BARROS ON THE THIRD ROW AT SACHSENRING GP, DIFFICULT QUALIFYING
SESSION FOR HOFMANN
 Under
bright sunshine and scorching track temperatures, the Pramac
Dántin riders took to the track for the second day
of the Grand Prix of Germany.
Alex Barros, still in pain from the yesterday morning’s
crash, performed superbly and will start the race from the
third row alongside the Factory Ducati of Loris Capirossi.
The Brazilian rider had hoped for something more at this racetrack,
but is justifiably happy with his qualifying result that was
remarkably set using Bridgestone race tires instead of the
qualifying rubber. Even more, the time was set while riding
with a right hand injury that made hard braking and delicate
throttle control very difficult, something that the tight
and technical Sachsenring circuit demands. With the race set-up
of his Desmosedici well defined, Barros brings considerable
confidence to the starting grid for tomorrow’s race.
Alex Hofmann, however, was unable to improve late in the
qualifying session and will begin the race on a mission to
salvage as many positions and points as possible as he tries
to remain close to 2006 MotoGP World Champion, Nicky Hayden,
in the overall points classification.
Alex Barros (1’22.897 – 26 laps):
“First of all, I would to thank all the Clinica Mobile
medical staff who have given me a lot of help since yesterday’s
crash. This morning, as I was about to leave the garage for
the morning free practice, I felt a strong pain in my hand
and I had to stop my practice session and go to the Clinical
Mobile. They did a great job, and I was able to contest my
Qualifying practice in the afternoon in much better shape.
This afternoon I had hoped I could do a little better, but
I’m quite satisfied because a third row start isn’t
so bad, and with my hand condition I couldn’t do more.
The thing that makes me confident is that I did my best lap
times with race tires, so we are well positioned to have a
good race. Now I hope to have a good start and that my hand
won’t be hurting too much; but as I have already said,
I have a lot of faith in the medical staff’s ability,
and I’m sure that I will be able to ride as hard as
possible.”
Alex Hofmann (1’23.199 – 21 laps):
“I’m not very happy - my result wasn’t good
and tomorrow will be a difficult race for me. This afternoon
we started the qualifying session well, and with the race
set-up we had a solid race pace, but when we dropped the qualifying
tires on, I wasn’t able to improve my times as much
as I wanted to. My grid position is really a penalty for this
race, because this track doesn’t offer a lot of places
to overtake. I hope to finish the race in the top-ten, but
I know that will be very difficult for me, because my hand
isn’t completely healed.
Official Times:
1° Casey Stoner: 1'22.384
2° Dani Pedrosa: 1’22.388
3° Marco Melandri: 1’22.397
4° Randy de Puniet: 1’22.539
5° John Hopkins: 1’22.561
8° Alex Barros: 1’22.897
16°Alex Hofmann: 1’23.199
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