From a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing Team:

HOME RACE EXCITEMENT FOR FUCHS KAWASAKI TEAM

The Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team will be at home this weekend for the German Grand Prix, as the MotoGP World Championship completes the first half of a 16 race global campaign.

The European base for the Kawasaki Racing Team at Vohenstrauss is just two hours from Sachsenring and no doubt many of the sell-out crowd will be supporting Team Green riders, Alex Hofmann and Shinya Nakano.

Hofmann, 24, is the only German rider in the elite MotoGP series and is faced with the additional pressure of balancing this weekend’s media and corporate demands with his primary focus of maximum on-track performance.

Although Sunday’s German GP will be just his 17th MotoGP race, Hofmann is maturing quickly as a professional racer, on and off the track, and is more than capable of handling the high expectations.

Sachsenring is familiar territory for both Hofmann and Nakano and they come to this race boosted by the positive results of last week’s test session in Brazil immediately after the Rio GP.

In 2001, during his debut 500cc season, Nakano finished third at Sachsenring, just four seconds behind the winner. The Japanese rider backed that up with fifth place in 2002. And in that same year, Hofmann made a spectacular 500cc wild card appearance as a 22-year-old rookie, finishing tenth in his home race.

This 3.6 km track in North-East Germany evokes memories of the original public road course that hosted Grand Prix racing in the 1960s. The latest purpose-built complex, with a sequence of six consecutive left-hand corners, is a compact and twisting layout that places the emphasis on agile handling and precise braking.

These are the strong points of the latest evolution of the Ninja ZX-RR and, with the longest straight at just 780 metres outright horsepower is not a critical factor.

While Nakano faces his own home race at Motegi in Japan later in the season, the affable Japanese rider arrived early in Germany to visit the staff at the Kawasaki Eckl Team headquarters, before heading north to the Sachsenring.

Alex Hofmann: No.66
“I enjoy racing at home, even if it is always very busy with the media, television and sponsor demands at this race. Sometimes it’s a relief to put my helmet on and get on the bike, because on the track I’m doing what I enjoy most and that’s riding a GP bike; I can do my own thing. Kawasaki made a good step forward with the fuel injection mapping in Rio and the bike feels more comfortable and responsive to ride. There are no really long straights at Sachsenring, which will be help; for sure on the faster tracks we need some more horsepower. As usual I’ll have the support of my family, friends and fans at this race.”

Shinya Nakano: No.56
“This is one of my favourite circuits, because it is a really technical track and, since the circuit was lengthened, I like it even more, especially the fast right corner and downhill section towards the end of the lap. I was on the podium here in 2001, so I’m hoping for another good result this year. There is no really long straight, so power is not so important and this should suit the ZX-RR chassis. And our Bridgestone tyres have excellent side-grip, which is critical for all the constant corners at Sachsenring. It’s going to be an exciting weekend for our team, with a lot of fans cheering us on hopefully.”

Harald Eckl: Team Manager
“Expectations are always very high for our team at Sachsenring, because it’s close to our headquarters and, of course, our main sponsors, Fuchs, are also from Germany. Handling is the strong point of the Ninja ZX-RR chassis and top speed is not so critical here. For Alex there is always big pressure, but he’s more relaxed this year as a full time MotoGP rider, so I think he can handle it and get a good result. And Shinya is all class wherever he races, so this, combined with our latest electronic work on the motor, gives us some confidence for our home race.”