It’s all feeling a bit like a dream to Jamie Hacking. Yesterday they announced it, one week ago he was told it was going to happen, two weeks ago they were only talking about it, three weeks ago he never imagined he would actually get a chance to race in MotoGP. But now it’s reality. Two-time AMA Supersport Champion Hacking will race a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP bike at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. “We had been talking about it,” Hacking told Roadracingworld.com Friday, less than 24 hours after returning from Japan, “but nothing had been really set in stone until Thursday of last week. That’s when I got the word that we were going to Japan to test the bike. Obviously, prior to that we were talking and stuff, but we were waiting on John’s [Hopkins] status.” Hopkins suffered a broken left lower leg when he crashed and slid into a tire wall at the Dutch TT June 27. The full extent of Hopkins’ injury wasn’t learned until last week, and the surgery necessary to repair the injury ruled him out of this weekend’s German Grand Prix and next week’s race at Laguna Seca, Hopkins’ home Grand Prix. “I hate to see John got hurt for his home GP. Obviously, John’s going to miss racing at home, but I hope he gets better,” said Hacking. The Kawasaki MotoGP team considered putting Hacking, his teammate Roger Hayden and Attack Kawasaki’s Chaz Davies on Hopkins’ bike at Laguna Seca. All are Monster-sponsored Kawasa riders with knowledge of Laguna Seca, but Hacking got the nod and was sent to Kawasaki’s test track Auto Polis International Racing Course for a two-day test (July 8-9) to get familiar with the ZX-RR. “It’s a different world,” said Hacking, when asked to compare the ZX-RR to his ZX-10R AMA Superbike. “You wouldn’t think a bike would be that much different to ride, but it is. It’s nowhere near comparable. “It was by far the smallest bike I’ve ever thrown a leg across, but the biggest thing for me was just getting used to the [carbon] brakes and the electronics. It’s unbelievable how strong the brakes are and how smooth the electronics are. The power delivery is really nice. “The hardest thing was trying to get used to not using the clutch and blipping the throttle on the downshifts. I’ve done that so much for so many years, and then I had somebody telling me don’t touch the throttle and don’t touch the clutch at all. Don’t even remotely move them. That was hard. That was tough, at first, just trying to get the bravery up to go in there and just start pulling on that shift lever. If we do that on the Superbike we won’t make the corner. “It’s a lot to learn in two days of riding, but I tried to not mess around with the bike too much on settings. I think I just softened the front fork springs a little bit and changed the rear spring and that was pretty much it. I just got it to where I thought it would work pretty decent for me so I could put in a lot of laps and get familiar with how things work.” In the midst of getting familiar with the 800cc machine and the Bridgestone baseline tires he was riding on, Hacking broke the lap record for the 2.9-mile Auto Polis course, which he had tested at before on other motorcycles. “I had no idea that I [broke the lap record],” said Hacking. “I was basically doing my own thing, you know. The first day I was taking it easy. The second day I stepped it up a bit, and then at the end I wanted to step it up a little bit more and see what we had. I was still being reasonably comfortable. I wasn’t hanging it out or anything like that. Obviously, we went pretty good. “I was doing low-1:49s, but I had no idea where the lap record was. That wasn’t my goal to go there and break the lap record. My goal was to go there and get comfortable on the bike. After the first day, I was familiar with the bike and surprised how comfortable I got on it without hardly changing anything. It was unbelievable. “I’m excited to get to go race it. I feel comfortable enough with the bike that I can push it a little bit and still stay in a comfortable zone. I know Laguna really well. I know where to go on the racetrack. That’s one less thing I have to worry about. Now all I have to do is fine-tune the bike to my settings. There’s a short time to do that, but obviously the crew I’ll be working with knows the bike better than me. So hopefully I’ll give them some good information and we can go from there.” But it won’t just be a pleasure ride for Hacking at Laguna Seca, as he will still race his Monster Energy Kawasaki ZX-10R in the AMA Superbike event, which will require him to jump almost immediately between the two very different machines during the weekend. “It’s going to be tough,” said Hacking. “Like I said, the brakes and the electronics are the hardest things. Everything else I think I can pretty much handle, but the electronics and brakes are going to be the toughest things. The first few laps I’m going to have to really zone in and think about what needs to happen. “But [AMA Superbike] is my main duty. That’s the number one goal. We’re still in a good position to take third place [in the Championship] by the time we leave Laguna. That’s a goal we would like to accomplish there, and to keep our momentum going forward on the Superbike. That’s where all of our focus is.” Finally, we asked Hacking, who has spent his entire career racing in America, if he had given up hope of ever racing in MotoGP. “I don’t think the hope was ever there to race a GP bike,” said Hacking, who started racing with WERA and CCS when he was 23 years old. “I mean, you’re talking to a guy who has worked at McDonald’s. I’ve worked at motorcycle shops. I’ve delivered beer. I’ve worked at a car wash. You’re talking about somebody who’s worked a 9-to-5 job. To have the opportunity to race the premier motorcycle in the entire world against some of the best riders in the world is just something I never dreamed about. I never even dreamed about racing in the AMA Supersport or Superbike Championship. “I’m just honored that they gave me the opportunity to do it. Now it’s a dream, but it was never in my goals to ride a MotoGP bike. At this point in my career and the age I’m at now, I think I’m at the pinnacle of my motorcycle career. I think I’m doing the best anybody could possibly do. I feel I’ve been behind the ball through this whole process. If I had been more experience in this sport when I got into it maybe I could’ve set my goals on GP a lot sooner, but having the opportunity to do this now is the greatest thing to ever happen to me. When they told me I was going to ride the bike it was my birthday [June 30], and I think that’s by far the best birthday present I’ve ever received in my 37 years of living. It’s an honor. My main thing is to go out and have a good time, make these guys proud and put in a good result for the U.S. fans.”