The tenth round of the MotoGP World Championship began in Germany today, with both Riders suffering injuries and misfortune throughout the first day of free practice.
Alex Barros had a horrific highside in the morning session which resulted in a deep gash to his right hand after being caught under the motorcycle as they slid down the track. When they reached the gravel trap, the bike then flipped over Barros once again and somersaulted four times before coming to a rest. Barros was able to reach the Clinica Mobile medical center almost immediately, and their doctors performed an amazing job of halting the damage which enabled the Brazilian to ride later that afternoon. The afternoon practice session went much better for Barros, as he continued to test various settings an d ultimately set a fast laptime of 1’53.548 that gave everyone hope for a competitive race pace on Sunday.
Earlier in the week, Alex Hofmann was also struck by bad luck when he experienced a bizarre auto accident that required surgery to his right hand. Despite the swelling and discomfort, Hofmann was able to ride today, and he is sure to give his very all at his home race, riding his Ducati Desmosedici with superb determination.
Alex Barros (1’23.548 – 22 laps): “I’m satisfied with this afternoon’s result, especially considering the heavy crash I had in the morning. The bike is working well now, and I’ve got a good feeling thanks to the adjustments we made this afternoon. I was able to ride with confidence during the second session, and p ush for a good race pace. Unfortunately I couldn’t try too many things, because after my fall in the morning I lost almost all of the first free practice session. I don’t really know what happened, but I’m quite sure that the bike had some kind of problem. From the first turn I felt that something was a little off, but I continued on the lap. When I arrived at the fastest turn on the track, the bike slipped out from under me and I went down hard. It was a bad accident because my right hand was trapped under the bike, and as we slid off track I lost some meat from my right hand. In this case I would like to say thanks to the clinica mobile’s doctors for the excellent job they did. I’ve now got stiches and a rubber tube inserted to relieve the pressure and fluid build-up in my hand, and because of this, I was able to get back out on the track today. When I first got up from the crash, I knew I had hurt my hand pretty badly, and after I took off my glove, I thought I wouldn’t be able to ride. I’m in pain, but I’m a warrior, and I’m happy to be able to continue racing this weekend.
Alex Hofmann (1’23.856 – 21 laps): “I wanted to be at top condition for this race, but last week I had a strange accident to my right hand and now I can’t ride like I want to. In spite of this, I’m just happy to be riding, because I wasn’t sure I would be able to compete this weekend. This is my home race, and for me it’s very important to be here on track. Fortunately, after an operation, my hand isn’t so bad and thanks to my physiotherapy I can ride without too many difficulties. Today we didn’t make a lot of laps because we wanted to fully understand my physical condition first, but in the end it was a positive day bec ause we found a good base set-up that gives me confidence. I’m sure that tomorrow we will improve.
Official Times:1° Casey Stoner: 1’22.737
2° Valentino Rossi: 1’23.083
3° Dani Pedrosa: 1’23.366
4° Silvayn Giuntoli: 1’23.387
5° Carlos Checa: 1’23.413
7° Alex Barros: 1’23.54813° Alex Hofmann: 1’23.856
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