2008 MotoGP Championship - Laguna Seca, U.S.A.

Text and Photos Courtesy MotoGP, Ducati Corse, Kawasaki, Suzuki Racing, Yamaha Racing and World Superbike.  Edited by webBikeWorld.com staff.

More:  Qualifying (Below)  |  Race Preview (Below)

Race Results
Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi took his first career win on American soil today, emerging victorious after an epic duel with Casey Stoner at Laguna Seca.

The Italian, who signed a new two-year deal with Yamaha this week, has now won four races this season and is 25 points clear at the top of the championship.

Rossi started from second and was able to pass Stoner on the brakes during the first lap to take the lead.

From then on it was clear that the pair were in a class of their own today as they gradually pulled out a gap from the chasing pack, trading passes with one another but with no one else able to stay with them.  Stoner was often faster than Rossi on the straight but the seven-time world champion had the advantage in the twisty parts of the track and he was able to gain the lead back on the brakes each time the Australian passed him.

With only 100ths of a second between them most of the time it looked like being a nail-biting race to the end, but on lap 24 of 32 Stoner made a mistake and ran off the track and into the gravel.  This allowed Rossi some breathing space for the final eight laps and he eventually crossed the line 13 seconds clear of Stoner, who had been able to remount and still finish second, such was the gap the pair had pulled out from third-placed Chris Vermeulen.

It was a black day for the other side of the garage however as Jorge Lorenzo, Rossi's team-mate, took a huge tumble on the first lap and broke the third and fifth metatarsal bones in his left foot.  He now faces a battle to be fit for the next race in Brno, in a month's time.  With Dani Pedrosa missing the race this weekend, Stoner has now moved into second in the championship behind Rossi with seven rounds remaining.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 1Time: 44'04.311:  "What a race today!  We made some modifications to our bike after warm-up and these gave us the last few tenths that enabled me to fight with Casey today; the result was just fantastic. 

I got a good start and I was able to pass him in the first lap, but I knew I had to try and stay in front of him and it was impossible to relax even for one second.  My M1 was brilliant and so were my Bridgestone tires; I really only made one mistake, at the corkscrew when I went a bit wide but in fact the dirt had quite good grip also!

Casey was a bit faster on the straight than me but I was stronger on the brakes so I had to make all my passes there.  I don't know how many times we changed the lead but it was a lot and it was great, great racing for me and I think also for the fans, because it's been a while since we've been like this.

To stay in front I had to do high 21s at least on every lap and I want to thank my team and engineers for giving me a bike that could do this.  I had a great rhythm and I am really so happy to win for the first time in America.  About the passes, I am sorry that Casey thinks some of them were a bit strong but I really don't agree; I passed only on the brakes, I braked in the same places every time and we never touched.

Of course this was an aggressive race, but it was definitely a fair one.  Now we have the summer break and I am looking forward to relaxing a bit, but not too much because it's going to be a hard fight for the final seven races and we must keep the concentration!"

Toseland Fights Hard for Ninth; Disappointment for Edwards
Tech 3 Yamaha rider James Toseland made a welcome return to the top ten this afternoon with a determined ride to ninth place in the American GP.

In sunny but cool conditions, the British rider made a fantastic start from the second row and found himself fourth at the first corner.  But while cautiously waiting for his Michelin tires to reach optimum working temperature, he slipped down to eighth at the end of the first lap.

Toseland moved back into sixth by lap six to engage in a long battle with Frenchman Randy de Puniet.  He slipped back to seventh on lap 12 but reeled off a consistent pace in the 1.23 bracket to maintain constant pressure on de Puniet.  His pace saw him get tantalizingly close to the battle for fourth place, but in the final stages of the 32-lap encounter, he lost two more places and finished ninth.

It was a disappointing race for Colin Edwards in front of his home crowd as he ended down in 14th.  Sporting a special one-off livery for his home race, the Texan briefly threatened to break into the top ten, but front-end issues prevented him from running his usual consistent pace.

The Tech 3 team now starts a deserved summer break before the world championship resumes in Brno on August 17.

Qualifying
Casey Stoner collected his fifth consecutive pole position at Laguna Seca today, equaling a MotoGP record held by Valentino Rossi who, along with Nicky Hayden, will join the Australian on the front row for tomorrow's US Grand Prix.

Stoner became the first and only rider ever to lap inside 1'21 at the Californian circuit, using his third qualifying tire to set a stunning time of 1'20.700.

Marco Melandri was unfortunately unable to carry his good from over the three free practice sessions into qualifying, although his constantly improving pace on race tyres makes him optimistic of his chances in tomorrow's race.

Casey Stoner (Ducati MotoGP Team) Pole Position, 1'20.700:  "I'm happy with how we're looking in race trim and with the fact we're on pole again.  I didn't manage to get the most out of the first two qualifiers because the front tire, which is working perfectly with the race rear, was a bit too soft for the qualifying and I wasn't confident enough push it 100%. 

