MotoGP Feature - The Alex Hofmann Interview
20/07/2007
Alex Hofmann is a Bridgestone veteran. The rider for the Pramac-backed private d’Antin Ducati team has used the tyres, through different stages of development and on different machines, from the very start of the Japanese company’s MotoGP career.
“I’ve experience Bridgestone from the beginning. In 2002, when I had no team and no job, I was testing for them at Mugello, on a 500 with Jurgen van den Goorbergh and the tuner Erv Kanemoto.”
Since that time, the 27-year-old German son of a dentist has had a few twists and turns in his racing career – frequently crossing the path of Bridgestone. In 2003 he was official tester for Kawasaki, and then in 2004 and 2005, simultaneous with Kawasaki’s switch to Bridgestone tyres, he was full time in the factory team.
Injury blighted 2005, and with Kawasaki looking elsewhere for riders, he spent 2006 in the same satellite Ducati team he rides for now, for another downbeat year.
Things are very different for his second Ducati year. An upgraded level of machine and, as importantly, a switch to Bridgestone tyres, has given the Spanish-run private team regular top five finishes. These include a rostrum for team-mate Alex Barros, and Alex’s career-best fifth in France.
“So I’ve seen from the earliest stage of Bridgestone, when they started in MotoGP, right up until now,” affirms “The Hoff”.
Originally from Mindelheim but now a Swiss resident, Alex speaks not only his native German, but is also fluent in English, French, Spanish and Italian. At the halfway point of the season, he looked back at the technical strides he has seen in the tyres.
“In 2004, we had some good races, but they were pretty limited, down to special conditions. No consistency. For 2005, the tyres got a lot better. They had really good performance, once in a while, but still that lack of constancy to run up front.
“Now I am back in 2007, and I’ve got to say they’ve done an amazing job again. Plus they really adapted themselves well to the 800s. You just have to take a look at the championship standings. Bridgestone is just doing an amazing job now,” he said.
His 2006 season had been “very hard. I was fighting for the last point, and had to really struggle to get my motivation up. If you stand on the grid knowing you don’t even had a chance to perform, it’s pretty bad for you.”
Things changed for 2007. Firstly, the new 800 Ducati was virtually identical to the factory machine. Secondly, the switch to Bridgestone.
“I knew Ducati were sick of having a Ducati in the front row and one in the last row, so they really committed to this private team. And I knew Bridgestone was going to do a good job. I could judge myself as a rider and though I’m not yet on top-three or top five level permanently, and I know I can improve. So actually I am not surprised by our good performance,” he said.
Hofmann is no fan of the new 800cc MotoGP machines. “I am one of the tallest and strongest guys out there, so I enjoyed trying to throw around the 990cc bikes. They were not so easy to ride. Seems like 800cc has made it easier for everybody. Even kids coming out of 250s adapt amazingly fast, because they don’t have to change their riding style so much any more.
“It is a little bit a backward step for the public for the action of pure racing, because they slide less, the slides are sneaky and small … no more smoking tyres. I think that’s what people really enjoyed, on television. And our sport is a show,” he continued, adding with a smile: “Probably we’ll be back smoking tyres soon.”
Hofmann hopes to stay with the same team for 2008. “I’m still rebuilding my confidence. It’s all a learning process, and there is still a lot of experience to gain, but I am on a good direction. The most important thing for me to know is that I keep going forward.
“Everybody wants to be world champion, but for the last eight or nine years there have been only two different world champions, and nobody has ever won it in a private team. I would like to show I am good enough for a factory team by the end of next year.
“My target is to keep getting better and better. In the end, whatever comes out, win the title or be sixth … it’s just important to know that you did everything you could, and used everything you had in your pocket,” he said.