FIM MotoGP World Championship Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California July 24 Provisional Race Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Casey Stoner, Australia (Honda), 32 laps, 43:52.145 2. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain (Yamaha), -5.634 seconds 3. Dani Pedrosa, Spain (Honda), -9.467 4. Ben Spies, USA (Yamaha), -20.562 5. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy (Honda), -20.885 6. Valentino Rossi, Italy (Ducati), -30.351 7. Nicky Hayden, USA (Ducati), -31.031 8. Colin Edwards, USA (Yamaha), -45.502 9. Hector Barbera, Spain (Ducati), -51.549 10. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan (Honda), -68.850 11. Karel Abraham, Czech Republic (Ducati), -69.132 12. Loris Capirossi, Italy (Ducati), -1 lap 13. Toni Elias, Spain (Honda), -1 lap, 24.833 seconds 14. Alvaro Bautista, Spain (Suzuki), -19 laps, DNF, crash 15. Ben Bostrom, USA (Honda), -24 laps, DNF, ran off track, retired 16. Marco Simoncelli, Italy (Honda), -26 laps, DNF, crash 17. Cal Crutchlow, Great Britain (Yamaha), -29 laps, DNF, crash 18. Randy De Puniet, France (Ducati), DNS Provisional World Championship Point Standings (After 10 of 18 races): 1. Stoner, 193 points 2. Lorenzo, 173 3. Dovizioso, 143 4. Pedrosa, 110 5. Rossi, 108 6. Spies, 98 7. Hayden, 94 8. Edwards, 67 9. Aoyama, 63 10. Simoncelli, 60 More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Bautista crashes out while challenging for the top-six Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista ended today’s U.S. Grand Prix in the gravel after crashing out on the 14th lap of this afternoon’s race. Bautista made a confident start from 12th on the grid and had moved up a place by the end of lap one. He produced a couple of very strong passes over the next few laps to move into eighth place and join the battle for sixth between the two Ducati’s of Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi. Bautista closed the gap on the pair and it looked like the crowd was in for a repeat of last week’s exciting battle between the three, but unfortunately Bautista low-sided his Suzuki GSV-R and, although he remounted his bike, he was unable to get it restarted and had to retire from the race. The crowd of 52,670 that gathered on the hillsides that surround the Laguna Seca circuit were again treated to bright blue skies and brilliant sunshine, as they witnessed current championship leader Casey Stoner take his fifth victory of the season on a Factory Honda. Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo was second with Dani Pedrosa filling the final podium place. Rizla Suzuki and Bautista now embark on a short summer break before resuming the 2011 season at Brno in the Czech Republic on Sunday 14th August, when Bautista will be joined by John Hopkins who is making a wild-card appearance at the eastern European circuit. Álvaro Bautista: “I am very, very disappointed after today and really frustrated because although we did a really good job all weekend, we didn’t get the result we deserved and I crashed. We tried many different things here this weekend and used a completely different setting to last year and we managed to get the same good feeling as we had in Germany. This is the best I have felt on a bike in my MotoGP career so I know things are moving in the right direction. I think we made a mistake on Friday and Saturday, because we didn’t try the soft front tyre in the afternoons. I think the hard tyre here wasn’t too bad, but it didn’t give me the feeling I wanted in the corners – the grip wasn’t too bad, but it just didn’t transmit enough information. For the race I started with a hard front and I now think it was a mistake not to use a soft one. I got a good start, but some riders closed up in front of me and I couldn’t get past, but I did make up one place on the first lap. I overtook some other guys and got behind the Ducati’s, but I was a bit far away and had to catch them up. My rhythm was really good and I had a lot of confidence in the bike, but I lost the front without any reason and crashed. I had entered that corner at the same speed and in the same place in previous laps so I don’t know what happened. I am happy with the work we did this weekend and pleased with my level on the bike. Before the crash I was fighting for sixth or seventh and I know we can be there now and we have to keep working at this level and higher in the next races We now have some time to relax and charge our batteries, so we can be full gas for Brno.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “I am really disappointed today for everyone at Suzuki, Rizla, the team itself and of course for Álvaro. Starting from 12th was never going to make the job easy, but a very aggressive first couple of laps, and then settling in to a good rhythm saw him right back in the fight and another entertaining duel with the Factory Ducati’s was on the cards. Equally, once the race settled down, our lap-times were not so different from Dovizioso and Spies battling for fourth, so despite today’s’ disappointment there are a lot of positives to take from this weekend at Laguna Seca. We’ll be arriving in Brno with two riders and looking to keep the positive momentum going!” