FIVE WEEK RECOVERY TIME FOR ALEX HOFMANN AFTER PRACTICE CRASH Hofmann underwent surgery yesterday afternoon following an incident in the morning free practice session in which he was caught up in a collision with Sylvain Guintoli. After the crash, the German rider was transported by helicopter to the Surgery Centre South in San Francisco where he spent the night before returning to Monterey on Saturday morning. The operation, carried out by Doctor Arthur J.Ting, was complex and lasted three hours, in which a metal plate and fifteen screws were required to reconstruct the broken metacarpus of Hofmann’s left hand. Although initial estimates suggest Hofmann will require five weeks to recover from his injuries, it is hoped that he will make a return to racing action at the Czech Republic GP in Brno in mid-August. Alex Hofmann: This kind of break is really painful and at this moment I haven’t recovered all feeling in my hand and I don’t know exactly how much time I will need to recover completely. My physiotherapist says that I will need at least five weeks to come back one hundred percent, but the only sure thing is that I will return to action as soon as I am physically able. I am trying to be confident, but in this condition it is very difficult. Furthermore, there is the possibility that I could have some problems with infection; after the crash yesterday morning, I had to stay too long at the side of the track because the ambulance could not arrive to pick me up. Doctor Arthur J. Ting: Alex has a very bad fracture and, to be able to put the screws in his hand, I had to enlarge his wound because the break wasn’t compound. Of course he will have strong pain for a long time, but in my opinion, he will start again to ride already in the next race in Brno.