MotoGP/AMA Pro Red Bull USGP: Sunday (updated regularly)

July 5, 2009 by admin
Filed under 2010 Race Calendar

NEWEST AT TOP

Round 8: United States GP – Post-race debrief

Bridgestone slick compounds used: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard

The eighth round of the championship saw Dani Pedrosa take his and Repsol Honda’s first victory on Bridgestone tyres, and their first win of the season. Valentino Rossi finished second to extend his lead in the overall standings,ahead of polesitter Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner. The shortest circuit on the calendar is a tricky one for bikes, riders and tyres, as became apparent during the frantic closing minutes of Saturday’s hour-long qualifying session, when traditionally the riders are pushing hardest and the fastest times are set.

Q&A with Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development

What were the challenges faced at the United States GP? “Laguna Seca has some unique challenges. It is a short circuit with only 11 corners which means that the Bridgestone slicks covered less distance in a lap and therefore relatively more laps were needed for them to reach optimum temperature. This was an especially important factor during the qualifying session. The landform of the circuit was also a challenge as some corners are uphill and others downhill which produces variations in the weight transfer of the bikes. Tyres naturally generate peak grip when they are properly loaded, but in turns three and ten in particular it was harder for the riders to load their rear tyres because the corners are downhill, meaning the weight transfer is towards the front of the bike and away from the rear tyre, giving less rear grip.

“There are fewer right-handed corners at Laguna which meant that the right shoulder of each tyre was not used as much throughout the lap. The right shoulder also cooled between right-handers, especially as the ambient temperature was relatively low, so ensuring the tyres were properly up to temperature was crucial for the riders. Jorge and Casey crashed during the qualifying session on their first quick laps out of the pits on new rear slicks. They didn’t get enough temperature in their tyres before their attacking laps, as they explained in the post-qualifying press conference. This meant that their tyres were operating at a lower temperature, especially on the right side, and this was a major contributor to their falls.”

There were some calls for asymmetric tyres during the weekend. What can you say about this? “The temperature data we collected from last year’s race allowed us to predict that the temperature differential between the left and right shoulders would be only a few degrees Celsius, and we based our tyre compound selection for the weekend on this data. This year’s tyres are designed with a much wider temperature operating range than last year’s so we chose to bring the single compound to Laguna because we believed they would be suitable for the conditions.Our temperature prediction was correct, and the difference between the shoulders of the rear tyres was very similar to that experienced in Mugello and Assen, where we also used single compound tyres. I support our tyre choice this weekend, but of course as part of our continual development process we will carefully analyse all our data from the weekend and consider asymmetric tyres for Laguna next year.”

*************************

Suzuki

Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mat Mladin picked up his 82nd AMA Superbike victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, on Sunday afternoon. The six-time AMA Superbike Champion rode flawlessly and battled with his teammate Blake Young for much of the race, which was abbreviated due to earlier crashes that drew a red flag. Young followed Mladin home in a close second place after having led multiple laps of the race on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000. Joining Mladin and Young on the podium and creating a Suzuki Superbike podium sweep was Jordan Suzuki’s Aaron Yates, who finished in third place. Unfortunately, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden suffered some bad luck at Laguna Seca. Prior to the red flag, Hayden jumped the initial start and received a stop-and-go penalty. As a result, once the race was underway, he had to pull into the pits while he was running in second place. He rejoined the fray in ninth place and finished up in eighth place.

Mat Mladin:
“It was a good race for us today. Most importantly, it’s good to have the three Suzukis up here on the podium. That’s what we’re here to do, to try and get Suzuki up on top of the box. Today it was good to fill the podium.”

Blake Young:
“I feel really good about the weekend. We got off to a really great start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and got to lead some laps. I think that’s the most amount of laps I’ve led so far in a Superbike race, so I feel really good about that. The crew worked really hard for me this weekend. I really want to thank them, it’s been a little rough around the shop but some guys stepped in and stepped up and filled some shoes and took care of business and got us up on the podium today. So I really want to give this one to the guys back at the shop and thank them very much for everything. It was a good race for us… we ended up second today and I’m really happy with it.”

Aaron Yates:
“We got a really good start in the first get-go. I was running along, hoping to see how things were going to pan out… in the second start, I didn’t get off as good as I’d wanted, but I managed to get up to turn one and get past a couple guys. I just kind of fell in the pace, and couldn’t get going any better though I thought we could go faster… then I kind of got stuck in a little group. The guys up front got going and they were going fast. I think I was matching their pace but I just couldn’t make any ground on Blake and Mat. I’m just happy to bring it home for the Jordan Suzuki team, they worked hard this weekend and made it on the podium.”

Tommy Hayden:
“Aside from the start – which was a cluster, I thought I saw the lights flash and I took off way too early… I’m not sure what happened, it all kind of happened fast – aside from that, I’m pretty happy with how the race went. I had some good speed and the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 was working awesome today. I’m pretty disappointed to have let a good result slip away. But I guess I can take away the positive that we had a pretty good weekend and I was fast enough to run up front, it just didn’t work out.”

Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing will race next at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, the weekend of July 17-19, 2009.

AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers:
1.      Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
2.      Blake Young, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
3.      Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki
4.      Josh Hayes, Yamaha
5.      Ben Bostrom, Yamaha
6.      Neil Hodgson, Honda
7.      Jake Holden, Honda
8.      Tommy Hayden, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
9.      Geoff May, National Guard Jordan Suzuki
10.   Larry Pegram, Ducati

AMA Superbike Points Standings:
1.      Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
2.      Tommy Hayden, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
3.      Ben Bostrom, Yamaha
4.      Larry Pegram, Ducati
5.      Josh Hayes, Yamaha
6.      Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki
7.      Geoff May, National Guard Jordan Suzuki
8.      Blake Young, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
9.      David Anthony, Suzuki
10.   Taylor Knapp, Suzuki

************************

Fiat Yamaha

The Fiat Yamaha pairing of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo shared the MotoGP podium for the sixth time this season at the US Grand Prix today, finishing second and third at Laguna Seca. Rossi closed down a gap of over three seconds to eventual winner Dani Pedrosa but fell just short of making another final-corner pass, whilst a brave Lorenzo battled through the pain of his injured shoulder to rally after a poor start and finish a strong third.

