Alex thanks Alex

Alex Hofmann has paid tribute to experienced D’Antin Ducati team-mate Alex Barros, as the German was the big surprise on the second day of testing in Phillip Island.

Hofmann was fifth quickest in Australia with a best time of 1.30.60 on race tyres that was just 0.3s behind Loris Capirossi, who was quickest on race rubber today.

And Hofmann reckons he’s already learning a lot from new team-mate Barros, who topped the timesheets today with a best of 1.30.01, though the Brazilian used to a Bridgestone qualifying tyre to set his best lap.

Hofmann said: “It’s good to have Alex around. The guy has got so much experience and done more GPs than anybody else.”

“Alex was wearing a T-shirt that marked his 250th GP the other day and I asked him about it, and he said: ‘Yeah, and this is about three-years-old. Having somebody like him helps me to pick up speed, get some information I’m feeling pretty confident going into the season.”