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner storms to dominant victory in the United States Round 10: United States GP Race Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Sunday 24 July 2011 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear (asymmetric): Soft, Medium Casey Stoner demonstrated fantastic race pace today using the harder compound Bridgestone slicks to climb from third and take a decisive victory at Laguna Seca. Initially following the lead battle between Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, as their pace faded Stoner’s consistency meant he took the lead by lap 27 of 32 and never looked back. Lorenzo took the early lead from pole position and Pedrosa put him under great pressure until the mid-way point of the race at which point Stoner started his charge to the front, passing his teammate and taking the Honda fight to the Yamaha of the 2010 World Champion. Lorenzo finished second whilst Pedrosa took the final step of the podium. The top three riders all used the harder option front and rear slicks today, as did Andrea Dovizioso who finished fifth and Marco Simoncelli who crashed out when running in fifth. Despite the high track temperature that reached 46 degrees, three riders used the softer front tyres and 12 of the 17 starters opted for the softer rear. Consistency even of the softer spec rear was reasonable and Ben Spies used it to good effect to hunt down Dovizioso and snatch fourth position from him in the closing laps. Hiroshi Yamada Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department “Casey delivered an impressive performance today to fight back to his first victory at Laguna Seca since his title-winning year of 2007, and I am pleased to see the popularity of MotoGP growing in the USA with a record crowd this weekend. Laguna Seca is the only race on the calendar at which Bridgestone-shod riders have taken all three steps of the podium every year since 2007, that season and 2008 still being a situation of tyre competition, so it has always been a good place for us and this year’s no different. I am happy with the feedback from our softer rear tyre selection which we will continue to implement for five of the remaining eight races this season.” Hirohide Hamashima Assistant to Director, Motorsport Tyre Development Division “The harder option front and rear slicks were clearly the faster options today and, especially in the case of Casey, consistency was impressive. Whilst his fastest lap was a few tenths off the lap record, the total race time was 2.7seconds faster than the previous record which is a very good indication of consistency and durability. On lap three Casey set the fastest lap of 1m 21.673s and on lap 29 his pace was still 1m 21.865s which is a further demonstration of tyre durability. I am pleased too with the performance of our softer slicks this weekend. We brought them to improve warm-up performance in the cooler morning sessions, but actually 12 riders chose to use them for the race and Ben finished fourth using a softer rear so I am satisfied with their race-distance performance as well as our decision to revise rear tyre options here.” Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team Race Winner “All weekend we didn’t really have the pace of Dani and Jorge and weren’t comfortable running that pace, but we made some changes overnight and were a little more confident going into the race. The bike didn’t feel great with a full tank of fuel so we had to wait and be patient, but as Dani and Jorge started to struggle with rear grip our bike got better and better each lap. It’s definitely one of my best races and one to enjoy.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: DE PUNIET FORCED TO MISS LAGUNA SECA RACE Pramac Racing Team’s Randy de Puniet was keen to try to race right up to the last moment in today’s United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. However after yesterday’s crash, which caused fractures to the transverse process on the right-hand side of his L3 and L4 vertebrae, the rider suffered overnight and with added trauma to the pelvis he has been forced to withdraw from the race today. The Frenchman will undergo further medical examinations tomorrow. Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing rider “I am very sad about what happened yesterday, we really didn’t need this. Until that moment it was a really good weekend for us – in all the practice sessions we were fast and today we could have done a good race. I’m sorry for my teammates who always give their best to make the bike as competitive as possible for me. I’m also sorry for our partners who support us at all times, even through these difficult moments. Yesterday I thought it was my mistake but I have check telemetry with my engineer and I did the same thing as all the other times. In Sachsenring many riders crashed in their first lap out, I guess this time was my turn, but I hope the situation will improve soon. I wanted to believe until the last moment that I was able to ride, but yesterday night the pain was truly unbearable and I had to call the doctors from the mobile clinic to ease it. Contrary to what we thought yesterday, the pelvis seems to be the biggest problem: my hip is swollen like a football, and I can barely even walk. Tomorrow I am going to take further medical examinations in Los Angeles where we can see more clearly if the pelvis also