Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix FIM MotoGP World Championship Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California July 22 Free Practice One Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Casey STONER, Australia (HONDA), 1:22.300 2. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:22.402 3. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:22.420 4. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:22.806 5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (HONDA), 1:22.911 6. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy (HONDA), 1:23.210 7. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 1:23.297 8. Colin EDWARDS, USA (YAMAHA), 1:23.459 9. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:23.467 10. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:23.529 11. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:23.596 12. Randy DE PUNIET, France (DUCATI), 1:23.807 13. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Great Britain (YAMAHA), 1:24.018 14. Toni ELIAS, Spain (HONDA), 1:24.324 15. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:24.566 16. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (DUCATI), 1:24.682 17. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:25.325 18. Ben BOSTROM, USA (HONDA), 1:27.286 More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: THE GRAND PRIX OF AMERICA AT LAGUNA SECA HAS BEGUN First laps on the fascinating Laguna Seca circuit, USA, for the Pramac Racing Riders. Randy De Puniet and Loris Capirossi have terminated the first free session respectively at 12th and 15th position and at 2pm local time will be back on track for the second practice session at their disposal today. Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing rider 12th in 1’23.807 “Today it didn’t go so bad even if I didn’t have the right grip both in the front and rear part of the bike. I am sure that with some small adjustments on the traction control we can aim to the top six as we are only half a second behind. I lose to much time in the fast corners at the moment, but in the afternoon with higher track temperature the situation for us should be better.” Loris Capirossi Pramac Racing rider”- 15th in 1’24.566 “I am quite satisfied even if I still have some difficulties in the braking points as I don’t have the strength I need to be as fast as I would like to. This morning was important for me to find back the right feeling with the bike. It will be difficult, I am sure of it, but I will grit my teeth and we will try to improve this afternoon when the track should also have more grip.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Good start for the Repsol Honda Team in Laguna Seca The Repsol Honda Team enjoyed a strong start in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix today in Monterey, California. Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, separated by just one tenth of a second, took the top two positions in the first free practice session at the Laguna Seca circuit, while Andrea Dovizioso was six-tenths off the Australian rider in fifth. With colder temperatures on the ground compared to last year, the riders began working on the set up of the bikes with a softer tyre that Bridgestone brought to America. Casey’s best lap time this morning (1’22.300) is still one second slower than his circuit record lap (1’21.376 in 2010), but with higher track temperatures this afternoon, the times will soon improve in the second free practice session starting at 14h10, local time. CASEY STONER 1st 1’22.300 “This morning went ok, at the beginning of the session the tyres were working well and the grip was pretty good. We tried a few different things and got the bike working better and then the tyres started to go off quite a lot, I’m not sure if this is due to the track being cold in the first part of the session, but for sure they weren’t as good at the end of the session. It will be difficult to understand if we got any real decent data this morning and we’ll have to wait until we get onto the harder compound tyres this afternoon to see if the current setting will work with those or not. We still have a few areas to improve for sure, it’s hard after one session to really say anything certain but I suppose we’re happy enough at the moment”. DANI PEDROSA 2nd 1’22.402 “We had a pretty good start, we needed to make some small changes on the set up of the bike to better absorb the bumps in this circuit. Laguna is more bumpy than Sachsenring and there are many fast changes of direction, we have some wheelies and hard braking, so we have to adjust the set up according to this. Early in the session I went wide in Turn 2, I made a mistake with the gear and I couldn’t stop the bike, so I just released it, nothing else. For the rest, everything was OK. Bridgestone tyres, with a softer compound, worked well in the morning, so it’s positive. In terms of my physical condition, my back is sore and I guess I will have more pain during the weekend, but I will try to recover well during sessions and do my best”. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 5th 1’22.911 “Laguna Seca is a special track, very different from any other circuit and it takes a while to find the rhythm. This morning I didn’t have too much feeling in the corner entry and I was a little slow in the middle of the corner. Considering that I was not 100% comfortable, the gap from the first riders is not too big and I’m confident that we will improve in the afternoon, when we will do a comparison between the two bikes equipped with two different set ups, a setting we thought about using in Sachsenring. This afternoon the temperatures will rise, the track will have more rubber and we will all push more. I really like to race in the U.S. because every event becomes a show. The atmosphere and the fans are incredible”.