**From MCNEWS.COM.AU**

Team Suzuki MotoGP is pleased to announce that they have reached agreement with rider John Hopkins to stay with the team for 2005 where he will continue a two-year association as team-mate to Kenny Roberts Jr.

The contract was signed at the Valencia GP after concluding negotiations that began early in September.

"I'm pretty excited to be staying with Suzuki," said Hopkins.

"The commitment and improvement they have shown over the last year, and that they have promised for next year, makes it a great prospect.

"It will be an exciting season next year with several riders moving to different teams and bikes," the 21-year-old Anglo-American rider said. "Staying with Suzuki is good for me. I'll have the same crew and we have built up a very good working rhythm together.

"It's also exciting because we have a new team manager, Paul Denning, who I met for the first time this weekend. He seems very dedicated and focused on what needs to be done to get Suzuki back on top," said Hopkins.

"Now we have everything agreed, it means that next year is already under way. Now I can concentrate now on the rest of this weekend," he added.

Paul Denning, who takes over management of the factory Suzuki team next year, said: "Suzuki had some hard decisions to make for our rider line-up, for a variety of reasons.

"In the end, we decided that performance had to be the most important criterion and therefore we chose to stay with John.

"He is the youngest rider on the grid and this year we've seen how he has gained experience in his riding and with the Suzuki GSV-R's many technical parameters," he continued.

"We believe John has the potential to be one of MotoGP's brightest future stars and as Suzuki improves, we hope we can grow together," said Denning.