AMA's Jake Zemke to Replace John Hopkins at Monza WSBK

WSBK Press Release

American Formula Extreme Champion Jake Zemke will get a chance to ride in a World Superbike race after the Stiggy Racing Honda squad confirmed that he will replace the injured John Hopkins at the Monza race this weekend.

Stiggy team boss Johan Stigefelt was left with a headache after the recent injury to relatively new signing Hopkins but the ambitions of both team and Zemke have now been married up for the Monza race, although the fast American cannot ride at Kyalami the following weekend due to a clash with his existing AMA series commitments.

If, and only if, Hopkins in unfit to race at the Miller Motorsports Park round at the end of May, Zemke is also down to substitute for Hopkins.
For rider and team the choice of Zemke ticks a lot of pre-race boxes. Jake has made no secret of his desire to try his hand at World Superbike and heaped praise on both the Stiggy team, his own Erion Honda squad in America and WSB as a series in his pre-race comments.

"I am extremely excited to race for the Stiggy Racing Honda team this weekend," said Zemke. "They have a first rate team and have had some excellent results. I would like to wish Hopper a quick recovery and thank him and the team for the opportunity to make my first World Superbike start. I also have to thank my current team, Erion Honda and my sponsors for their support. The WSBK Championship is the most competitive championship there is, and making my start in the series is the next step in my career. I have been successful racing on America, but am really looking forward to joining the World Superbike paddock. The field is very fast and deep. The Monza track has a deep history of racing, and I know how passionate the Italian people are about racing. I know the odds will be against us, learning a new bike, new track, new tyres, but I will give it my all at Monza for the Stiggy Racing Honda team."

‘Stiggy' is delighted to have such an experienced rider as Zemke to call on for this race. "I know that Jake has been trying for a while to get a decent chance to come to Europe and race within the Superbike World Championship, and I am very happy that we can be the team to provide him that chance," said the Swede. "It is a tough championship, and it will not be easy to jump straight into the action at a track you have never been on before, but Jake has a lot of experience and knows the Honda bikes very well. Our team has a lot to offer him and I think we will be able to get him on the pace quickly."