Rossi dropped one place to third at the start but Lorenzo, starting from pole, slipped right back through the field to eighth after the first corner. Both riders quickly began to make up ground however, the Italian passing Casey Stoner into the corkscrew and the Spaniard overtaking three riders to cross the line in fifth first time around. It was a short lived stint in second for Rossi as Stoner passed him back into turn one on the third lap while Pedrosa began to open up a big gap at the front of the field. There was no change for several laps until Andrea Dovizioso crashed on lap seven, elevating Lorenzo to fourth and giving the youngster clear air in front just as he began to find his rhythm. On lap twelve Rossi made his decisive pass on Casey Stoner and re-took second place and he immediately set about trying to close a gap of nearly three seconds to Pedrosa.

Over the next few laps however it was Lorenzo who was the man on the move and the brave Mallorcan gradually began to move closer to Stoner until he was able to make a brilliant pass on the brakes into the final corner to move into third. With Rossi unable to make much headway into Pedrosa’s lead at that point, another Fiat Yamaha showdown began to brew as lap-by-lap Lorenzo edged closer to his team-mate. With four laps to go the 22-year-old saw his chance and tried to pass the World Champion at the final corner, but he suffered a big slide in the process and ran wide, letting Rossi back through and dropping back over a second. The drama wasn’t over yet however as on the final lap Rossi suddenly found himself within striking distance of Pedrosa and a final-corner overtake looked to be on the cards, but in the end he was just a couple of tenths too far off and crossed the line 0.344 seconds adrift, with Lorenzo 1.926 seconds behind him.

Rossi extends his lead at the top of the championship to nine points over Lorenzo, who in turn stretches the gap from Stoner to seven points. There is a now a two week break before the MotoGP paddock returns to Europe for another double-header at the Sachsenring in Germany followed by Donington in the UK.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 2ndTime: +0.344
“The first half of the race was quite difficult because we weren’t at 100% today. I didn’t expect Dani to be so fast but he was very strong and there wasn’t much I could do to go with him! The last ten laps were very exciting because Lorenzo was pushing me so hard that I had to really make another step and then Dani slowed down and suddenly he was right in front of me! I thought there was a chance to pass on the final corner but unfortunately I was just too far off and it was too much of a risk. Second is good today because we were not in perfect shape here, we missed something in the setting and this is always a hard track anyway, so we have to be happy with these twenty points. We have extended the championship lead so it’s a good result for us and we have shown that we are still strong this year even when things are not perfect. This consistency is the most important thing for the championship. Now I am happy that we have some time to rest because these have been a hard two weeks and the next two races are very important because we are all so close!”
Jorge Lorenzo
Jorge Lorenzo

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 3rdTime: +1.926
“I always try to do my best and I think that is what I have done today, considering my physical condition. I am really proud and I think that this was one of my best races. My foot was okay but I had a lot of pain in my right shoulder, which meant I wasn’t strong in my right hand and I had to over-compensate with my left; I am really tired now! I want to thank the Clinica Mobile because they made it possible for me to finish the race. After a while I started to forget about the pain a bit and I just wanted to do my best and I knew that it was possible to pass Valentino. Unfortunately I hit some bumps when I braked deep and my rear tyre moved a lot and I was lucky not to crash – maybe without this mistake, if I had been able to pass him, it would have been possible to win but anyway third is good in the circumstances and we have taken good points. Now we have some time to recover; I am fit and strong so I hope that by Sachsenring I will be back to my best.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“In the end I think we can be happy with the overall balance of this weekend because we have kept our championship lead and even gained points. Bearing in mind that we weren’t at 100% of our potential, finishing second is a very good result and this is the important thing – to do well even when we can’t attack as we would like to. Congratulations to Pedrosa, it’s good to see him back but especially to Jorge because he made a great race in difficult conditions for him. The championship is very tight and exciting now so we’re looking forward to the next races.”

Ramon Forcada – Crew Chief
“Our rider did a very good job today in his poor physical condition. He showed that he never gives up even when things are tough and that his mind is very strong, which is very important for a rider. At the end, when he caught Valentino, he made his attack very soon and maybe if he had waited a little bit things might have been different, but anyway third is a very good result in the circumstances and we have got some important championship points.”

************************

M4 Suzuki

Team M4 Suzuki endured a rare day of double disappointment on Sunday at Laguna Seca.

After continuing their dominant 2009 form through qualifying with Martin Cardenas scoring a fifth consecutive pole position for the team and opening his quest to score a seventh AMA Pro Daytona SportBike victory from the front of the pack, the former Spanish Supersport champ crashed out of the lead on lap six of Sunday’s final.

A short while later, Jason DiSalvo joined his teammate on the tarmac, falling from ninth position in the Corkscrew while working lap ten.

While frustrated by today’s surprising turn of events, the team’s hard work allowed them to absorb the misfortune without taking too much damage in the championship race. Colombian Cardenas still heads the point standings with 255 points and a still-imposing 39-point advantage over second place. Meanwhile, New Yorker DiSalvo remains ranked fourth with 179 points.

“You have to take the good with the bad and we’ve had an awfully lot of good this year,” said Team Crew Chief Keith Perry. “It’s unfortunate but that’s the way it goes sometimes. We’ll lick our wounds and go at it again.

“We’ve still got a pretty healthy points lead for Martin. I hated it for Jason because I know he had a chance to claw back up there a little bit, but we’ve got to dig our heels in and get ready for the next ones.

“I have faith in all our guys and these riders and I know we’ll come back at Mid-Ohio strong and carry on. We’re ready for the rest of the season.”

Team M4 Suzuki will get a chance to come back swinging in two week’s time at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 17-19.

