Back into the routine after a week off, the MotoGP teams and riders today descended on the Sachsenring Circuit, scene of the betandwin.com Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. The historic German track experienced sunny weather, hot temperatures and one isolated sharp shower ahead of tomorrow’s first practice sessions. Out of action for the past two races after collarbone surgery, Sete Gibernau returns to the World Championship this weekend. The Spaniard spoke to the media today about his comeback, indicating that, “I’m getting better every day. We have been recovering all the time, doing hard work. My doctors did a great job, myself, my physical trainer and also the team have been talking every day. They’ve been encouraging me and I also felt that the fans that have been pushing me along. Right now I feel in a position to at least I try to jump on the bike and see how it goes.” Toni Elias also makes his return, having suffered a shoulder injury in Assen. The Fortuna Honda rider remarked, “After three weeks I still have some pain. Last week the injury was better, I improved a lot and I decided to try racing at Sachsenring. But it is difficult because this track has many left handers and it is on my left that I have the problem. I’m happy to come back and to be with my team and my bike again.” The customary Thursday press conference was attended by five MotoGP stars. Championship leader Nicky Hayden spoke about his desire to make amends after a disappointing performance at Donington, whilst team-mate Dani Pedrosa described the difficulties of the Sachsenring Circuit, and home rider Alex Hofmann assessed his two race stint in the factory Ducati Team and return to Pramac d’Antin this weekend. Two riders who have been racing injured, Valentino Rossi and Marco Melandri, detailed their current physical state. Rossi noted the benefit of a week of recuperation, whilst Melandri- who this week discovered that he had been racing with a fractured collarbone- indicated that the left hand turns of the Sachsenring Circuit would not be a problem with his injury. A selection of MotoGP riders also took part in a round robin football tournament against a local club and a team of German sporting all-stars. Amongst those taking part were John Hopkins, Alex Hofmann, Jose Luis Cardoso, Roberto Locatelli, Pablo Nieto, Lukas Pesek, Marco Simoncelli, Jordi Carchano and Dirk Heidolf from the paddock, whilst German Olympic Bobsleigh Gold medallists Wolfgang Hoppe and Andre Lange (bobsleigh), Sylke Otto (Luge), Frank-Peter Roetsch (Biathlon)and World Champion Cyclist Michael Hubner lined up for the all-stars. Nicky Hayden (Honda): “A week off felt like a long time for me, I was training a little bit at home and it was nice to have a break. I plan to come out strong on Friday, as I like Sachsenring and have had good results here. The first half you just follow the leader, then you let it go on the second half.” Dani Pedrosa (Honda): “The first part of the track is slow, and it’s hard on the tyres when we take all the left-handers. I want to carry on from my performance at Donington, but we’ll see tomorrow. I’m still learning this class, although I think I’m doing well, but what happens in the previous races doesn’t count at the following ones.” Valentino Rossi (Yamaha): “The week off was important for us. My wrist is a lot better in terms of power and movement; although I have some pain in my hand I can still open the throttle and brake. Sachsenring isn’t my favourite track, but I won last year.” Marco Melandri (Honda): “The day after Donington it was impossible to sleep. The doctors in Barcelona had only checked my left shoulder, so I didn’t know that anything was wrong until I went back to Italy and was checked out. I feel good now, a week off has done me a lot of good. Sachsenring is ideal for me now because the left hand corners cause me less pain than right-handers.” Alex Hofmann (Ducati): “The races with Ducati probably weren’t the right ones for me. MotoGP is so competitive that if you are one second off the pace then you are basically out of the game. I don’t think anybody is happy with the track because it’s tough, but the fans here really deserve the race.”