From a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team:

MOTOGP 2003
ROUND 3 – JEREZ, SPAIN
6 MAY 2003 – EVENT PREVIEW
ALEX HOFMANN RETURNS TO RACING
Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team – Preview Spanish Grand Prix

After visiting the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Barcelona as a special guest of Germany’s RTL television station, Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team test rider Alex Hofmann is in the right mood for his own return to racing action. The 22-year-old German, who went through an extensive tyre testing schedule over the course of the past six months, will enter this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez aboard his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR, one of up to six MotoGP races that are planned for Hofmann this year.

“It was quite an experience to be in the Formula 1 paddock. The professionalism, the organization and the money spent are just overwhelming. I also had a chance to explain the differences between F1 and MotoGP racing in a television interview. The top speed of the best F1 cars happened to be exactly the same as the best speed during the official Barcelona MotoGP test session in March. That gave me a chance to explain the difference in corner speed. The F1 cars are much faster thanks to their aerodynamics and to their tyre width, but we make up for it with our looks – a racing motorcycle at full lean angle with the rider’s knee scraping along the kerbs is definitely a more spectacular sight!

“The line-up of luxurious motorhomes and hospitalities is impressive, but it’s not easy to have a chat and to get in touch with the drivers. Seeing a Formula 1 Grand Prix made me realize how much I feel at home in the motorcycle paddock, and how open and friendly the atmosphere is during a MotoGP weekend. I haven’t raced since the German Grand Prix on the Sachsenring last year, where I finished tenth as a replacement rider on a 500 two-stroke. After more than 20 days and 4000 kilometers of testing, I can’t wait to race in Jerez. My goal is to challenge my colleagues within the green force, and, with a little luck, to take some points!”

Despite steady improvements on the all-new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR, Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team riders Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt finished outside the point rankings in this season’s two races so far, but managed to narrow the gap to the fastest machines in this year’s highly competitive MotoGP line-up.

“We are getting closer. We have improved our lap times wherever we went, and even though we finished just out of the points at the last race in South Africa, we found a promising new chassis set-up and established a good base from which to work on at the European Grands Prix”, says Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team manager Harald Eckl. “For the Spanish Grand Prix, Dunlop will come up with a new generation of tyres that are based on the test data gathered in Jerez, and on the two MotoGP races so far. The Kawasaki engineers will supply us with new parts for the chassis. I’m confident that we can make another step forward, in terms of bike development as much as lap times and results!”


Editorial Note: Other Jerez wild cards announced by the FIM include 250cc class competitors Luis Manuel Castro of Spain, Alvaro Molina of Spain, Javier del Amor of Spain, Gregory Leblanc of France and Angel Rodriguez of Spain; and 125cc class racers (all from Spain) David Bonache, Sergio Gadea, Ruben Catalan and Ismael Ortega.

Each MotoGP event may include up to five wild cards for the 125cc class, six wild cards for the 250cc class and two wild cards for the MotoGP class.