************************

San Carlo Honda Gresini

San Carlo Honda Gresini team rider Toni Elias picked up his best result of the 2009 season so far with sixth place in the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca today, replicating his position on the starting grid with a determined ride. Chasing the lead group over the opening laps, Elias moved up one position to fifth with a pass on local favourite Nicky Hayden on lap seven but was only able to hold his advantage for one lap before the American fought back.
Chasing Hayden for the rest of the race, Elias dropped off by two seconds at mid-distance but he fought hard in the second half of the race to close the gap to just four tenths by the final lap, eventually resisting the temptation of an attempt at a late pass in the final corner. It was a disappointing race for Alex de Angelis, who was unable to match his performance from practice but nevertheless picking up important points in eleventh.

Toni Elias (6th): “It is not a bad result and we couldn’t have done much more than that because my race pace was exactly the same as in practice. I was able to go quicker for a lap or two in practice but generally we knew this was what we would be capable of today in terms of my own performance. To be honest I was hoping the front guys would be a little slower than that and allow us to challenge them but the pace was very quick so compliments to them. In general this weekend has been much better than previous races and so was the result, but we always want more.”

Alex De Angelis (11th): “We made some changes to the bike for today but with the conditions being so much cooler for the warm-up this morning than they were for the race in the afternoon, we hadn’t really tested them. I was really struggling over the first few laps and the bike was moving around a lot but the problem eased in the second half of the race and I was able to push harder. I honestly thought I could run with Vermeulen today and that would have been a battle for eighth place so it’s a shame we suffered this setback. Anyway, at least we picked up a few points.”

Fausto Gresini – Team Manager: “Toni had a good race because after the crash in the warm-up this morning I was quite worried but he didn’t let it faze him and he rode well. Potentially we could have been fighting for a better result here but sixth place is okay and this is the second race in succession that we have been fighting for a top six finish, so we have taken a step forward although we now need to take another one – in particular in finding a setting that allows Toni to run with the harder race tyre. Alex is obviously disappointed but he comes away from here with important experience and important points.”

1 Dani PEDROSA SPA HONDA 44′01.580
2 Valentino ROSSI ITA YAMAHA 44′01.924
3 Jorge LORENZO SPA YAMAHA 44′03.506
4 Casey STONER AUS DUCATI 44′14.012
5 Nicky HAYDEN USA DUCATI 44′23.243
6 Toni ELIAS SPA HONDA 44′23.621
7 Colin EDWARDS USA YAMAHA 44′31.781
8 Chris VERMEULEN AUS SUZUKI 44′34.437
9 Randy DE PUNIET FRA HONDA 44′41.905
10 Marco MELANDRI ITA KAWASAKI 44′49.608
11 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM HONDA 44′50.390
12 Niccolo CANEPA ITA DUCATI 45′20.111

******************************

AMA Pro Road Racing

MONTEREY, Calif. (July 5, 2009) – Mat Mladin earned his 10th AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited victory and Ben Bostrom took his second AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL victory in Sunday’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

As he has done at every previous American Superbike round this season, Mladin started his No. 7 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 from the pole position. However, the Aussie dropped all the way back to sixth place on the opening lap before beginning his march back to the front. He was fifth at the end of Lap 2, took fourth place on Lap 3, third on Lap 5 and second on Lap 6 of the 18-lap race.

Mladin then began stalking teammate and race leader Blake Young on the No. 79 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. He finally made his move to the inside in Turn 11 on Lap 11 and went on to lead the rest of the way. Mladin crossed the stripe 1.642 seconds ahead of Young and 4.588 seconds in front of Aaron Yates on the No. 23 Brand Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, giving Suzuki a podium sweep. Mladin now leads the American Superbike championship standings by 127 points over teammate Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) with 12 of 20 races now in the books.

“It was obviously a good race for us today,” Mladin said. “Most importantly, it’s great to have the three Suzukis up here. That’s what we’re here to do is to try and get a Suzuki on top of the box. Today, it was good to fill the podium.”

Young led Laps 2 through 10 en route to his third second-place result of the season and his seventh top-five result in 10 starts. He missed the doubleheader at Infineon Raceway in May due to an injury.

“We got off to a really good start and got to lead some laps,” Young said. “I think that’s probably the most amount of laps I’ve led so far in a Superbike race, so it felt really good. The crew worked really hard for me this weekend. I really want to thank them. It got a little rough around the shop, but some guys stepped in and stepped up and filled some shoes. They took care of business and got us up here today, so I really want to give this one to the guys back at the shop and thank them very much for everything. It was a good race for us. I tried to set a pretty good pace and Mat was coming. When he got by, he kind of got a little bit of a gap on me. I tried to jump in as quick as I could to learn where he was better than me, but I just put my head down and figured anything could happen. We ended up second today and I’m really happy with it.”

Yates picked up his second consecutive third-place trophy finish and his third podium result of the season. He has finished inside the top 10 in 10 races this season.

“It went okay,” Yates said. “I kind of fell in a pace and couldn’t really get going any better. I thought we could go faster. We had a pretty good run this morning, but the bike just didn’t feel like it did in the morning warm up. We made a couple little changes and we thought it was going to give us a little better feel, but I was kind of stuck in a groove there. These guys (Mladin and Young) got out there. They were going fast. I think I was matching their pace, and I don’t know how hard Mat was going, but I just couldn’t close up any ground. It just feels good to bring home a podium position for the Jordan Suzuki crew. They worked hard this weekend and made it on the podium.”

Josh Hayes finished fourth on the No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1 for his seventh top-five run of the year. Hayes came home one spot ahead of teammate Bostrom, who finished fifth aboard his No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1 and led the race’s opening lap. Bostrom has finished inside the top five in each of his last four American Superbike starts and a total of seven times this season.

The race was shortened to 18 laps from its scheduled 23-lap distance due to a pair of first-lap incidents. The initial race start was aborted when four bikes jumped the standing start. On the second start, a crash involving multiple riders in Turn 2 originally brought out a full-course yellow and the safety car and later a red flag when several riders passed the safety car on course.

