“I'm now 100% focused on Malaysia, especially as it's a track I enjoy. We had a positive test there in January before I got injured, and I'm confident that we've made some big steps forward since then. I think we can go there and be quite competitive, but it will also be nice to race in some warmer weather,” John Hopkins, who's currently 17th in the overall standings, told Moto-Live.
Both Kawasaki riders expressed their hopes to get a good result in Malaysia and admitted that they are extremely determined to finish among the top ten riders.
“I qualified well in Malaysia last year, although it's not a circuit I have specific feelings about either way. I made a stupid mistake in the race when I lined up on the wrong grid position, although we had been well on the pace all weekend and it could have possibly been the best result of the year for me. It would be great if I could repeat the pace I had in qualifying last season, but I feel a little unsure of what we can realistically achieve, as it's been tough going in the last few races. Hopefully the Malaysian heat will work to our advantage and we can put ourselves back in the top ten,” Hopkins teammate Anthony West added.
However, Sepang is mostly known as a tough circuit for riders, their motorcycles and tires which are said to receive a higher usage due to the high ground-level temperature so getting into the race without a correctly-configured motorcycle would only be a waste of time.
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