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Kawasaki Alex Hofmann, who missed several races earlier in the year after injuring his wrist, will be absent from the next two rounds of the MotoGP World Championship after breaking his ankle during Sunday's Japanese Grand prix at Motegi.
From 12th on the grid Hofmann was shuffled back in an early battle for track position, settling into 16th position - right behind Camel Honda's Tohru Ukawa and D'Antin Ducati's Roby Rolfo.
On lap 3 Hofmann tried to squeeze up the inside of Ukawa's RCV, but collided with Rolfo in the turn, sending both riders tumbling into the gravel trap. The German underwent treatment in the circuit medical centre as a result of the fall and was diagnosed with a broken bone in his left ankle.
The 25-year-old will fly to Munich tomorrow (Monday), where he will undergo surgery on his fractured ankle. While he is certain to miss the next two races in Malaysia and Qatar, Hofmann hopes to make his racing return at the Australian Grand Prix, which is just one month away.
"I'm absolutely devastated; yet another disaster and another stupid injury," he sighed. "We just don't have the top speed with our bike to overtake on the straights, so we have to pass into the turns on the brakes. But even then you have to make up at least 20 metres on the brakes before you're even close enough to pass.
"I went up the inside of Ukawa into the corner and I had no other option but to go under Roby as well, as he'd run wide of the apex. Unfortunately, he didn't know I was there and turned in right in front of me; we collided and both ended up in the gravel.
"I'm sorry for Roby, he did nothing wrong. I guess I will just have to wait and see what the doctors in Munich say about my ankle, but I'm fairly confident that a return to racing at Phillip Island will be possible," he added.
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Further down the field Alex Hofmann crashed with Roby Rolfo, the German sustaining a broken ankle. He will be replaced for the immediate future by Olivier Jacque. The evidence suggests the Kawasaki man was to blame but the incident was not investigated. We're already missing Bayliss, Ellision has a nasty elbow injury that prevented him from racing today, and Team Roberts will only be back for Valencia.
Who could be put on Melandri's bike for the next two weekends (at least) given that the World and British Superbike Championships still have two weeks to run so Honda's young hot shots Kiyonari and Vermeulen aren't available for a MotoGP try out? The usual suspect Tohru Ukawa is apparently unavailable due to testing commitments, but that might change. The fields could be a bit thin in Malaysia and Qatar but the internecine politics of the Spanish and Italian teams will provide plenty of entertainment for the paddock.
By the way perennial underdogs Loris Capirossi, Ducati and Bridgestone won the race.
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