ALEX BARROS RETIRES WITH ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS, ALEX HOFMANN
FINISHES ELEVENTH
A difficult weekend concludes that sees a lone five points
scored by Alex Hofmann who finished strongly in eleventh place
here in Misano. Alex Barros, riding a brilliant race and making
a comeback from seventeenth on the grid and fighting for sixth
place regrettably dropped out of the race with an electrical
problem. The German pilot continues to heal from his accident
in Laguna Seca, and rode a solid race, making time lap after
lap and having a great battle with Shinya Nakano, ultimately
losing in the final laps when his hand had lost strength under
hard braking.
Alex Barros (DNF). “This morning we
set the bike up to have a great race, and as we showed from
the start, I was making up positions and was looking good
to have a good result with my Ducati. It’s such a pity
that a n electrical problem forced me to quit and ruined all
the work we did this weekend. I’m very unhappy with
what happened, and I’m sorry for the team. We’ll
do our best to put everything back the way it should be and
get some points in Estoril.".
Alex Hofmann. (11th. 45´24,01). "Though
I feel like I had a great race, I’m not happy at all
by the results. This was one of the most physically difficult
races I’ve ever had in my life, and even though I was
able to pass Nakano in the final laps, my hand was giving
out and under hard braking I lost the position back to Shinya.
We’re looking forward to a little rest before Estoril,
where we’re going to come out swinging and see what
we can do.".
Luis d’Antin (General Manager).”
It has been a complicated weekend for us, but it actually
could have finished well for Barros if not for the electrical
failure. It’s sad because Barros was looking like he
could have nailed sixth place or even better. I’m sorry
for him, the technicians, and above all, the whole team –
but these are the races. Hofmann clearly demonstrated his
physical abilities, coming back from such a serious hand injury
and showing that he was going to fight all the way until the
checkered flag! The Hoff almost got into the Top Ten, but
Shinya is a good rider, too, and that’s just how it
goes. The next race we will be ready to fight with everything
we’ve got.”.
Race Classification:
1º Casey Stoner 44´37,72
2º Chris Vermeulen 44´39,57
3º John Hopkins 44´50,72
4º Marco Melandri 44´57,72
5º Loris Capirossi 44´59,50
11º Alex Hofmann 45´24,01
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