Next up for AMA Pro American Superbike is a doubleheader at the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tires at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on the weekend of July 17-19.

Bostrom Stays Perfect in Daytona SportBike
Bostrom took his second AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL victory in a close battle with Chaz Davies at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Riding the No. 1s Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6, Bostrom first took the lead on Lap 6 of what would be a 21-lap race when race and points leader Martin Cardenas had a low-side crash in Turn 10. Cardenas started from the pole and led the first five laps before his incident.

Bostrom led through a 27-minute red flag brought about by a three-bike incident in the famed Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Corkscrew involving Jason DiSalvo (No. 40 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600), Ricky Parker (No. 96 RPR Racing Yamaha YZF-R6) and Chris Fillmore (No. 55 Chris Fillmore Racing Yamaha YZF-R6). None of the three riders were injured and the race was shortened two laps from its scheduled 23-lap distance.

Bostrom led when the green flag flew again on Lap 11 but Davies motored his No. 57 Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies Team Aprilia RSV1000R around Bostrom and into the lead on Lap 15. Bostrom would not go down without a fight, however, and the Californian once again regained the lead in Turn 11 with slightly more than three laps remaining.

While Davies kept the pressure on, Bostrom would not be denied, going on to win by 0.226 seconds for his second Daytona SportBike triumph. Bostrom also won the prestigious Daytona 200 By Honda to open the year in his only other Daytona SportBike start to date.

“It was fantastic,” Bostrom said. “I really enjoyed the little bike there. That race was quite enjoyable and Chaz did an amazing job. The race came down to the end and it was just one of those fantastic races. We knew the R6 was well capable of winning and it did, so it stands on top of the podium on a track that Yamaha helps sponsor, so that’s fantastic. It’s about time that little 600 won again, so it won at the correct track and it was good. It was very fun to ride.”

Davies led a total of four laps en route to his first Daytona SportBike podium result. He has finished inside the top 10 in nine of 12 races this season.

“I knew I had the pace all day,” said Davies. “I was really fast this morning and consistent. Once we got the first half of the race started, I really struggled to get by some guys. I was struggling to get a gap on (Danny) Eslick. I knew my pace was stronger than what it was, but by that time, Josh and Ben were already gone. Their pace was really good. Actually, the red flag benefited me. There was some serious banging going on on the restart, and luckily I came out on the good side of it.

“I just managed to have myself a good race with Ben. We swapped positions a few times. I was stronger than him here and there and he was stronger than me in other spots. All in all, I’m happy. It’s the first podium of the year, the bike was fantastic and I just can’t say enough about the work that’s gone on with my team in the last three weeks. They’ve really knuckled down and got everything that I’ve asked for and it’s been really good. Hopefully, we’ll see the rest of the year go on like this as well.”

Rounding out the podium with a third-place performance was Josh Herrin on the No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6. It was Herrin’s fourth podium result of the season and his eighth top-10 performance.

“It feels really good to be back on the podium, but it kind of sucks when I know that I had the win really easy,” Herrin said. “I was just sitting there before the red flag waiting for the last couple of laps just to pull a gap on Ben, but it just wasn’t my day today. I got hit, like, four times, and I just had to try and fight back. I figured, ‘Man, this just isn’t my day today. It’s not going how I want at all.’ Lucky for me, I was able to pull off a third. I’ve got to thank my crew. They did a really good job this weekend. I’m glad to put them back on the podium.”

Aquino made it three Team Graves Yamahas in the top-four positions with a fourth-place ride on the No. 6 Yamaha YZF-R6. The result matched Aquino’s best run of the season, which he achieved in the second race of the doubleheader at Infineon Raceway in May. Scoring a career-best fifth-place result was Robertino Pietri on the No. 311 Team E.S.P. Yamaha YZF-R6. Pietri’s previous best results were 12th-place rides at Auto Club Speedway in March and Barber Motorsports Park in May.

Despite his early crash, Cardenas continues to lead the Daytona SportBike championship standings. He is 39 markers (255-216) ahead of No. 88 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R rider Jamie Hacking, who finished ninth today, after 12 of 20 races.

Next up for AMA Pro Daytona SportBike is a doubleheader at the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tires at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on the weekend of July 17-19.
AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. From its Daytona Beach headquarters, the organization operates and manages AMA Pro Road Racing, which includes AMA Pro American Superbike, AMA Pro Daytona SportBike, AMA Pro SuperSport and AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT. AMA Pro Racing also manages and works closely with the day-to-day operational organizations of the AMA Pro Flat Track Championship and the AMA Pro Supermoto Championship Series in addition to other two-wheel and ATV series. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.

*****************************

Ducati Marlboro

Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden crossed the line in fourth and fifth place today to secure a top team result for Ducati that confirms the forward steps taken with the Desmosedici GP9 in recent weeks.

A top five finish for Hayden is the result of relentless hard work and dedication from rider and team since the start of the season and his best qualifying and race performances of the campaign so far represented a source of huge satisfaction. The American delighted his home crowd not only with his performance but also with a special ‘stars and stripes’ livery, that will also be available on the new Ducati 848, launched in the USA two days ago.

However, a fourth place finish for Stoner was another case of damage limitation following another physically demanding weekend. The Australian has been combating physical exhaustion and to have two races in successive weekends certainly didn’t help his cause here. Stoner will now stay on in the United States for extensive tests at the Fremont Surgery Center with Dr. Arthur Ting and Dr. Tuan, to try and understand the source of the problem.

CASEY STONER (Ducati MotoGP Team) (4th)
“It has been a weekend to forget. I can’t be happy with fourth place even if it has limited the damage to my championship chances. Today I didn’t feel as bad at the end of the race as I have done in the last two but I’m still not right. I found it really difficult to keep my concentration over the last few laps and I was in a bit of a daze by the end. My left arm was feeling really tired by the end because of the fact there are so many left-handers here and my left wrist still doesn’t have the full range of movement after my operation in the winter. I’m really disappointed because without all of these problems we could have done so much better. I want to thank the team for giving me a great bike and also Doctor Claudio Macchiagodena and our physiotherapist Freddie (Dente) for all their help. Now we’ll focus on trying to find out the root of the problem because racing in this condition is not much fun.”

