2007 MotoGP - Laguna Seca

Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden. Courtesy Yamaha Racing.

Race Results
Ducati’s Casey Stoner dominated the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix race at Laguna Seca from start to finish on Sunday to take his sixth win of the year - and extend his World Championship lead to 44 points ahead of the summer break.

In the Californian sunshine the Australian produced the goods yet again, eventually crossing the line just under ten seconds ahead of his compatriot Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) to break the MotoGP pole jinx.  Meanwhile the brave Marco Melandri (Honda Gresini) rode brilliantly from tenth on the grid to take third despite his dislocated ankle injury, sustained in qualifying.

A dramatic incident on the first corner ruined the day for American pair John Hopkins (Rizla Suzuki) and Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda) when they collided and were immediately taken out of contention.  World Champion Hayden’s dreams of completing a hat-trick of home wins were dashed as he continued at the back of the pack before retiring with ten laps to go, while Hopkins eventually crossed the line 15th.

Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi finished fourth, five seconds behind Melandri and a significant 30 seconds behind race winner Stoner - who appears to be running away with the title, just as he ran away from his rivals to take victory here.

A further five seconds off Rossi was fifth placed Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), while Kawasaki pair Randy de Puniet and Anthony West were sixth and seventh.

Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3’s Makoto Tamada took his best result of the season in eighth place, Pramac d’Antin’s Alex Barros was ninth and Kawasaki wildcard Roger Lee Hayden was remarkably the highest placed American as he completed the top ten.

Finishing 11th was Colin Edwards (Fiat Yamaha) who appeared to fade in the second half of the race, whilst Kurtis Roberts’ (Team Roberts) retirement after just five laps meant the American fans did not have much to cheer if they were supporting the home riders only.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 4thTime: +30.664:  "Today was incredibly disappointing because, with the tire situation like this, it was like our rivals were in a different race.  My team and I worked very hard, especially after yesterday's crash, and we did the maximum we could to have our bike in the best possible condition.  However without grip it was impossible to fight with the leaders.  I rode the best race I could and I was very happy to pass Pedrosa, but I couldn't catch Melandri; we just didn't have the right rhythm or grip today."

"I'm very sad for last weekend in Sachsenring because there Michelin was strong and we missed a chance to make up some important points there.  After today we can see just how important!  It seems that tires are the deciding factor for this season and this is a pity for the fans and for the show."

Rossi also said "We are not giving up; there are seven races left and we know that Michelin are going to work as hard as they possibly can in order to make the situation better for the second part of the season, but Stoner is very strong and we know it will be very hard.  Anyway, we have some holidays now and we will be back in Brno to fight as hard as we can until the end."

Qualifying
Casey Stoner and Ducati appear unstoppable, with yet another MotoGP pole position, this time on the twisty Laguna Seca race circuit.  At the beginning of the season, it seemed as if the Ducati struggled on slower circuits, but the Italian engineers have been hard at work and the bike now seems just as versatile in the turns as on the straight.

Meanwhile, Valentino Rossi recovered from an unlucky fall in Saturday's free practice session to qualify in fifth position during qualifying, putting his Fiat Yamaha Team M1 onto the middle of the second row for Sunday's US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.  Team-mate and home favorite Colin Edwards meanwhile struggled with set-up problems and was unable to replicate his front-row performance of last year, qualifying eighth.

Rossi's crash this morning occurred at the exit of turn six, when he touched an area of uneven asphalt where the edge of the track meets the curb.  He was sent skidding off his M1 and was lucky to escape with only a cut to the little finger of his left hand and some bruising to his right hand.  The Italian sat out the remainder of the session while he received treatment on both hands but was fortunately able to get back out to contest this afternoon's qualifying.

The afternoon session was red-flagged after just a few minutes when Marco Melandri crashed into a slowing Kurtis Roberts and it was another twenty minutes before pit-lane re-opened and qualifying recommenced. 

Rossi and Edwards spent the time making final adjustments and decisions about tires and set-up ahead of tomorrow's 32 lap race, before making their bids for grid positions with qualifying tires in the last 15 minutes.  Rossi briefly held a front-row position in third but was edged into fifth when first Nicky Hayden and then Casey Stoner went above him, Stoner taking pole in a time of 1'22 292.

