Kawasaki's John Hopkins has been ruled out of tomorrow's Dutch TT at Assen, after sustaining a fractured left ankle and suspected compression injuries to his left knee in a high-speed crash during this afternoon's qualifying session.

The 25-year-old Anglo-American lost the front of his Ninja ZX-RR under braking for the left-hander at turn 12, one of the fastest corners on the Assen circuit, in the closing minutes of the timed session. Hopkins managed to separate himself from his sliding Ninja ZX-RR, but sustained the injuries to his left leg when he collided with the tyre wall on the outside of the corner.

The initial assessment in the Clinica Mobile was that Hopkins would be out of action for at least 20 days, but the Kawasaki pilot will return to Los Angeles tomorrow for a further medical examination by Doctor Art Ting. Only once full extent of his injuries is known will a decision be made as to whether Hopkins will return to action at the next race in Sachsenring, which takes place in just two weeks time.

Teammate Anthony West, who has struggled to recapture the form he found last time out at Donington Park, has suffered with cornering troubles around the technical 4.555km Circuit van Drenthe. The 26-year old had looked strong throughout the wet practice this morning, but with the clouds clearing for the afternoon, the dry conditions brought no joy to the Australian racer.

Despite overcoming some of the traction problems that hampered him in the opening part of the season with a new base setting, a frustrated West has found it difficult to turn his Ninja ZX-RR at high speeds, leaving him on the sixth row of the grid in 16th position.

As the sole Kawasaki starter for tomorrow’s Grand Prix, West will be fighting to repeat the top ten finish he achieved last weekend at Donington Park.