John Hopkins Nurburgring 2009 crash

THIS IS the moment Stiggy Honda man John Hopkins was run over on the opening lap of the first race at the Nurburgring during the eleventh leg of this year's World Superbike series.

The Anglo-American was knocked unconscious during the incident, which left him with severe bruising to his upper body. Luckily the former MotoGP man suffered no serious injury.

After the incident Hopkins said:

“My day started off well and my crew found a good set-up for the machine in the warm-up session and I managed to improve my pace. I was confident going into the race. I knew the start would be tough and I had to be somewhere tactical to get myself into the top 10 by the end of the first lap. I ran a bit wide coming out of turn one and then got hit from behind in the second turn and high-sided into Broc Parkes. I was unconscious for 10 minutes before waking up in the ambulance. A bike ran over my chest, but apart from that I have no serious injuries. I just hope my luck will turn around soon."