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati MotoGP Team) (5th)
“I have won here twice and to say that fifth place feels just as good might sound strange but man, so much hard work has gone into getting us to this point and I want to savour this feeling. To be racing at home, to score a solid result and to have had fun out there is nice. I just want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to my whole team, to Ducati and to everybody who has continued to believe in me during some difficult times this season. We have made progress over the last two races, we have kept the faith and it has paid off with this fifth place. Hopefully we can keep it going and score even better results as the season progresses.”

Podium USA GP 2009

1st Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 2nd Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), 3rd Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
Fastest lap:
Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1’21.928
Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008), 1’21.488 – 159.483 Km/h
2009 Pole: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), 1’21.678 – 159.112 Km/h
Best Pole: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008), 1’20.700 – 161.040 Km/h

Riders’ World Championship standings
1st Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 151 punti; 2nd Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 142; 3rd Casey Stoner (Ducati) 135; 4th Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 92; 5th Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 76; … 12th Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 38.

Constructors’ World Championship standings
1st Yamaha (185 points); 2nd Ducati (135); 3rd Honda (123); 4th Suzuki (79); 5th Kawasaki (61)

****************************

Repsol Honda

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa stormed to victory in the U.S. Grand Prix today, leading from start to finish and banishing to history his injury-ravaged start to the season. It was the 23-year-old Spaniard’s 30th Grand Prix win of his career in all classes (7 in MotoGP, 15 in 250cc, 8 in 125cc) and his first since his victory at the 2008 Grand Prix of Catalunya over a year ago.

From fourth on the grid, Pedrosa made yet another demon start, powering his RC212V around the outside of the front row riders and into an early lead. It was a scenario that has been seen several times this season, but this time Pedrosa had the speed to stretch away at the front and soon opened up a gap over Casey Stoner. During the first half of the race the Spaniard relentlessly upped the pace, on lap 15 setting a time of 1m 21.928s which was the fastest lap of the race and improved on his best qualifying lap from yesterday.

By the race’s half-way point he was 3.5 seconds clear and from then on Pedrosa controlled the gap to his pursuers. Although Valentino Rossi closed him down in the final few laps as Pedrosa eased up, he crossed the line for an emotional victory. The performance was all the more remarkable considering the physical nature of this track and the fact that Pedrosa has been unable to train properly for nearly a year.

For Andrea Dovizioso, Pedrosa’ team-mate, the race started in promising fashion, the Italian was riding strongly in fourth place and looked capable of staying with the lead bunch. But he suffered an unfortunate incident when he clipped the poles separating the pit lane exit from the fast Turn 1 and bent his clutch lever. From this moment on his machine control was hindered and, although he managed to keep pace with the leaders, he fell at the uphill left-hand Turn 5 on lap 7 and was forced to retire from the race, luckily unhurt. It was a shame for the 23-year-old from Forli who had displayed consistent pace all weekend on only his second visit to Laguna Seca after finishing fourth here last year.

The MotoGP paddock now travels back to Europe for the Grand Prix of Germany at the Sachsenring, which takes place in two weeks’ time.

DANI PEDROSA – 1st – World Championship position: 4th, 92 points
“This is a fantastic win for us and it’s a great feeling after such a long time without a victory. The start to the season has been really difficult and actually it’s been tough since Sachsenring last year because I’ve had a lot of injuries and I haven’t been able to ride at 100 per cent for a long time, or train properly. But my team and Honda never gave up and I’d like to thank everyone who’s been working really hard to help me get back to this position. I’d also like to thank the doctors who have treated me because there have been quite a few of them! I got a good start, I was able to get into a good rhythm straight away and my pace was a little better than in practice. Perhaps my only mistake here was to slow down too much on the last lap because I didn’t realize how close Valentino was. Anyway, it was a great race, a great day and it’s a great feeling. Now I just want to focus on each race and get the best results possible. There’s a long way to go in the championship but there’s also a big gap to the leaders so I’m just going to take it one race at a time.”

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – DNF – World Championship position: 6th, 69 points
“We were in good shape, I’d got into a fast rhythm and I’m sure we could have had good result today, so I’m very disappointed. Unfortunately I made a mistake and I have spoiled this opportunity. During the first laps, I was behind Valentino, I wanted to overtake him and I was very close at the end of the straight. It’s a blind point and I was so close that I didn’t see the plastic poles that separate the track from the pit lane. I hit a few of them and in the impact the clutch lever bent, and from that moment on I couldn’t control the engine braking. It was my mistake as my line was too far to the left but after that it was tough to ride and change gear properly. Nevertheless, I tried to stay up with the leaders. Then I lost the front and crashed after having had a couple of warnings. I’m really disappointed because we are getting closer to front-running pace at every race and here we could have done well. Still, I believe in myself, in the machine and in my team, and I really hope to get a good result soon.”

KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER
“Dani did a fantastic job today. It has been 382 days since Honda last won a MotoGP race, and this result shows that the factory Repsol Honda Team can still be a force to be reckoned with. Dani has had a very difficult start to 2009, with injury interfering with the winter testing programme and then with more bad luck and injuries in the early races. But now we can put that behind us and use this victory to move forward. Though Andrea is obviously disappointed with today, he was also strong this weekend and I’m sure the results will come for him soon. Far from relaxing now, the Repsol Honda Team is going to work even harder to repeat this kind of success. There is still a gap to some of our rivals and there are many strong riders in MotoGP, but Honda will never give up and I’m determined that today is just the start.”