Edwards made improvements to his pace during the session but could not quite get close enough to the front runners and his best lap 0.651 seconds shy of pole.  Sunday's race gets underway at 1400 West Coast time, 2300 CET.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 5thTime: 1'22.683Laps: 34:  "My crash this morning was very unfortunate, because there's a very small section of the track where the new asphalt is at a different level to the curb, and I lost the rear when I touched this.  I paid a high price for a very small mistake!  In fact I was very lucky because it's a bad place to crash, going 180km/h with the throttle open in third.  I slid a long way on the track so when I came onto the gravel, I was already going quite slowly, but it was a shock because I didn't expect it."

"I hurt the little finger of my left hand a little and also had some pain in the right hand, but after some treatment and ice I was okay to ride this afternoon.  After this, the second row is not so bad and all the riders in front are fast, with a good pace, so I should be able to push hard from the start.  I am expecting a very competitive race tomorrow but we have a good rhythm and I am quite confident that we can fight at the front.  I want to say a big thank you to all my guys because they did an amazing job to rebuild the bike in just two hours."

Race Preview
The U.S. MotoGP round comes to Laguna Seca, California this weekend for the only MotoGP race in the U.S.A.  Next year may see two MotoGP races in the States; Indianapolis Motor Speedway has announced a date in September for what should be one of the most interesting and exciting MotoGP races ever, run counter-clockwise on the Indy Formula 1 track (more).

2007 U.S. MotoGP at Laguna Seca
Laguna Seca is situated near Monterey in California, approximately 165km south of San Francisco.  The track celebrates its half century this year -- it was constructed in 1957 on a dried-up lagoon in part of the US Army’s field artillery target range, and has staged the US MotoGP, or Grand Prix Championship, since the event’s return to America in 2005. 

The circuit is one of the narrowest on the MotoGP calendar and features one of the scariest corners found on any racetrack anywhere in the world – The Corkscrew – where riders almost fall off the side of the track in a virtually sheer drop left-hand bend before turning immediately right half-way down.

MotoGP racing begins with preparations for Sunday’s race with two free practice sessions on Friday, before a final hour of practice on the Saturday morning.  Qualifying will take place on Saturday afternoon as all the riders battle it out to secure the best starting positions for race day.  The main event gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (21.00hrs GMT) on Sunday.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Team Report - Anglo-American racer John Hopkins will be back on "home" asphalt next weekend as round 11 of the MotoGP World Championship takes place at Laguna Seca in California.

Hopkins will be returning to the State where he was born and will be looking to turn his hometown knowledge to his advantage over the 32-lap race.  He will – as in previous years – have a huge stateside following of friends and family cheering him on as he goes in search of his first MotoGP victory.

Chris Vermeulen is heading to Laguna determined to make amends for the way he was cruelly robbed of what looked like a certain podium there last year.  Suzuki’s Australian star had looked completely at home over the 3.6km circuit last season in scorching temperatures.  He secured pole position for the race and then led for over half distance, until a fuel starvation problem caused him to drop back to fifth place.  Vermeulen is a big fan of the Californian track and took a World Superbike double-header victory there in 2005.

John Hopkins:  “I can’t wait to get to Laguna; it is great to be coming home to race.  I love racing there and it always feels special to me.  All my family and friends are there and the American fans get to see a MotoGP for the only time this year in their country.  It is a great track to race on and hopefully we can give a good showing on the Rizla Suzuki and try and stand on top of the box!”

Chris Vermeulen:  “I thought I could have had my first MotoGP podium at Laguna last year, the bike and the tires worked really well there, but we had a small problem that stopped that happening.  I really enjoy this track and I had a lot of success in World Superbike and I’m really looking forward to racing there and I’m sure we can be fighting at the front!”

Laguna Seca Race Circuit, U.S.A.

Laguna Seca Factoids Lap Record D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2006, 1'23.333 Best Lap N. Hayden (Honda) 2005, 1'22.670 2006 MotoGP Results: 1. N. Hayden (Honda) 45'04.867 2. D. Pedrosa (Honda) +3.186 3. M. Melandri (Honda) +10.929 9. C. Edwards (USA) Yamaha +53.228 DNF. V. Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 0

Fiat Yamaha Team Report -  The Fiat Yamaha Team head to California this weekend for the eleventh round of the MotoGP World Championship in determined mood as they look to bury the memory of a nightmare race at Laguna Seca last year and avenge Valentino Rossi's misfortune in the last round at Sachsenring just a few days ago.

