Last confrontation for the Repsol riders before the summer break
Rossi and Ukawa still recovering from their injuries; new possibility for Fonsi Nieto and Dani Pedrosa to reduce differences in the overall classification in Germany
 The 2002 World Championship will reach its halfway point this weekend in Germany and will then enjoy a deserved break of almost a month to get back to activity at the end of August in the Czech Republic. For Valentino Rossi and Tohru Ukawa, this break will be perfect to recover completely from the troubled weekend in Great Britain. After the initial fright and the apparent seriousness of their injuries, things have gone better and both will be fit to take part in the German Grand Prix. The worst part was for the Japanese Ukawa, who crashed at 200 km/h. and fractured a metacarpal of his right foot. Waiting for the doctors advice, the brave Ukawa hopes to be well again for the German Grand Prix. His team-mate Valentino Rossi, who after the problems on Friday managed against all forecasts to take the victory on Sunday, suffered apart from several bruises all over his body, a small fracture on the little finger of his left hand, which might bother him a bit on the German track. In the 250cc everybody will be on the watch for the Repsol riders Fonsi Nieto and Toni Elias but for different reasons. Fonsi Nieto will have a new opportunity to reduce differences with regard to Melandri in the overall classification. Second in Great Britain behind the Italian, Fonsi has to keep on working hard with no rest at all, if he wants to overtake him in the standings. The thirteen points of difference in the classification, with 200 points yet to be taken, are no insurmountable difference right now. Toni Elias, who is surprising everybody in the World Championship due to his fast adaptation and competitiveness on his Aprilia, will try to take another podium finish in Germany, as he already did in Great Britain, where he finished third behind Melandri and Nieto after an excellent recovery during the race. In the 125cc Dani Pedrosa and Joan Olivé arrive in Germany with a great progression shown in the last races. Only a few days ago, Dani Pedrosa managed to shorten the distance in the overall classification with regard to the leading Manuel Poggiali, keeping himself on second place and very close to the Gilera rider in the standings. Meanwhile, his team-mate Joan Olivé, sixth in Donington, showed last Sunday that his podium in Holland was not due to chance and that he is already capable of riding among the top riders. Only a bad start and some frights during the first laps among an aggressive group of riders hindered him from joining the leading group, finishing sixth. His latest results have let the young rider jump up to ninth position in the overall classification.