John Hopkins began racing at the age of 4 and at age 17, won the AMA 750cc Supersport Championship, becoming AMA Formula Xtreme Champion a year later. The American hit the MotoGP stage with Red Bull Yamaha in 2002 on 500cc machinery, then moved to Suzuki on a four-stroke GSV-R the next year. A first pole at Assen in 2006 forecasted a successful 2007 season, in which he took his first podium at Shanghai; the first of 3 more that year. Hopkins moved to Kawasaki in 2008 and remained until the end of 2009 when the manufacturer left MotoGP. In 2011, he replaced Alvaro Bautista at the Jerez GP, finishing 10th, then made 2 more appearances with Suzuki as a wildcard but did not make either start due to sever hand injury.