US MotoGP: Alex Hofmann out of Laguna Seca MotoGP after practice crash

Alex Hofmann has been ruled out of Sunday’s American MotoGP race in Laguna Seca after suffering a serious left hand injury in this morning’s free practice session.

Just ten minutes of the opening session had elapsed when French rider Sylvain Guintoli, who is making his first appearance at the spectacular California track, torpedoed Hofmann at the top of the Corkscrew.

The German rider suffered a broken left hand after his arm got trapped between the two bikes as both careered into the gravel trap. He has been taken by helicopter to San Fransisco to undergo surgery this afternoon and has been definitely ruled out of Sunday’s 32-lap race.
The session was red flagged with 26 minutes remaining to let an ambulance onto the circuit to transfer Hofmann to the circuit medical centre. His left hand was heavily bandaged.

Marco Melandri was just passing Hofmann under braking for the Corkscrew when out of nowhere Guintoli, who appeared to completely miss his braking marker for the tricky downhill left-hander, struck him at high speed on the left-hand side.

It is the second time in two weeks that the luckless Hofmann has broken a hand. He was struggling for full fitness having raced in last weekend’s German GP in the Sachsenring with a broken right hand he suffered in a freak accident. He needed a plate and seven screws in the right hand after a friend shut it in a car door!
He will be fit to return to action after the summer break in the Czech Republic MotoGP clash in Brno on August 19.