ducati, and Suzuki. They’re dedicated, and I’m happy with them.”

On whether he’s American or British:
“I consider myself both, really. I can’t really declare a single one. My mom and entire family can have dual citizenship, but I can’t, because once you’re born in America, you can’t. It would really help me out [with taxes], too, to live in somewhere like Andorra or Monaco or something, but it’s not possible.”

On his new house in England:
“[Coming home to California] is extremely good. I’ve been looking forward to it, especially for the last couple races. I haven’t been home since the beginning of February. It’s a long time, sorting out my new house in England and stuff … I bought the house in Midlands because it’s got a bit of land. It’s got a private motocross track where I can ride every day. A guy owns this big business and makes loads of money, and one of my managers, [former MX World Champion] Jamie Dobb lives right there, about 10 minutes away from me. It’s the motocross track that he used to practice at. [The businessman] owns this company called www.motorpoint.co.uk that sells cars and everything, and makes easily a million a year in pounds. He’s got this huge, huge farm, just down the road from Donington, and instead of a farm, he’s got a huge motocross track set up, with over a two-minute lap time. He’s got like five tractors and lets me go there any time I want. I leave the bike there and go to his garage and gear up, take the tractor out, groom the track, and then go out and ride.”

On the hassles of buying a house in the U.K.:
“I wanted the house that I wanted to get in early February. I stayed in England the entire time—I had to go to races, but Jamie stayed, and he was the one sorting it out—and I did not start moving into the house until in May. And that was extremely fast. And then the department stories: I could have done with a Jerome’s or a couple Bed, Bath & Beyonds. You go, and you’re like, “Oh, that’s a nice leather sofa. Is it possible to get this one? How long will it take to deliver it?” They say, “Well, first we’ve got to put it on order, so that will take 12 to 15 weeks.” I was like, “My season’s going to be over! I’ll be living back in California then!”

On the positives of having a house in the U.K.:
“It’s a big difference. You go home, everything’s sorted out, and you can just relax and kick your feet up. You don’t have to unpack, that’s the best thing. When I was living at my cousin’s I always lived out of a suitcase, even though I had my own room. Now, I leave everything in the cupboards. I don’t really have to take anything. For the season, I leave everything in the motor home that I wear at the track, and leave everything that I’m going to wear at home at home. You don’t have to carry around loads of baggage or catch 10-hour, 11-hour flights [to the States] every week, which, literally, I would hate. That would kill me. I’d much rather [stay in Europe] than catching a 12-hour flight to and from every other week.”

On the fans he gained from starring in the movie Faster:
“On my website, one of the guys started up on one of the forums, ‘How about we introduce ourselves?’ Everyone on the forum puts where they’re from, how they’re motorcycling enthusiasts, this and that. One of the questions on there was ‘How did you become a Hopkins fan?’ Like 80 percent of them that have gone on so far have put ‘Because of the Faster movie.’”

On having Red Bull as the title sponsor of his team again, for the USGP:
“I think it’s great. I just hope my bike stays together, because I’m going to represent Red Bull to the fullest, especially there. My determination and my focus going into Laguna Seca is as high if not higher than anybody who’s going to that race. I consider next weekend pretty much the most important weekend of my life, up to this point. That’s the way I look at it.”

On the first-ever Chinese MotoGP round:
“Japan’s a different world, but China’s on a whole different level than Japan. You can’t get rental cars, just shuttle buses. And if you overtake a car, it’s mandatory that you have to honk. We were driving from the airport to downtown, where the hotel was. I think it was just me, Kenny, and his wife. We were driving along in this car, and the guy goes to pass the first car, and he starts honking at it. I’m like, “What’s going on here? Is something wrong?” Every car we passed, he started honking at it, just to let them know you’re there. It’s definitely futuristic. You go around Shanghai at night, and everything’s lit up. It’s like New York City, but mixed with Las Vegas, with all these lights going up. All the buildings—huge, huge skyscrapers—are all completely lit up in neon. It’s pretty wild.”

On how he gets along with Valentino Rossi:
“Valentino doesn’t really speak with anybody. He just keeps to himself because that’s the way he works. But if anyone does get along with him, I get along with him well. I speak with him quite a bit at races. But if you were friends with Valentino and you got close to him on the racetrack, he would definitely de-friend you.”

On Max Biaggi’s clashes with Marco Melandri and Andrea Battaini at Assen:
“It’s just Max. He’s always doing it, always out playing the fool. It’s just completely dangerous, the way his tactics are. He does it on purpose, because he thinks he’s screwing with you. It happens all the time. If anyone new comes into the series—and I had my share of it—when he’s going to pass you, he passes in the closest possible way. There could be miles on the track to pass you, and he comes by the closest he possibly could. In qualifying for Mugello, he came by and actually clipped my leg and knocked my leg off the footpeg. It’s just stupid. My mechanics always push the bike out, and I walk out and get on my bike in pit lane. The Honda team just starts the bikes inside of the garage and then the riders come out. Max just doesn’t look. It’s like this is blank [holds hand up by the side of his face]. ‘No one’s there! The Roman emperor is coming out!’ He thinks he’s royalty in the series, even when he’s just walking around. He needs to get punched in his nose.”