After being torpedoed by Laguna Seca rookie Sylvain Guintoli down the Corkscrew, Alex Hofmann has been ruled out of the rest of the US Grand Prix. Hofmann suffered serious hand injuries after his left hand got trapped underneath the bike, causing bad cuts and breaking a bone. Hofmann now has two broken hands, after having broken his right hand in a freak accident involving a car door prior to the Sachsenring. In fact, the Pramac d'Antin team is having a terrible time with hand injuries: the Pramac riders have one good hand between them, Alex Barros having cut his hand badly after getting it trapped under the bike in a similar crash at the Sachsenring.

According to the rules, Luis d'Antin could draft in another rider to take Hofmann's place. And being surrounded by riders from a second series all very keen to bag a ride on a MotoGP bike, finding someone to take a ride on it wouldn't be too difficult. There are even two riders on hand who've already featured in the series recently: Corona Honda team mates James Ellison and Neil Hodgson. Hodgson even has experience on the Bridgestone-shod Ducati, having stood in as a test rider earlier in the season. However, as Hodgson parted on very bad terms with Luis d'Antin, the chances of Hodgson accepting a ride on the d'Antin bike are about the same as the Qatar MotoGP round being canceled due to snow. The overwhelmingly probable scenario is that d'Antin will continue with just Alex Barros riding for the rest of the weekend.