Laguna Seca July 7th, 2005 US GP Preview Roller-coaster in Laguna Seca: Welcome to the wild, wild West The wild, wild West of the United States offers a new adventure: For the first time in racing history, 990cc MotoGP bikes will roar around the twisty Laguna Seca circuit with its steep ascents, tight corners, fast direction changes and the most famous drop-off zone of all circuits around the globe the notorious Corkscrew, a blind downhill S-curve so steep that it turns the stomach of the riders like a roller-coaster. Laguna Seca hosted its last GP eleven years ago, and considering the way the riders of the 500cc two-stroke prototypes battled back then to keep both wheels of their 180-hp machines on the ground, it’s open to wild imaginations which kind of show modern MotoGP racing will put on stage with its 240 hp, 340 kph machines. Located 170 kilometres south-east of San Francisco, near the Monterey Peninsula and its world-famous Pebble Beach Golf Course, the track has been upgraded with extensive safety modifications in order to match modern-day MotoGP racing’s requirements. More than two million Dollars were spent to move back walls, and to increase run-off zones. Over 15000 tons of gravel were trucked to the site to fill the extended gravel traps. “The event organisers have done their best to make the track safe”, confirms Kenny Roberts, former World Champion and one of the American idols aboard his Bridgestone-fitted factory Suzuki. “With the AMA championship and the Grand Prix on one day, the event will be huge I’m sure we will see in excess of 100000 spectators.” Hard-braking stability, good traction under acceleration, and sheer cornering speed are crucial in Laguna Seca, so grip and grip consistency will be decisive factors in the race. Due to the re-surfaced track, the grip level of the tarmac remains a question mark for all teams before the first practice session, that has been extended from one to two hours to give the riders and technicians enough time to come to grips with the new track. Bridgestone’s ongoing development program has once again produced new spec tyres for Laguna Seca, mainly with new rubber compounds. In order to give the six-rider line-up – Ducati-stars Loris Capriossi and Carlos Checa, Kawasaki riders Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, and two local heroes Roberts and John Hopkins on Suzuki the best possible choice under any conditions, Bridgestone has shipped a total of 1100 tyres to Laguna Seca, with an extra-wide selection of five different front and 7-8 different rear tyre specs. Hiroshi Yamada – Motorcycle Racing Manager Bridgestone Motorsport “We are very excited about the comeback of the US-Grand Prix after eleven years, and we can’t wait to see MotoGP action on this unique and exciting track! It is a great thing to happen, especially in a huge motorcycle market such as the United States. We will do our best here to achieve good results. There is not much data available from this track, but we have brought new specs with new compounds in a broader range than usual, which should help us to make up for the lack of track experience. I am confident that our teams and riders will perform well here, and I hope that the race event will be a huge success for everybody!” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki Racing: MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2005 Download PDF ROUND 8 – RED BULL US GRAND PRIX, LAGUNA SECA 7 JULY 2005 – EVENT PREVIEW CALIFORNIA DREAMING – SUPER SHINYA READY FOR US GRAND PRIX Kawasaki factory rider Shinya Nakano will live out a boyhood dream when he races in the US Grand Prix in Laguna Seca this weekend. Nakano’s attraction to this northern California location was influenced by his racing hero Kevin Schwantz, the original sultan of slide who won the 1993 World Championship. Television coverage of Schwantz racing at Laguna in the late 1980’s helped inspire Nakano’s own desires to be a GP racer. No surprise then that the stylish Japanese ace says he is excited by the history-making return of the USGP to the MotoGP calendar. Equally as enthusiastic about the California visit is German rider Alex Hofmann, who shares racing duties aboard the Ninja ZX-RR in Kawasaki’s factory MotoGP squad. Hofmann, a keen motocross and supermotard rider, is a regular off-season visitor to California. And the 25-year-old Kawasaki pilot is now an officially certified ‘body-flyer’ having gained his license last week in a special test at a facility near his Swiss home in Zurich. Body-flying is a high-speed sport using an indoor, vertical wind tunnel with turbine generated wind speeds of 180 kph. Both Nakano and Hofmann arrived in America early to do some local training and recover from jet lag, and to soak up the ambience and tourism opportunities of the Monterey Peninsula. It is 11 years since the US Grand Prix was staged at Laguna Seca, and the return of the race to the North American market is a significant milestone in the increasing global expansion and popularity of the MotoGP championship. The roller-coaster style track has undergone a multimillion dollar safety upgrade to bring it up to international standards, with the infamous Corkscrew section and a sequence of fast, downhill curves highlighting the compact layout. In terms of number of laps, 32 in total, the US Grand Prix is the longest race of the season although the lap length, 3.58 km (2.22 miles) is actually the shortest on the 17 race MotoGP calendar. On this whirlwind 11-turn course, with dramatic gradient changes and fast downhill curves, the US Grand Prix promises to be a brutal test of bravery and rider fitness, both mental and physical. Nakano and Hofmann have used the Playstation racing game to gain early track knowledge, but will check the layout on scooters in advance of Friday morning’s extended, two-hour, free practice session. The US Grand Prix is the eighth race of the MotoGP World Championship, with organisers already confirming that the event is a sell-out, with 60,000 tickets sold in advance. Shinya Nakano #56 “It is like a dream come true for me to be racing at Laguna Seca. When I was a kid in Japan I remember watching Kevin Schwantz and Wayne Rainey on television, racing GPs here. Kevin is my racing hero, he was aggressive and fast, I really admire the way he raced. But I also now understand how much of a fighter and how good Wayne Rainey was as a rider. I checked the track on Playstation, although it was the Gran Turismo car racing game. It looks very technical and tough, and 32 laps will not be easy. I will do a lot of scooter laps before practice, but I think the Kawasaki has some potential here, we have strong acceleration with the latest motor and good handling. With 11 corners maybe top speed is not so important, but I will understand more when I ride the ZX-RR on Friday.” Alex Hofmann #66 “I’ve done a thousand laps on Playstation to get ready for Laguna Seca and I can’t wait, I’m ready for the challenge on a tough track. And now I’ve got my body flying license I’m ready for Batman and Superman also! Body-flying allows you to feel totally free, it’s a lot of fun. The track looks tricky and hard work, but also a lot of fun with not so many full throttle sections, which could benefit our latest ZX-RR engine set-up. I arrived in the US early to adapt to the time zone and take in the ambience of California, and do some training. I’m looking for a change of luck here, my recent results have been out of my control. Now I just hope I can go faster in real life at Laguna Seca than I did on the Playstation!”