suffered a fracture. We hope that after the summer break we will be able to return to the track without any problems and leave this bad luck behind. We must do whatever it takes now to turn around the second part of our season in the championship.” More, from another press release issued by Pramac Racing: HEROIC CAPIROSSI AT LAGUNA SECA. DESPITE THE PAIN HE CONCLUDES THE RACE IN TWELFTH POSITION Heroic race for Loris Capirossi. The Pramac Racing Team rider grits his teeth and finishes the race despite the injury to his right shoulder, so gaining four world championship points thanks to the twelfth final position. It was well known that was going to be a difficult race for Loris: after a good start, where the Italian rider has gained two places, his shoulder hurt too much and the final position, however, rewards its determination. Now two weeks off to make sure that both riders of the Pramac Racing Team, Loris Capirossi and Randy De Puniet, will recover in the best way for the race scheduled for August 14th in Brno, Czech Republic. Fabiano Sterlacchini Pramac Racing Technical Director “It has been a very difficult race. We were once again very unfortunate, but we hope that bad luck went away because it would be impossible to go on like this. Loris was very brave, however, until the shoulder has held up he was keeping a good pace. Then, once the pain was too strong, he completed the race without risking further damage to his physical condition. All this shows that he is on the right direction to recovery and we hope to see him in top form at Brno. On the countrary is going for De Puniet after the fractures suffered in yesterday’s crash. He will surely need more time to recover. Fingers crossed and we hope that when we will return from vacation luck will finally be on our side.” Loris Capirossi Pramac Racing rider 12th in the race 16th in the championship “This race was a gamble for me. In Germany I only ridden for a few laps but the shoulder was really too bad. I made the decision to come here and for me the most important thing was to finish the race. We knew it would be difficult because during the test was very hard to ride. The result is bad, but I’m happy because I achieved the goal to finish the race. Now I will try to get back to full fitness in Brno, one of my favorite tracks, because there I really want to prove that we can fight for better positions.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Home top ten for Edwards, Crutchlow crashes early Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Colin Edwards rode to a hard fought eighth place finish in front of a large home crowd at the Laguna Seca track earlier today. Today’s race started in gloriously sunny conditions with temperatures reaching 23 degrees and a sun-drenched crowd of 52,670 were treated to an exciting battle throughout the 32-lap encounter. Edwards seized eighth from Hector Barbera exiting the famous Corkscrew section on lap 14 but he was already six seconds adrift of the battle for sixth place involving Ducati duo Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden. He was able to run identical lap times to nine-times world champion Rossi and double Laguna Seca MotoGP winner Hayden in the middle phase of the race. But he was unable to reduce the gap and he opted not to take any unnecessary risks to ensure he collected eigth valuable World Championship points. Today’s result, which was the 37-year-old’s seventh top ten finish of the campaign, moved him up one place in the overall rankings after to consolidate his position as the leading non-factory rider in 2011. Cal Crutchlow’s debut at the spectacular Laguna Seca circuit was unfortunately a short experience, the British rider’s hopes of a return to the top 10 ended by an early crash. Starting from the front of the fourth row, Crutchlow was shadowing tenth placed Alvaro Bautista when he lost the front-end of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team machine at Turn 2. The 25-year-old was unhurt in the fourth lap incident but it was a disappointing conclusion to a weekend that had promised much from the 2009 World Supersport champion after he’d brilliantly got to grips with the 3.610km track. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team now commences a richly deserved two-week summer break before the 2011 MotoGP World Championship resumes in Brno on August 14. Colin Edwards 8th – 67 points: “Honestly I’m really disappointed because I came here for my home race and I expected bigger and better things. I struggled all weekend with the set-up and we made a wrong turn somewhere in the last couple of races that have knocked us out of stride a little bit. This morning we just put in the same setting I ran in last year’s race and that wasn’t great, but at least I felt more comfortable with it than what I’d been running all weekend. It wasn’t the best setting but at least I felt comfortable to a poi nt where I could push for some decent lap times. I just lacked front and rear grip. I’ve never ridden so hard in my life but I was a second off the pace and when Cal went down in front of me, there was no way I could go with Bautista. I just had to be smooth because if I pushed I just ended up going slower. I still moved up in the Championship and got some good points, so now I’m just looking forward to a