With the third one I gave it my best shot and we've come out with another pole. Congratulations to the team, who are working as hard as always, and Bridgestone for another fantastic job."

Yamaha Team Report
Saturday afternoon's qualifying session at Laguna Seca saw Valentino Rossi put his Fiat Yamaha M1 on the front row of the grid for the sixth time this season, qualifying second for tomorrow's US Grand Prix. 

Yamaha and Rossi announced last night that he has signed a new deal to continue racing with the factory in MotoGP for two more years, and the Italian is keen to celebrate by taking his first win at this track tomorrow.

Heavy fog this morning cast doubt over whether the day's proceedings would begin on time and this morning's practice session was run in very low temperatures, with Rossi finishing second. 

Luckily however the Californian sun showed its face this afternoon and the qualifying session was a much warmer affair, with Rossi consistently fast throughout, having found an improved suspension set-up this morning.

With six minutes remaining a fast lap with a Bridgestone qualifying tire put him second, although he temporarily surrendered the spot a few minutes later.

Rossi's final flying lap was even faster however and, although he was unable to catch Stoner, it was good enough for second on the grid.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 2ndTime: 1'21.147Laps: 38:  "I'm pleased with this result and I think we've done a good job today.  This morning, even though it was very cold, we were able to make some good steps forward, especially with the suspension setting, and I was able to be quite fast.

This afternoon we were able to do a long simulation and this was very important to help us understand how the tires will be tomorrow.  It seems they are quite good, but this is a very hard race for tires!  It's also a hard race physically and so I know that tomorrow will be a big challenge.

Second place is good for us and I think we've done a lot better in the practice this weekend than we have in the last couple of races, so I'm happy about this.  Casey is very fast and I don't know exactly how to beat him - maybe I need to start 30 seconds earlier!  Whatever happens a good start is going to be very important and then I will just try to stay with him and keep pushing."

Toseland Claims Brilliant Fifth, Edwards on Third Row for Home Race
Tech 3 Yamaha rider James Toseland produced his best qualifying performance since his MotoGP debut in Qatar today to claim an impressive fifth place on the grid for tomorrow's 32-lap American GP.

A best lap 1.21.848 on Michelin's qualifying rubber secured him the second best grid position of his rookie campaign.  He missed a second career front row start by just 0.4s after his best lap had moved him into third spot in the final two minutes.

Delighted to put a tough recent spell behind him, the British rider is also confident that he can run a competitive race pace tomorrow and challenge for the top six having evaluated a softer compound rear tire this afternoon.  The softer compound was much more suited to the cooler conditions.

Edwards will start just two places further back in seventh.  The Texan encountered problems in finding a set-up to absorb some of Laguna Seca's notoriously bumpy sections.  Seventh place ended Edwards' impressive 2008 qualifying record as he finished outside of the top six for the first time this season. He did gain five valuable places on the grid with his last Michelin qualifying tire, having been uncharacteristically outside of the top ten for most of the session.

James Toseland 5th 1.21.848 - 27 laps:  "With the way we have worked today with the set-up, I was confident that once we got on the qualifiers with a bit more grip that I could get up there.  I had to pin it and to do a 21 around here is not easy but I got the job done.  I'm just so pleased for my team because we have been working really well and so hard that I feel we have deserved it after our bad luck over the last two rounds. We have all kept plugging away and nobody has dropped their heads and now we are on the second row, which is great.

When I went out on my last tyre I saw 21.9 was third and I came across the line and saw 21.8 on the dash and I was hoping that would be good enough for the first two rows.  You can get two laps on a qualifier here but on my second lap I ran wide at the first corner and I knew I couldn't really get that time back.  I was just hoping that was going to keep me on the first two rows and it did. 

I have got that softer race tire which I saved for today and kept one back for the race.  I can do mid to low 23s on that and that could be a possible top six finish.  With some of the issues we have had this weekend I'd be satisfied with that. I just need a decent start to try and get away with the leaders.

I'm getting the hang of the starts and I'm not as nervous as before because it is quite a technique to get these bikes off the line.  When you're flat-out at 14,000 revs and you want to dump that clutch as fast as you can, you really need to know what you're doing."

Colin Edwards 7th 1.21.947 - 27 laps:  "It wasn't great to be honest given how well I've qualified all year, but considering I thought I was going to be on the plane home last night, I can't complain too much.  My neck was really bad yesterday but today it was unbelievable.  I had some injections and also a couple of sessions of massage at the Clinica Mobile and I feel great.  But it has been a tough weekend so far and I'm expecting a tough race tomorrow.

I don't remember the track being this bumpy but on the qualifiers when you need to go so much faster, I could barely see where I was going.  My head was bouncing around all over the place on the bumps.  We have been working hard to change the bike to try and find some more grip but everything just feels really rigid.

