Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128335
Happenings In Motorcycling Fut.ure St.ar5? The Fuchs Kawasaki pit box was a popular place to visit during last weekend's Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, with the team playinghost to riders from the German Red Bull Rookies Cup and Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Interior and Sports, Ute VOg!. O n Thursday evening, 19 riders from the German Red Bull Rookies Cup were given a guided tour of the Kawasaki Racing Team pit box by team coordinator Michael Bart holemy. The tour also included the opportunity to watch the team's mechanics preparing Shinya Nakano's and Alex Hofmann's Ninja ZX-RR machines for the following day's opening practice session for the German Grand Prix. Emanuel Buchne r, one of the mechanics working as part of Alex Hofmann's pit crew, then gave the Rookies a brief overview of the Ninja ZX-RR and an explanatio n of the role of the mecha nics in the team. Buchner then wheeled one of Hofmann's bikes o ut to the front of the pit box for the Rookies to be phot ographed on. With the pit tour over and many questio ns answered, the Rookies were escorted back to the Kawasaki Racing Team hospitality unit for dinner, where they had the chance to chat with tearn manager Harald Eckl and team riders Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann. "Firstly I'd like to thank Mr. Eckl for the invitation and for givingus the chance to meet Alex Hofmann and Shinya Nakano," said IS-year-old Joshua Sommer, who won the Rookies race at Sachsenring and is currently leading the championship. '" was deeply impressed to see how much effort and money goes into running a factory MotoGP team, because my goal is to ride for such a World Championship team in the future . It was good to sit on Alex's Ninja ZX-RR; it's not as intimidating as I thought it was going to be . The food in the hospitality was delicious, too!" While most of the youngsters present were male, the Rookies Cup also boasts four regular female competitors. Eighteen-year-old Jennifer Kaulbach finished sixth in the Sachsenring race - round four of the eight-round Rookies Cup - and currently lies fourth in the championship standings. "I was part icularly impressed with the relaxed atmosphere in the team; I had expected it to be a lot more tense so close to a race weekend:' commented Kaulbach, who was second in the Rookies Cup standings going into Sachsen ring. ''The mec hanics and the riders seem to understand each other we ll and have a good worki ng relatio nship. The mechanics were great and answered any technical questions about the bike that we had. I was especially interested in the thumb brake that Alex uses on his bike. It was great to get to sit on Alex's bike - now I'd like to get the chance to actually ride it! We also got the chance to speak to Alex and Shinya. Alex to ld us about his fitness training and also gave us a few tips for the weekend. Altogether it was an exciting and interesting visit, so thank you to Mr. Eckland the Kawasaki team ." On Sunday, just before the MotoGP race, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Interior and Sports Ute VOg! visited the Fuchs Kawasaki pit box. Alex Hofmann was on hand to present the politician with an Alex Hofmann cap and a Kawasaki Racing Team shirt before chatting about his chances in the German Grand Prix. After wishing Hofmann the best of luck, Ms. VOg! was then given a guided tour of the Fuchs Kawasaki race transporters by team manager Harald Eckl before heading off to join event organizers on the grid for the start of the MotoGP race . 122 AUGUST 4,2004 • CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary The Kawasaki hospitality and pit area was host to the Red Bull Rookies Cup guests. Alex Hofmann sig ns autographs for the fan s.