Sachsenring, Germany

Valentino Rossi's record recovery from injury, taking just 41 days to return to racing after breaking his tibia and fibula at Mugello, appears to have brought out the competitive spirit in Randy de Puniet. The Frenchman suffered a similar injury to Rossi's, fracturing his tibia and fibula in a race crash involving Mika Kallio at the Sachsenring, ironically, the very race that Rossi made his return at. Now, De Puniet is targeting a return just 26 days after his accident, two full weeks earlier.

De Puniet was luckier than Rossi, as his fractures were not compound and that the bones did not puncture the skin. But a return to active service so shortly after the injury is almost unheard of, and hard to believe it is medically possible. De Puniet had a large titanium pin inserted into his tibia, to fix the bone, and has since been undergoing treatment using the same hyperbaric chamber therapy that Rossi used to help speed his recovery. In addition to the hyperbaric chamber, De Puniet also used ultrasound to help the bones knit together better. As the LCR Honda rider is already walking without crutches, and is back in the gym working on his fitness program, De Puniet believes he will be fit enough to race at Brno a week on Sunday.

Jorge Lorenzo's huge engine blow-up during qualifying at the Sachsenring showed the extent to which manufacturers are finding the limits with engine life, but Yamaha's problems are nothing compared to Suzuki's. The Rizla Suzuki riders are heading rapidly towards the end of their allocation of six engines to last the season, with Alvaro Bautista already having taken his 5th engine so far, while Loris Capirossi is nearing that moment very quickly. After just 8 of the 18 races, it is clear that there is no way that Suzuki is going to make it through to the end of the season without taking a penalty.

According to Motorcycle News' Matt Birt, the pressure on Suzuki is about to be eased. MCN is reporting that the manufacturers have agreed to give Suzuki an extra three engines per rider, to ensure they make it to the end of the year without incurring a penalty. To take such a penalty once - starting from pit lane 10 seconds after the rest of the field have started - might have been overlooked, but Suzuki was on schedule to have one of their riders starting from pit lane almost every race from Indianapolis onwards. With an allocation of nine engines instead of six, MotoGP's smallest and least well-funded factory has a chance to make it to Valencia without being forced to use engines outside of the imposed limits.