A bittersweet weekend in Germany saw Rossi lose ground on series leader Casey Stoner, who now holds an advantage of 32 points with eight rounds remaining, and the Italian is relieved to have the chance to redress the balance so soon and narrow the gap ahead of the summer break.

The high point of last weekend was a fourth place finish for Colin Edwards from thirteenth on the grid and that strong result has provided the Texan with a much-needed confidence boost ahead of his home race.

The situation going into the eagerly-anticipated California date could not be in starker contrast to last season, when Rossi made the Transatlantic trip in great spirits on the back of a scintillating victory at Sachsenring.

However, the Laguna race ended in disaster as the searing 56ºC track temperatures took a heavy toll and Rossi was forced to retire just four laps from the end with tire and engine problems.  Similar tire issues for Edwards compounded the effects of flu symptoms and an upset stomach that he had suffered throughout the weekend, limiting him to a ninth place finish despite qualifying on the front row.

Famed, feared and revered for the world-famous 'Corkscrew' corner, the Laguna Seca circuit near has lived up to its billing as one of the most exciting circuits in the world since MotoGP returned in 2005.  With only a few short straights, a series of fast and sweeping corners and elevation changes that leave front wheels frequently spinning through thin air, the 3.602km circuit provides the ideal viewing spectacle for fans but is surprisingly straightforward when it comes to machine set-up.  Throttle connection is much more important than top-end power and the riders require a well balanced chassis set-up to deal with the frequent and dramatic elevation changes and corner variation.

Valentino Rossi - "No time to dwell":  After missing the chance to recover ground on Stoner in this year's championship following his sixth-lap crash in Germany, Valentino Rossi says he is relieved to have such an early chance to put things right - with just seven days between the tenth and eleventh rounds of the season.  Laguna Seca is one of only three circuits on this year's calendar where Rossi has never previously won, a record he is also looking to set straight this Sunday.

"Laguna was a great disappointment for me last year because I wasn't able to finish," says Rossi, who has also yet to take victory at Istanbul Park (Turkey) and Misano (San Marino). "I have never won there and after the disappointment of Germany I am determined to do so this time!  I'm really glad we have such a short time between races because there's no time to dwell on what happened on Sunday, we just have to focus on Laguna Seca.

"With the way that our bike and tires are working now, I think we have a great potential there.  It's a great place to race and I think if they've made the improvements we hope to the track then it will be a good weekend.  The championship is long and the important thing is to get as many points as possible from every race and arrive at the end still fighting."

Colin Edwards - "Giving it my all":  Laguna Seca is one of the tracks that Colin Edwards pinpointed at the start of the season as having the potential of staging his first victory in the MotoGP class.  The former World Superbike Champion has finished second on several occasions during his premier-class career, including the US Grand Prix in 2005, and is hoping to finally go one better and break his duck in front of his home fans.

"Germany turned into a really good weekend for us and I was very happy with the performance of my bike in the end - especially the tires," reflects Edwards.  "Fourth place at a track I don't like has given me a lot of confidence for Laguna Seca, a place I love, and it's good to go there on a roll.  It's my home race and I've got lots of friends and family coming down to add to the support of a few fans, I hope!

"Last year I was pretty sick on race day and it wasn't a good experience but this time I'm feeling in great shape and I'm determined to go one step higher than in 2005.  I know the track better than anyone and the fans always give me a real boost so I'll be giving it my all from Friday morning."

Edwards to run "Texas Tornado' livery in Laguna Seca
Fiat Yamaha Team rider Colin Edwards will contest his home Grand Prix at Laguna Seca this weekend in a one-off special livery, starting from first practice on Friday.  The popular American is well known to his legion of fans, both on home shores and worldwide, as the "Texas Tornado" and this weekend's livery has been inspired by his famous nickname.

The livery, which is Fiat Yamaha's second change of the season following the "Fiat 500" inspired bikes in Assen, represents a personal tribute to the two-time World Superbike champion and Edwards has been influential in the design process.

"I'm really happy with the final result!" said the 33-year old Texan.  "The finished article is exactly how I imagined and I think it's transmitting just the message we were after, mixing the idea of the tornado with the American flag.  I'm always very proud to race in front of my home fans and I'm especially pleased to have something extra special to give them this weekend; I'd like to say a big thank you to Fiat for giving me the chance to do something different!"

Edwards' bike will be unveiled today, Thursday 19th July, at 17:00 local time in Pit Lane at the Laguna Seca circuit.