Hopkins: Kawasaki ready for next step

The American, who improved his speed consistently throughout the three days of action to end the final day fifth overall, is sure that the team are heading in the right direction with their Ninja ZX-RR

"I'm happy with how things have gone, and I leave this test pretty motivated for the next," said Hopkins. "Overall I'm really pleased with the bike; we have a couple of small things to address, but we've now got a clear understanding of what our goal is and where we need to be, and I think we're ready to make the next step.

"I was pretty pleased with the first race simulation on the bike; the traction control works really well, so I didn't have to adapt my riding style so much to compensate for the drop off in grip as the tyres started to go off towards the end. This is a big positive.

"Now I'm looking forward to getting to Phillip Island. I followed Randy (de Puniet) in the race there (last year), and the Kawasaki looked to be working well, now we need to take it to the next level.

"It's another new track for me on the Kawasaki, and I hope the test in Australia will turn out to be as positive as these last three days in Malaysia have been."

As well as working on this year's bike, Kawasaki also showed that development on long-term projects is well underway when test rider Tamaki Serizawa completed the first public laps of a new screamer version of the ZX-RR.

The bike, which proved a big attraction for onlookers, will be used again during the next Sepang test in February.