I'm just hanging on in some places and in the last two sections I'm terrible.  It is not through a lack of trying because my guys have been working incredibly hard as usual.  But we've taken weight off the front, put more weight on the front and put weight on the rear, but nothing has really improved the situation.  Hopefully I can get a good start to try get away with the leading bunch, because I really want to get a good result for my home fans.  I will be giving it everything I've got that's for sure."

►Race Preview

The Fiat Yamaha Team leave behind a two-month road trip across Europe this week as they take flight for America for their final appointment before the midseason break, with Valentino Rossi in fine form and on top of the MotoGP World Championship.  After a rain-hit run of six races in eight weeks, culminating in Sunday's Sachsenring splashdown, a trip to the sunshine state of California for the US Grand Prix could not have come at a better time and it represents an opportunity for Rossi to consolidate his series lead before a well-earned holiday.

Second place in Germany, combined with a zero-point score for his closest title rival Dani Pedrosa, has given the Italian a sixteen-point advantage in the chase for the title with eight races remaining, although Sunday's race winner Casey Stoner lurks just four points further back in third place.

Having been absent from the US podium since taking third when MotoGP returned to Laguna Seca in 2005, Rossi's target is to recreate Yamaha's success during the track's first spell on the Grand Prix calendar between 1988 and 1994, when the factory won five of the six premier-class races.

After struggling for confidence over the past four rounds following a run of crashes, Jorge Lorenzo is hoping to bounce back from his latest setback, a third lap spill at the Sachsenring, on his first visit to Laguna Seca as a MotoGP rider.

The Mallorcan did attend the USGP last season, however, as an expert for Spanish television, having already fallen in love with California during the previous winter when he went to ride dirt-track under the tutelage of Yamaha legend 'King' Kenny Roberts at his Modesto ranch.

That experience could come in handy this weekend at the notoriously capricious circuit, where the intense dry heat, unpredictable asphalt and anti-clockwise layout reward the loose and aggressive riding style perfected on the tracks of the west coast.

As the rear slides around, the front wheel is often left spinning in thin air through the dramatic elevation changes and fast, sweeping corners - none of them more spectacular than the world-famous 'Corkscrew'.  Machine set-up is relatively straightforward, with throttle connection a much more important factor than top-end power and a well balanced chassis the key to those elevation changes and diverse corners.

Valentino Rossi:  "Laguna hasn't been one of my favorite tracks in the three years since we've been going there and it's one of the only ones on the calendar where I haven't won.  We're aiming to win this week, that's for sure!

It's been a hard track for our bike but it's been a very good track for Bridgestone and I am confident that our package will work very well there.  The last two years I've had serious disappointments in the race and it's been one of the low points of both seasons, I hope I have had all the bad luck I'm going to have there and that this year I can enjoy myself!

We are going there with the same package that we had in Germany and so we're going to have to work very hard to close the gap in performance to Stoner; we can't afford to start from anywhere except the front because, with him in this form, it is then very hard to catch him.  California is a great place and this year we will be doing all we can to leave it with good memories, not bad ones!"

Kawasaki Team Report
The US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca will mark the MotoGP debut of AMA Superbike contender Jamie Hacking, who will ride for the injured John Hopkins aboard Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR this weekend.

Hacking, who received the call-up to MotoGP during his 37th birthday celebrations two weeks ago, has already impressed aboard the Ninja ZX-RR during a two-day, pre-race test at the Autopolis circuit in Japan, where he broke the lap record.

The three-time AMA champion arrives in Laguna determined to match, or even exceed, the performance of his Kawasaki teammate, Roger Lee Hayden, who finished tenth as a wild card rider in this race twelve months ago.

Hacking will make his MotoGP debut off the back of six consecutive podium finishes in the AMA Superbike class, which he will also contest at Laguna Seca, making for a very busy weekend for the British born rider.

Like his temporary teammate, Anthony West also heads for Laguna Seca with high hopes for the weekend.  The Australian celebrated his 27th birthday on 17th July, and is looking to give himself the best birthday present possible with a strong performance ahead of the summer break.

A seventh place in the USGP last year was West's best result of the 2007 season and, despite the fact that he's carrying injuries from two big crashes last time out at Sachsenring, the plucky Australian is determined to improve on last year's result this time around.

The Laguna Seca circuit is the shortest on the MotoGP calendar, but one that is regarded as being the most physically demanding on the riders.  The 3.61km track also features possibly the most famous corner in MotoGP; the infamous corkscrew at turn eight.

Circuit Length: 3,610 m
Opened 1957
Lap Record: 1' 23.915 (Colin Edwards, 2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 20.700 (Casey Stoner, 2008)

Grand Prix Results: Laguna Seca 2007
1. C.Stoner (Ducati) 44'20.325
2. C.Vermeulen (Suzuki) +9.865
3. M.Melandri (Honda) +25.641
4. V. Rossi (ITA) Yamaha +30.664

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