From Red Bull Yamaha WCM:

McCoy Back in Form and Hopkins Down

Garry McCoy put in a last-minute hot lap this afternoon in the final qualifying session at the Sachsenring to finish in 8th position on the grid, on the outside of the second row. McCoy, who qualified only 0.337 second off pole position, set a time that would have seen him on last year’s pole. McCoy is one of ten riders who were within 0.367 second of pole.

Teammate to McCoy, the American rookie, John Hopkins, had a spectacular crash in the dying minutes of the session. Hopper was pushing his YZR500 to the limit and crashed out on the 6th-gear, fast right-hand downhill corner. He will not race tomorrow and has taken Doctor Claudio Costas’ advice to rest the broken hand for at least 21 days.

Garry McCoy – 8th 1:26.095

“I had a problem with the front forks and the front-end set-up yesterday and we tried to fix that today, which we have in a way, but we still have to find the right balance in the rear. We spent most of the session getting the race set-up and it’s good to be starting from the second row.

“It’s looking pretty good for the race and the four strokes don’t have the advantage here like they do have everywhere else. I got behind a couple of different riders today to just get an eye on a few of them and to lift my speed up a bit. It’ll still be a tough race though and there is really only one place to pass and that’s in the slipstream at turn one.”

John Hopkins – 14th- 1:26.551

“Yeah, I’m feeling all right, it’s no big deal, I’ve broken my hand before but never this particular bit. I was pushing really hard on that lap, trying to make up time on the last section.

“I had the qualifying tyre on and I was on the limit, pushing as hard as I could on the fast downhill right hander. It just flicked me off. All I could think of when I was tumbling through the air was brace yourself – this is going to hurt.”

Peter Clifford – Team Manager

“Well, John had a very nasty fall right at the end of the session and injured his left hand. He has seen Dr. Costa and the X-rays show a fracture to his 3rd metcarpal joint on his middle finger.

“Of course John was keen to ride tomorrow to maintain his 100% points scoring record but I asked him not to. It is more important that he take care and come back in Brno 100% fit.

“Its great to see Garry back and quickly regaining his form. He is now 100% fit and one rider like that, is all the team seems to manage at the moment.”