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posted April 15, 2005 04:24 AM
Broken wrist for Hoffman Kawasaki's Alex Hofmann will not race in this weekend's Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril after being diagnosed with a fractured scaphoid in his left wrist, sustained in a crash during a pre-event promotion in Estoril on Wednesday afternoon.
The 24-year-old German rider was taking part in an organised MotoGP parade at Estoril's seafront casino when he was highsided from his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR and landed heavily on his wrist.
Initially it was thought that Hofmann had only suffered bruising and swelling, but an x-ray taken today, once the swelling had reduced sufficiently, confirmed that the Kawasaki rider had fractured his scaphoid, together with another small bone in his wrist.
Unable to grip the handlebars of his Ninja ZX-RR properly as a result of the injury, the Kawasaki Racing Team made the decision to withdraw Hofmann from the event, rather than risking further injury by him riding when not fully fit.
Understandably, given his impressive performance in the opening race of the season at Jerez just five days ago, Hofmann is devastated not to be racing this weekend.
"I am so disappointed and frustrated," declared Hofmann. "After last weekend's result at Jerez, I was so looking forward to coming here and scoring another good finish. I just can't believe that a silly mistake during a promotional event has left me unable to race this weekend, and facing a real fight back to fitness for the next race in China."
"If there were any way I could race then I'd definitely be out there, but the scaphoid fracture makes it difficult to hold the handlebars at a standstill, never mind at race pace. Estoril is a very physical track and my wrist simply isn't up to the job of muscling the bike around here."
"Too many top racers have ended their careers through coming back too early after fracturing their scaphoid, which is why we decided that the best course of action would be to withdraw from this weekend's race, rather than risk further injury. Although I'm devastated to be missing the Portuguese Grand Prix, I need to put this weekend behind me and focus completely on getting myself back to full fitness for the race in Shanghai in two weeks' time," added a very dejected Hofmann.
"For a motorcycle racer, a fractured scaphoid is a serious injury," explained Kawasaki Team Coordinator, Michael Bartholemy. "It leaves the rider unable to grip the handlebars properly and makes controlling a bike as powerful as the Ninja ZX-RR at such a physical circuit as Estoril very difficult indeed."
"Also, if the scaphoid doesn't heal properly then it can cause problems for a rider in the future. Obviously we want Alex to recover fully from this injury, which is why we made the decision to withdraw him from this weekend's event, to give the fracture a better chance of healing before the next race."
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82 Gpz750, 84 Ninja 900, 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy Big Bore Kit), *another* 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy custom stroke crank 1341cc motor), 2004 ZZR1200, 2005 ZX10R, 2007 ZX14, 2008 Concours 14, 2014 Versys 650, 2014 Yamaha WR450F, 2015 Ninja H2
posted April 17, 2005 06:11 PM
That was a bone head move for sure on Kawasaki's part! I can't understant why these things are allowed in their contracts. WEIRD ____________
"Ya Gotta Have Big Ones!"
Needs a life
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posted April 18, 2005 03:46 AM
What the fuck does Kawasaki have to do with it? Harold Eckl owns and manages the race team, not Kawasaki. It's a publicity thing, pure and simple, and it was a freak accident. I just don't get your point of view...
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82 Gpz750, 84 Ninja 900, 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy Big Bore Kit), *another* 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy custom stroke crank 1341cc motor), 2004 ZZR1200, 2005 ZX10R, 2007 ZX14, 2008 Concours 14, 2014 Versys 650, 2014 Yamaha WR450F, 2015 Ninja H2
posted April 18, 2005 07:45 AM
The point is the "represent" a huge company and that is the point. Whether Harol Eckl owns it or not there should be rules on how they conduct themselves now that just became a huge emarassment fror them all. IMHO?!?
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posted April 19, 2005 07:00 AM
You still don't get it. It's a publicity thing for the race teams and MotoGP. Who are you trying to blame? Why do you feel the need to assign blame? Do you need to point your finger at someone/thing for everything that happens?
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82 Gpz750, 84 Ninja 900, 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy Big Bore Kit), *another* 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy custom stroke crank 1341cc motor), 2004 ZZR1200, 2005 ZX10R, 2007 ZX14, 2008 Concours 14, 2014 Versys 650, 2014 Yamaha WR450F, 2015 Ninja H2
quote:You still don't get it. It's a publicity thing for the race teams and MotoGP. Who are you trying to blame?
I'm just basicially saying how these antics quite often fuck up people and their chances of potential winning etc. Race bikes should stay on race tracks. I think proffessional athetes should not take unnessecary risks of any sort when they are "under conract" I just have a hard time beliveing that Kawasaki would allow this use of their very expensive race machinery. That's all (No Blame) Just lets hope someone learns from this.
I'm just sad that we will now only see 1 Kaw Moto GP machine out there. See this from the Moto GP site:
"Apr 18, 2005
From a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team:
Kawasaki's Alex Hofmann will be forced to sit out the next two Grand Prix races in China and France as a result of the injuries sustained when he was highsided from his Ninja ZX-RR during a promotional event ahead of the Portuguese Grand Prix."
What a piss of .......... sorry I have to vent!!!
I'll bet $$ that all teams will change their ideas on this potentially dangerous and embarrasing shit.!!!
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posted April 15, 2005 04:24 AM