Race Result – Round 8
1     Dani Pedrosa     44m 01.580     SPA     HONDA     Repsol Honda Team
2     Valentino Rossi     +0.344     ITA     YAMAHA     Fiat Yamaha Team
3     Jorge Lorenzo     +1.926     SPA     YAMAHA     Fiat Yamaha Team
4     Casey Stoner     +12.432     AUS     DUCATI     Ducati Marlboro Team
5     Nicky Hayden     +21.663     USA     DUCATI     Ducati Marlboro Team
6     Toni Elias     +22.041     SPA     HONDA     San Carlo Honda Gresini
7     Colin Edwards     +30.201     USA     YAMAHA     Tech 3 Yamaha
8     Chris Vermeulen     +32.857     AUS     SUZUKI     Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
9     Randy De Puniet     +40.325     FRA     HONDA     LCR Honda MotoGP
10     Marco Melandri     +48.028     ITA     KAWASAKI     Hayate Racing Team
11     Alex De Angelis     +48.810     SMR     HONDA     San Carlo Honda Gresini
12     Niccolo Canepa     +1m 18.531     ITA     DUCATI     Pramac Racing

Championship standings
1     Valentino Rossi     151 pts     ITA     YAMAHA     Fiat Yamaha Team
2     Jorge Lorenzo     142 pts     SPA     YAMAHA     Fiat Yamaha Team
3     Casey Stoner     135 pts     AUS     DUCATI     Ducati Marlboro Team
4     Dani Pedrosa     92 pts     SPA     HONDA     Repsol Honda Team
5     Colin Edwards     76 pts     USA     YAMAHA     Tech 3 Yamaha
6     Andrea Dovizioso     69 pts     ITA     HONDA     Repsol Honda Team
7     Marco Melandri     61 pts     ITA     KAWASAKI     Hayate Racing Team
8     Chris Vermeulen     61 pts     AUS     SUZUKI     Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
9     Randy De Puniet     58 pts     FRA     HONDA     LCR Honda MotoGP
10     Loris Capirossi     56 pts     ITA     SUZUKI     Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
11     James Toseland     39 pts     GBR     YAMAHA     Tech 3 Yamaha
12     Nicky Hayden     38 pts     USA     DUCATI     Ducati Marlboro Team
13     Toni Elias     37 pts     SPA     HONDA     San Carlo Honda Gresini
14     Alex De Angelis     36 pts     SMR     HONDA     San Carlo Honda Gresini
15     Mika Kallio     26 pts     FIN     DUCATI     Pramac Racing
16     Niccolo Canepa     16 pts     ITA     DUCATI     Pramac Racing
17     Sete Gibernau     12 pts     SPA     DUCATI     Grupo Francisco Hernando
18     Yuki Takahashi     9 pts     JAP     HONDA     Scot Racing Team MotoGP
19     Gabor Talmacsi     0 pts     HUN     HONDA     Scot Racing Team MotoGP

Circuit information
First race     1988 (Modified 1996)
GPs held     10
Laps     32
Race distance     115.520km / 71.776miles
Track length     3.610km / 2.243miles
Track width     15m
Longest straight     0.966km / 0.6miles
Corners     11 (4 right, 7 left)
Pole position     Right

1021 Monterey Salinas Hwy
Monterey

CA 93940

United States
T: +1 831-242-8201

Website: http://www.mazdaraceway.com

Circuit records
Pole position     1m20.700s (161.040Km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2008)
Race lap     1m21.488s (159.483m/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2008)
Race time     44m04.311s (157.270m/h) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha, 2008)
Premier Class Wins     3 (Wayne Rainey 1989, 1990-01)
2008 Winner     Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)

*****************************

MotoGP

After more than a year without a victory for Honda, since his own win at Catalunya last season, Dani Pedrosa triumphed in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca on Sunday, taking the holeshot from fourth on the grid and not looking back – to cross the finishing line ahead of his closest rival Valentino Rossi.

Following a string of crashes and injury problems, Pedrosa was finally back to his very best, lapping at a pace which none of his opponents could match. At one stage he had built up a significant gap at the front and although series leader Valentino Rossi chased him down on the final lap there were no mishaps this time.

Pedrosa still has some way to go if he is to challenge at the head of the standings however, as current leader Rossi picked up further points in second place, whilst fellow contenders Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner were third and fourth, respectively.

Riding with an injured shoulder and foot, Lorenzo had a chance to overtake Rossi for second with four laps to go but got his move wrong and had to settle for the final podium place. Stoner ran with the frontrunners for most of the race but tired in the final stages, although he stayed within touching distance of Fiat Yamaha pair Rossi and Lorenzo at the top of the standings courtesy of his fourth place.

A good ride from home favourite Nicky Hayden at his favourite track saw him register his first top five result since joining Ducati, the American rider finishing just ahead of a similarly revitalised Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini).

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) and Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) completed the top ten.

There was disappointment for Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) who lost ground in the championship when he crashed out for the second race in succession on lap seven.

Only twelve riders completed the race, as the likes of Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Racing), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Sete Gibernau (Grupo Francisco Hernando) and James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) went home with DNFs to their names. Toseland was black flagged for failing to come in for a ride-through penalty after jump starting.

The MotoGP riders return to action at Sachsenring after a weekend’s break, with the 250cc and 125cc fields joining them at the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland on 17th-19th July.

*********************

Pramac Racing

Not an easy start for the Pramac Racing rider in the Grand Prix of America, in fact, Niccolò Canepa found him self in last position in the first turns. The Italian rider have tried to push more to recover some positions, but the missing of grip in the front of the bike and seeing some riders crash in front of him, made him take the decision to don’t risk and take home four world championship points. Niccolò, together with his Technical staff, will have to find a solution for the next race to find a better feeling straight away in the firsts laps to remain with the other riders and fight for better positions. Therefore appointment in two weeks time at the Sachsenring circuit for the Gran Prix of Germany.

Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director

“It has been a hard weekend for us since the first practice session. It seems that yesterday we have found some good solutions but today things didn’t go in the right direction. Niccolò, as it happened in other races, doesn’t have the confidence with the front part of the bike at the beginning and loses too much time from the other riders. Than it’s not easy to ride by your self. We hope to be able to improve in the next race and obtain a better final result.”

Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing rider – 12th in the race – 16th in MotoGP Classification

“Hard race for us today. In the first laps I couldn’t push more because I didn’t have enough grip with the front part of the bike, in addition I saw other riders fall in front of me and I thought the track wasn’t in the best condition in that moment. Once the front tyre was warmer it was too late because I found my self practically alone. I maintained yesterday’s afternoon rhythm, but it wasn’t enough to reach the riders in front of me. We will try to do better in two weeks at the Sachsenring.”

**************************

LCR Honda

Monterey, 5 July: On a near perfect summer’s day LCR Honda MotoGP Team racer Randy De Puniet gained another top ten finish riding the Honda RC212V no. 14 in today’s U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. After rear grip problems which affected his position on the grid in yesterday’s qualifying (14th) the Frenchman put in a maximum effort over the 32-lap race and got the 9th place overall at the Californian track which hosted the eight round of the season.

Randy took his start from the fourth row ending the first lap in 13th position and started to lap consistently fast on this demanding track though his overall package was not as good as he expected. The race was won by Pedrosa ahead 46.000 spectators followed by Rossi and Lorenzo. Now Randy and the LCR squad will move back to Europe for German GP on the 19th of July.

De Puniet – 9th:
“I am quite satisfied as it was hard to expect a better result starting from the fourth row on this “up-and-down” track. I struggled with grip problems since Friday and we tried to adjust our issues but at the end the bike was not at 100%. My start was not brilliant and found some traffic in the first laps but after that my rhythm was good enough to pass a few riders. We decided to go for a softer rear tyre which was a good choice for the beginning of the race but grip from the rear tyre dropped at ten laps to go. This is another productive result for me and the Team as I am holding the 9th place in the championship”

*************************

Bridgestone

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard
Dani Pedrosa triumphed in a nail-biting climax to round eight of the MotoGP season to take his first victory of the year, and his and the Repsol Honda Team’s first victory on Bridgestone tyres. Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi finished a close second followed by teammate Jorge Lorenzo, who battled back from fifth to finish third. The top four riders, including Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner, all opted for the hard compound front and rear Bridgestone slicks as the temperature at the Californian track reached 51 degrees Celsius.

In another race in which the leaders were in a flat out battle until the last corner of the last lap, Bridgestone’s slick tyres demonstrated good consistency and durability as Pedrosa’s winning time was almost three seconds faster than Valentino’s winning time last year, and the top nine riders all recorded faster total race times than did the top nine finishers last season.

Pedrosa’s fastest lap of the race came as he pushed hard to establish a comfortable lead that was 3.3 seconds at its peak. As the race unfolded the fight for the lead intensified as Rossi chased the Spaniard relentlessly, fighting his way from third position on lap eleven to finish just 0.344 seconds adrift of what would have been a consecutive hat-trick of wins for the Italian.

Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden was the top rider to use a medium compound front Bridgestone slick, securing his best result of the season with fifth position. Toni Elias was the highest placed rider to use Bridgestone’s softer option fronts and rears, also securing his best finish of the season with sixth for San Carlo Honda Gresini, just 0.378 seconds behind Hayden.

Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit
“I want to congratulate Dani and the Repsol Honda Team for a great victory today, their first of the season and their first on Bridgestone tyres. Again we have seen a race that has only been decided on the last corner of the last lap, and Dani is the fourth rider to have won this season, so this is great for the competitive spectacle of the sport.”

Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development
“I am pleased with the durability of our hard compound slicks today as this track is very demanding of them but they showed good consistency and the top three riders were all able to set a faster race time than last year’s winning time of 44m04.311s. This clearly demonstrates the steps forward in overall tyre performance we have made since then, and that the tyre options we brought this
weekend work well at this circuit.”

Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Race Winner
“It’s been a long tough year for me since last year here when I couldn’t race, but finally we have had a good race and a good result. I was able to find a better rhythm than in practice so I think this is what let me go away. I think maybe the only mistake was a too slow last lap as I thought I had more advantage. It’s been tough but I am happy to be back and win a race.”

Top ten classification (Sunday 14:00 GMT-7)
Pos. Rider Team Race time Gap Front tyre Rear tyre Tyres
1 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 44m01.580s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick
2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 44m01.924s +0.344s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick
3 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 44m03.506s +1.926ss Hard Hard Bridgestone slick
4 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 44m14.012s +12.432s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick
5 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 44m23.243s +21.663s Medium Hard Bridgestone slick
6 Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 44m23.621s +22.041s Medium Medium Bridgestone slick
7 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 44m31.781s +30.201s Medium Hard Bridgestone slick
8 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 44m34.437s +32.857s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick
9 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 44m41.905s +40.325s Hard Medium Bridgestone slick
10 Marco Melandri Hayate Racing Team 44m49.608s +48.028s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick
Weather: Dry. Ambient 18°C; Track 51°C (Bridgestone measurement)

***********************

Monster Yamaha Tech3

Colin Edwards’ determined ride in his home race at Laguna Seca today achieved a personal milestone for the popular Texan, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider scoring his 100th point-scoring Grand Prix finish.
Edwards started and finished the 32-lap in seventh to become only the 14th rider in the 61-year history of world championship racing to score points in 100 races.

Slipping to ninth on the opening lap, Edwards fought his way back into seventh on lap seven and began a pursuit of a battle for fifth place involving Spaniard Toni Elias and compatriot Nicky Hayden.

Edwards, who has only failed to score points in 10 of his premier class appearances, closed to within two seconds of Elias on lap 12. But his hopes of a fourth top six finish in 2009 were ended when he ran into front-end issues during the second half of the race, staged in front of a home crowd of 46,679 fans.
Edwards is now fifth in the individual standings and his latest result ensured the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team remains firmly in contention for fourth place in the Team World Championship, the French-based team trailing Suzuki’s factory squad by just two-points after eight races.

