John Hopkins completes the top six in the standings, the only other rider to have reached the 100 points mark. He had a disappointing home race in America, colliding with World Champion
Nicky Hayden on the opening lap, and will want to rectify the situation and push his way up the table. A group of four riders rounds off the top ten, consisting of
Colin Edwards,
Loris Capirossi, Alex Barros and Hayden.
Another rider spending August resting up has been Alex Hofmann, recovering from a broken hand suffered in practice for the previous race. One metal plate and fifteen screws were used to fix the German rider’s injury in a three hour operation, and the recovery process means that he will sit out the latest date to be replaced by Spain’s Ivan Silva.
His ascendance to
MotoGP having been confirmed by Yamaha a fortnight ago, Jorge Lorenzo’s quest to bow out of the 250cc class in style continues on track. 22 points ahead of nearest rival
Alex de Angelis, a repeat of his 2006 triumph would push him ever closer to retaining the quarter litre crown. Set to become a permanent fixture on the grid next season, Alex Debon makes another wild card appearance for Aprilia at Brno to act as a spoiler for team-mate Lorenzo.
The consistent De Angelis, who has not finished outside the top four this year, is still chasing his first win of the season, and holds a slim advantage over Honda rider
Andrea Dovizioso. Both are some way ahead of the rest of the field, with the remainder of the top six consisting of Alvaro Bautista, Hector Barbera and the level on points KTM duo of Hiroshi Aoyama and Mika Kallio.
Gabor Talmacsi leads the way in 125cc, just two points separating himself and team-mate Hector Faubel at the top of the tree. Only half of last year’s top six finishers at Brno remain in the class, with Talmacsi the highest placing of the trio. Faubel failed to reach the chequered flag in 2006, as did home rider Lukas Pesek, whilst the duo are split by a resurgent Tomoyoshi Koyama in the overall standings.
