Various sources are reporting that Alex Hoffman has been discharged from the Pramac d'Antin Ducati MotoGP team. This action was taken in the wake of yesterday's Estoril MotoGP race where Hoffman voluntarily quit the race citing a lack of motivation to circulate around the track in last place. Possible replacements include long-time d'Antin rider Ivan Silva, who substituted for Hoffman at the Brno round, and Brit Chaz Davies who stood in at Laguna Seca.

Even the most dedicated MotoGP writer needs a break now and then, and for your humble scribe, that means now. I'm off to Italy for the next 3 weeks, to savor the fantastic food, enjoy the amazing scenery, ride my motorcycle round the superb mountain roads, and visit as many motorcycle meccas as possible.

Viewed strictly objectively, MotoGP is an incredibly repetitious exercise. Every other Wednesday, the whole circus rolls into another race paddock, spends a day transforming empty pit boxes into racing garages, erecting luxury hospitality units and getting ready to race. Over the next three days, a bunch of riders spend several hours riding the same short piece of tarmac over and over and over again, trying to brake at exactly the same spot with exactly the same force again and again, and get on the gas at exactly the same point coming out of the corners time after time.

Viewed strictly objectively, MotoGP is an incredibly repetitious exercise. Every other Wednesday, the whole circus rolls into another race paddock, spends a day transforming empty pit boxes into racing garages, erecting luxury hospitality units and getting ready to race. Over the next three days, a bunch of riders spend several hours riding the same short piece of tarmac over and over and over again, trying to brake at exactly the same spot with exactly the same force again and again, and get on the gas at exactly the same point coming out of the corners time after time.

You were just ahead of me, Jim. I was typing a story about that just as you were posting the press release:

http://blogger.xs4all.nl/daisy/archive/2007/09/17/295928.aspx

As predicted in an earlier story, Alex Hofmann has been sacked by the Pramac d'Antin team. The team was angered by Hofmann's decision to pull into the pits while trailing the field, citing a lack of motivation after being forced to start on his spare bike from pit lane. The decision means the end of the German's active MotoGP career, although he is believed to be in discussions with a number of teams to race in World Superbike next year.

The Pramac d'Antin team had a difficult weekend at Estoril, with Alex Barros forced to retire due to mechanical failure, and Alex Hofmann pulling in after being forced to switch to his B bike after the warm up lap, and starting from the pits. As a result, Hofmann found himself 6 seconds adrift of the pack after the second lap, and gave up trying to catch the group ahead after lap 11, pulling into the pits.

The Pramac d'Antin team had a difficult weekend at Estoril, with Alex Barros forced to retire due to mechanical failure, and Alex Hofmann pulling in after being forced to switch to his B bike after the warm up lap, and starting from the pits. As a result, Hofmann found himself 6 seconds adrift of the pack after the second lap, and gave up trying to catch the group ahead after lap 11, pulling into the pits.

Another day, another signing. It's been fairly clear for some time that Andrea Dovizioso would be stepping up to MotoGP, and considering his long history with and loyal service to Honda, it was virtually unthinkable that he would be on anything other than a Honda. And so it came as no suprise when Dovizioso announced that he would be moving up to MotoGP on a Honda, but as obvious as the announcement was, just how and who he would be riding for was still left clouded in mystery.

Silly season is winding down, and seats are filling up, as the last of the rides still vacant start getting taken. The first of the official announcements was made yesterday, with Sylvain Guintoli signing to ride the Pramac d'Antin Ducati for 2008. Guintoli, all set to be rookie of the year, by virtue of being the only rider in the race, has nevertheless impressed the paddock with his quick learning and aggressiveness, and after losing his ride at Tech 3, looked certain to be signed somewhere.

The MotoGP free practice sessions at Estoril have so far followed an all too familiar pattern, and a rather dispiriting one for anyone who is not Casey Stoner, or one of Stoner's fans. From the very first free practice session, Stoner has once again come out and been the fastest rider on the track, every single outing. The only glimmer of hope for the opposition was that on Friday, Stoner's dominance wasn't quite as total as at previous tracks, with the afternoon's FP2 session ending with 16 riders within a second of Stoner's fastest lap.

For many of you, the loyal readers of this site, the working week after a race weekend begins on Monday morning, when you fire up your computer, and warm your brain up to optimum working temperature by sitting down with a cup of coffee and reading Kropotkin's report of Sunday's race. Now, you can remove the strange sense of mismatch from that experience by swapping your company-supplied standard white coffee mug for a MotoGPMatters.com one, complete with full color logo.