It was a disappointing day for British rider James Toseland. Having been adjudged to have jumped the start from 15th on the grid, Toseland failed to stop for a ride through penalty within the allotted time and was subsequently black flagged and excluded from the results on lap 11.

Colin Edwards 7th – 76 points
“It’s great to score my 100th points finish in front of my home fans and doing it for Monster, Yamaha and Tech 3 who have given me great support. But I expect more than finishing seventh. I’m pretty tired now and it was a really physical race because I couldn’t get the bike to turn. Each time I threw it on its side it just went straight out to the kerb. I was using a lot of effort to get the bike to turn and it felt like the front forks were sitting between my legs. When I braked the front didn’t feel like it was coming back up. It felt like the front was buried in the ground and just pushed me out to the edge of the track. I ride over the front a lot but today it felt like I was crawling all over it, almost like I was sitting on top of the tank. It wasn’t super special and we’ve got to go back to the drawing board I think for Germany. My pace was consistent and I was doing between 22.9 or 23.1 the whole race, but that just wasn’t fast enough.”

James Toseland DNF – 39 points
“There’s not much I can say really other than it was a tough weekend. I feel like the jump start was pretty harsh. I knew it was close but I didn’t think I’d jumped the start and that early in a 32-lap race I’m not looking at my pitboard. I was just concentrating on catching the guy in front and the first thing I realised that I’d been penalised was when I saw the black flag and my number. Obviously if I’d known I’d jumped the start then I would have come in but I’ve watched the TV replay and you can’t see anything. I didn’t gain any places either so in my opinion it’s pretty harsh. It’s a setback but I’ve just got to get on with it and bounce back in Germany.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“It was a tough weekend but Colin still had a good race. He had a good pace and while it wasn’t fast enough to be on the podium he got some good points and now he’s fifth in the championship and still the top independent team rider. It was also his 100th point-scoring finish in MotoGP and I’m pleased that he has achieved that with the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha Team. Colin has done a fantastic job for our team and it shows what a consistent performer he has been for Yamaha. For James it was a big disappointment because although it was a difficult weekend I think a top ten finish could have been possible. It was a marginal jump start but that’s the rule, it is th

*********************

Rizla Suzuki

Rizla Suzuki racer Chris Vermeulen recovered from an early race set-back and managed to fight his way through the field to finish eighth at the U.S. GP today.

Vermeulen started from ninth on the grid and was edged out as the pack went into the first turn, finding himself down in eleventh place. He then got boxed out on lap two by team-mate Loris Capirossi and Colin Edwards and was relegated down to 14th place. Vermeulen battled back – and although he also benefitted from a couple of riders crashing in front of him – Vermeulen also managed to put in passes to get inside the top 10. His race pace was good enough for a top five position today and but for the tough start he encountered, things could have been considerably different for the Australian.

Capirossi had a race today that summed up his difficult weekend. He got a good start and was up to eighth position and still in touch with the front group after the first three laps, but on the fourth lap disaster struck for the Italian star. As he pushed hard to keep in touch with the leaders he lost the front end of his Suzuki GSV-R on the fast turn six and ended in the gravel. Capirossi was able to remount his machine after suffering no injuries, but the damage to his bike was too substantial and all he could do was ride back to the pits and retire.

Today’s race was watched by over 46,000 fans at trackside, and they were treated to a great battle at the front with Dani Pedrosa on his factory Honda taking a flag-to-flag win, despite coming under intense pressure at the end of the race from Valentino Rossi, who himself was pushed all the way to the finish by Jorge Lorenzo.

Rizla Suzuki now heads back across the Atlantic as it returns to Europe for the next round of the MotoGP World Championship at Sachsenring in Germany on Sunday 19th July.

Chris Vermeulen:

“It was a difficult race and we didn’t end up where we wanted to be. I got quite a good start but then got boxed in on turn one and lost a few positions. I was battling with Loris and Colin and got caught up with them and came out of it the worse, and ended up in about 14th place. We also struggled a bit with tyre performance today and didn’t get the ultimate performance out of the bike. From about lap 15 and right to the end my times were quite quick and when everybody’s tyre dropped down – including mine – it was a lot easier to ride the bike. We just didn’t really have the performance with the new tyres and it’s something that has affected us before this year and is certainly something we will have to look at. The plus is that I stayed upright all day today – which was good – and although we didn’t have the best package out there we still managed to score some decent points and now we need to move forward in Germany.”

Loris Capirossi:

“I am really upset about today, because we have worked so hard this weekend to find the best solution and we thought we would be ok with the setting today. I started quite well and was really aggressive in the first couple of laps, but in turn six I lost the front on the second lap and then on the next lap I did the same in the same place, but this time I crashed. I am really sorry for the whole team because they have worked so hard this week. The truth is this has been a terrible weekend for me as we never really found a good solution. Fortunately we have another nine races in front of us and we will keep working really hard to get some good results.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“The result today was not at all what we were looking for from the Laguna GP. Chris really struggled to get enough heat into the tyres in the early laps and it was always going to be an uphill struggle for him to come back from 14th. He pushed hard to get back to eighth and he had the speed and the lap-times to be in the fifth position group, but it was impossible for him to achieve that from so far back.

“Loris suffered from the same grip problems as Chris at the start of the race, but was pushing really hard and the good news is that he is completely unhurt after losing the front in turn six – one of the scariest and fastest turns here at Laguna. It was a 32-lap race and we were 32 seconds off the win. One second a lap doesn’t sound much, but it is a big gap to bridge and we need to do everything we can to get closer to the front guys as soon as possible!”

Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Race Classification:

1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 44′01.580: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.344: 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +1.926: 4. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +12.432: 5. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) +21.663: 8. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +32.857: DNF. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP):

World Championship Classification:

1. Rossi 151: 2. Lorenzo 142: 3. Stoner 135: 4. Pedrosa 92: 5. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 76: 8. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 61: 10. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 56: