There he sat at a table, his new wife Ashleig alongside, inside the Knothole Club V.I.P. area inside Angel Stadium in rainy Anaheim, California for the opening round of the 2008 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series. He was there to relax, see some old racing buddies and to take in some action from his beloved sport of supercross (a sport he actually rides extremely well). He was enjoying himself and getting his last breath of fresh air before embarking on a jam packed testing schedule which will see him bounce back and forth between Malaysia and Australia, all to get ready to make a genuine run at the 2008 MotoGP World Championship. Having placed fourth in the 2007 title chase — pulling down four podiums and five other top five finishes for the Rizla Suzuki outfit in the process — Hopkins took a leap of faith in the off-season, switching allegiances to longtime benefactor Suzuki to the upstart Kawasaki Racing Team. To his way of seeing things, the time had come to start winning races and with them, a World Championship. Believing Kawasaki would provide the proper tool in the form of the Ninja ZX-RR to get the job done, Hopkins was both confident and optimistic about the 2008 season. A longtime buddy of ours who we knew would soon be leaving town, we sat down with him and fired questions at him about all things pat, present and future.

John, what have you been up to?
Right now I’m actually right in the middle of moving. I’m moving all our stuff from Menifee to our new house is Rancho Santa Fe, California.

How much longer will you be in California?
Juts fro another two weeks.

And then you’re off to Sepang for the first MotoGP test of 2008, correct?
Exactly. I leave on the 18th.

How has your off-season been? Did you get to catch your breath at all?
No, man, not at all! It’s been the craziest off-season of my lifetime. From the second I got home Spain, it’s been flat-out. Straight after Valencia (The Gran Premio De La Comunitat Valeciana on November 4, 2007) it was flat-out into testing. My fiancé stayed behind while I went full-bore in testing to get the new Kawasaki up to spec. I was in Europe the entire month of November. Them, the days from December first through December 15, were spent getting ready for the wedding. Then we drove to Vegas for the wedding and that was it.

How was the wedding?
Man, it was a big party. Colin Edwards and his wife were there; my team manager was there (Note: John Bartholemy); and then there was my family from England and my wife’s family from England. The wedding was right next to the pool and it was no white chapel wedding.

The Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Man, what a place to have a wedding…
Yeah, even the bachelor party was great. We rented out the Bowling Room.

I’ve been in there. That’s the big penthouse on top of the place with the bowling alley, right?
Yeah, it was cool. And the best part about the whole thing was that we got most of the rooms comped or at half price.

How did you pull that off?
I’m going to run a Hard Rock patch at three races in 2008.

Do you know at which three races?
Probably both U.S. races and at one race in Europe. It’s really cool they’re sponsoring.

Exactly. What a cool sponsor. Are they up to speed on the sport of MotoGP?
No, not really, but they what kind of spectacle MotoGP is in Europe and they’re trying to attract some revenue from over there to come out here.

After the final Grand Prix in Spain, you hopped right off the Suzuki GSV-R and began getting prepared to test your new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR. How did you feel about things heading into testing?
I was very positive going into all of it. I had followed both Kawasaki riders, Anthony West and Randy De Puniet, all season and could see the bike was smooth and had good power. I knew it was good. I was very confident about the bike.

The very first test was at Valencia on November sixth and seventh. You ended up being the sixth fastest rider. Not bad at all. We’re you pleased with how it all went?
I was a little worried at first. Their team riders, West and De Puniet, have a different riding style than I do. Especially De Puniet. I’m a lot bigger and like to hang off the bike. We started the test of with De Puniet’ set-up and I knew I was going to have to push hard right away. Right away I experienced loads of chatter — chatter the team had never seen. The team was quick to sort it out and basically began changing the geometry of the bike. The team picked up on everything very fast. That’s one thing about the Kawasaki engineers: They are out to build a bike to win. I also experienced clutch problems in Valencia. I didn’t like how the clutch disengaged. When the team came back to test one and a half weeks later in Sepang, they had gotten the clutch to react exactly like I wanted it to.

Could the chatter and geometry problems you experienced in Valencia have been the result of the fact that you were pushing the bike harder than De Puniet or West had when they rode it?
It was not really that. I move around a lot on the bike while Randy just sits in the middle of the machine. We just had to fill in that spot. But maybe I was pushing harder, too. I was trying as hard as I could and maybe I hit the limit.

You and the team then went to the final test of the 2007 season at Jerez, Pain on November 27-29. As far as lap times went, you were in the top 10 there. Was the test confidence inspiring?
Yeah, we went back to Jerez and, yeah, I felt very comfortable. I gave the team all the information and feedback and they headed back to Japan for a month and a half to work their butts off. I have been very happy and confident in them.

Do you feel a good atmosphere within the new team or is it still a bit too early to tell?
It’s a little early, but yeah, it’s been great. I’m a people person, so it’ll be fine. It was tough to leave Suzuki after five years. The team was English and I’m English, so I understood everyone’s sense of humor and all that. The team I’m a part of now is made up of mostly Dutch and German mechanics. However, the atmosphere is really good and all the mechanics work well together. So far, so good.

So now it’s onto Sepang and the first test of 2008?
Yeah, we’ll go to Sepang (Note: On January 21-24) and then on to Australia (January 30 through February 2).

Do you like the Sepang circuit?
I’ve done more laps around that track than at any other. I don’t know… It gets old. I’ve done thousands and thousands of laps around that track. The weather is always the same and the track surface is always the same. I guess it’s a good place to make judgments.

So, thus far, you’re pleased with your decision to leave longtime employer Suzuki for the Kawasaki Racing Team?
Yeah, definitely. I would not have made the switch if it didn’t improve my chances to win. Like I said, I didn’t switch to just switch. I’m going to go flat-out for wins. I mean I could say, “Oh yeah, I have a two-year contract. I have one year to build the bike and make the program for the second year.” Fortunately, I’m not giving myself that luxury. I’m going straight out to win races. I’m going into my seventh year of MotoGP and I’m going in to win races.

If you had to look into a crystal ball, who do you see contending for the 2008 MotoGP World Championship?
[Valentino] Rossi and Casey Stoner. Stoner will be the man to beat. Colin Edwards will be of to a fresh start now that’ll be away from Valentino Rossi’s set-up. But Casey Stoner will be the man to beat. He and his Ducati are a perfect marriage. Yamaha will definitely be there and you can never count Honda out. [Dani] Pedrosa and [Nicky] Hayden will be strong and will be tough this season. Everyone has the same chances to excel; everyone has a level playing field. I think everyone will be a lot closer to Stoner. He won’t run away with it.

When the 2008 season is over and done with, as far as your own performance, what will make you happy?
To get to the top step of the podium and to win the World Championship. If I end up top three in the championship, I’ll be happy. But I will not be internally happy until I’m a World Champion.

- Eric Johnson