Schwantz pulls no punches on Hopkins effort at Daytona

And what about John Hopkins?

For me John Hopkins was quite a disappointment. I understand the mechanical failure on the first day, but I guess the disappointment stems from what I heard as what the issue was on the second day - and that was that the shift lever felt slick and he thought there was some oil on it. For a guy who is coming from where he's come from and to step into this field, I know from what I would try and do, I would be trying to everything I could to let everyone know that I was there to compete. That I was going to do everything I could at this level to try and run right at the very front. It just didn't show much desire to me, on John's behalf. He should have come in and maybe had a look at the thing... if there's no oil on my boot on no great amounts of it down there, I'm going to continue going until something otherwise happens. I'm going to try and get the most out of that equipment, especially after having such a disappointing first race when he actually had a mechanical problem. Once again, Daytona is one of those places that really intimidates a lot of people - the speed, the banking and everything about it. And Hopkins has been used to, for the past six or eight years, racing on world-class Grand Prix and World Superbike level tracks so to be up there, that close to a wall for as long as you are, it might make me re-think things right now too.

At the Fontana test, you could tell that John just hadn't been on a bike in awhile and he ended up getting down to a pretty decent lap time. What John has to do now is figure out how to do that consistently so he can run with those guys up front and try and be more consistent.



In other words, he is a non motivated chicken .... who thinks he is to good for the series.

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-rac...-kevin-schwantz

Povol, that's not what I read into that. Yeah, a bit harsh (considering Mr. Schwantz wasn't on the bike), but when you consider the Hopkin's health, I wouldn't have ridden the thing to see "what happens" as in a crash.

Seems Hopkins was, as he said, rusty, on top of not seeing these tracks on a Suberbike, ever; but both his stoppages were "mechanical" and that is a fact. So projecting why John stopped is a bit much.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>I guess the disappointment stems from what I heard as what the issue was on the second day - and that was that the shift lever felt slick and he thought there was some oil on it.
Mr. Schwantz, he's probably the only crazy ...... to be willing to ride a race while having the possibility of oil running down his boot. Who among us would be willing to ride while thinking he might have oil leaking? Even Rossi came in when he thought his front wheel was acting funny, and that was to concede the championship.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (povol @ Mar 19 2010, 09:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>And what about John Hopkins?

For me John Hopkins was quite a disappointment. I understand the mechanical failure on the first day, but I guess the disappointment stems from what I heard as what the issue was on the second day - and that was that the shift lever felt slick and he thought there was some oil on it. For a guy who is coming from where he's come from and to step into this field, I know from what I would try and do, I would be trying to everything I could to let everyone know that I was there to compete. That I was going to do everything I could at this level to try and run right at the very front. It just didn't show much desire to me, on John's behalf. He should have come in and maybe had a look at the thing... if there's no oil on my boot on no great amounts of it down there, I'm going to continue going until something otherwise happens. I'm going to try and get the most out of that equipment, especially after having such a disappointing first race when he actually had a mechanical problem. Once again, Daytona is one of those places that really intimidates a lot of people - the speed, the banking and everything about it. And Hopkins has been used to, for the past six or eight years, racing on world-class Grand Prix and World Superbike level tracks so to be up there, that close to a wall for as long as you are, it might make me re-think things right now too.

At the Fontana test, you could tell that John just hadn't been on a bike in awhile and he ended up getting down to a pretty decent lap time. What John has to do now is figure out how to do that consistently so he can run with those guys up front and try and be more consistent.



In other words, he is a non motivated chicken .... who thinks he is to good for the series.

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-rac...-kevin-schwantz

I don't think that's it.

Schwantz said the same thing about himself. He said that after Rainey's accident walls started to look at lot closer, and he was more timid about attacking in certain sectors at certain tracks.

I think he's saying, it's too bad that John is accustomed to European runnoff and that his chronic injuries (including his most recent head injury) have spooked him a bit. Schwantz said that getting spooked ended his career, so perhaps he is lamenting that Hopkins may never regain his form.

The first statement i highlighted says it all.There is no sugar coating what so ever. The second seemed like he was trying to temper his criticism a bit and give Johnny break. I do find it weird that not one report has come out confirming there was a problem.Maybe im a little hard on John, but he has not shown any fire in his gut to date.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (povol @ Mar 19 2010, 11:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>The first statement i highlighted says it all.There is no sugar coating what so ever. The second seemed like he was trying to temper his criticism a bit and give Johnny break. I do find it weird that not one report has come out confirming there was a problem.Maybe im a little hard on John, but he has not shown any fire in his gut to date.

That's just an observation.

Why Schwantz believes Hopkins has no desire is what matters. Schwantz says that the relative lack of safety is probably bothering him. We still don't know Schwantz motivation or judgment of Hopper's lack of desire. Maybe he's insulting him for being a wuss, or maybe Schwantz is lamenting that big crashes have a tendency to end rider's effectiveness. I think it is the latter b/c Schwantz said he career was effectively ended when he got spooked by Rainey's crash.

Schwantz could even be both angry and regretful.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mylexicon @ Mar 19 2010, 03:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>That's just an observation.

Why Schwantz believes Hopkins has no desire is what matters. Schwantz says that the relative lack of safety is probably bothering him. We still don't know Schwantz motivation or judgment of Hopper's lack of desire. Maybe he's insulting him for being a wuss, or maybe Schwantz is lamenting that big crashes have a tendency to end rider's effectiveness. I think it is the latter b/c Schwantz said he career was effectively ended when he got spooked by Rainey's crash.

Schwantz could even be both angry and regretful.
For me John Hopkins was quite a disappointment.

It just didn't show much desire to me, on John's behalf.

You take it any way that makes you feel all fuzzy, but if a World Champion and mentor was telling the press i lacked desire and was quite disappointing, one of 2 things would happen. I would kick his ... if i thought he was being overly critical and didnt know what the .... he was talking about, or, i would take a long look in the mirror to see if he is telling it like it is. It will be interesting to see Hoppers response to this.

To be fair, i did find this. Pin tip hole in coolant line under a clamp.

http://www.teamhammer.com/News/Article/?ARTICLE_ID=454

I did think it was cool that Hopkins pulled in on the last laps of the CSS races, not wanting to steal some kids thunder, only to have his .... head teammates stay out and steal the kids thunder.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (povol @ Mar 19 2010, 11:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Maybe im a little hard on John, but he has not shown any fire in his gut to date.
Bit harsh considering he's had two races so far, both of which his machine took a dump.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (povol @ Mar 19 2010, 02:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>For me John Hopkins was quite a disappointment.

It just didn't show much desire to me, on John's behalf.

You take it any way that makes you feel all fuzzy, but if a World Champion and mentor was telling the press i lacked desire and was quite disappointing, one of 2 things would happen. I would kick his ... if i thought he was being overly critical and didnt know what the .... he was talking about, or, i would take a long look in the mirror to see if he is telling it like it is. It will be interesting to see Hoppers response to this.
My guess is fill the tub with hundreds and have a bath.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Austin @ Mar 19 2010, 08:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>My guess is fill the tub with hundreds and have a bath.