couple of weeks relaxing to get ready for the final part of the season.” Cal Crutchlow DNF 34 points: “I lost the front at the second corner and it was a similar problem to what we’ve been experiencing in recent races. It was fine this morning in cooler conditions but as soon as the track temperature goes up, I have a few problems. Strangely it was only at that corner. It is a shame because I think we had a good pace. Bautista wasn’t getting away from me and he quic kly got up to Valentino and Nicky, so I think I could have gone with him and been in that battle. I’m disappointed I didn’t finish the race and it is not good for the Championship but I wasn’t the only one to crash today and it shows all of us are pushing on the limit. We have still learned quite a bit this weekend and the bike certainly felt better than it did in the last few races. Now we go to some tracks that I know and I’m looking forward to it because it has been a tough run and I need to recover the form I was showing in the beginning of the season.” Herve Poncharal Team Manager: “Colin had a really strong race today and he worked hard for some good points He never gave up his pace, the rhythm was very constant and he was very near the pace of the factory Ducati for almost the entire race. He asked me on the grid what I would like and I said that an eighth position would make me happy because it had not been an easy weekend for Colin. So I am happy with his performance. On the other side of the garage we had a very big disappointment for Cal. He got a reasonable start and his lap times were very good in the first few laps but he crashed early and that is a big pity. This is Cal’s rookie year where he needs to be gaining lots of experience and learning a lot, so to crash so early is very disappointing because we lost a lot of points in the championship. But he also lost a lot of potential data that would have been very useful for next year. I would have liked him to finish the race and go into the summer break with a more positive feeling. Everybody is ready for a break after a very intense period of the Championship. The whole team is going to Colin’s Boot Camp tomorrow and we are all excited about that. Hopefully we will all be back with fully recharged batteries when the season continues in Czech Republic.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Stoner storms to fantastic victory in Laguna Seca Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner displayed a master class in riding at the Red Bull U.S. GP in Laguna Seca today. The young Australian who started from second on the grid, dropped to third place at the start and took his time before launching his attack on Repsol Honda team mate Dani Pedrosa on lap eighteen of thirty two. After passing Pedrosa, who was suffering from fatigue and fitness problems, Stoner chased down Lorenzo for nine laps and wasted no time in passing him around the outside of turn one on lap twenty seven. From this point, he controlled the race comfortably, finishing five and a half seconds ahead of the Spaniard. Stoner has now increased his lead in the World Championship standings to twenty points over Lorenzo. After being passed by Stoner, Dani Pedrosa retained third position comfortably. He knew his fitness would be tested here, at a track that demands a huge physical effort. He has now moved above Valentino Rossi in the Championship standings to 4th position with 110 points. Andrea Dovizioso who had a great start, jumping from sixth to fourth, maintained this position for the majority of the race. He struggled to maintain his consistency for the long race in Laguna and with three laps to go was passed by Ben Spies. He remains third in the Championship standings with 143 points. On this high note, the Repsol Honda Team will now enjoy a well deserved break before the next race in the Czech Republic on August 14. CASEY STONER 1st World Championship Position: 1st with 193 points “All weekend we’ve been struggling a little so we weren’t too confident that we could run with Jorge and Dani in the race. However, this morning in warm up we found something I was a little happier with. Before the race I felt relaxed, confident and generally calm, we started a little slower to get the tyres warm gently but also with a full tank of fuel, the bike didn’t feel that great. So I was patient and took my time, staying with Jorge and Dani to control the gap and make sure they didn’t get too far away. I felt I had more speed but decided to wait and watch. I saw Dani struggling a bit and he started to drop back from Jorge so I had to attack at this point. Once I caught up to Jorge, I watched to see if he made a mistake and kept the pressure on him, then chose my moment to make the move and was able to slowly open up a gap and bring the race home. It’s really fantastic to come fr om such a difficult weekend and get a great win and I’m very thankful to all my team”. DANI PEDROSA 3rd 1’21’385 World Championship Position: 4th with 110 points “I’m very happy with another podium, the second after my come back from injury. I could have predicted this result before coming to Laguna because I knew it would be physically very tough for me and it has been great to keep up with the pace of Casey and Jorge in these past two races. Today, by the middle of the race, I was very tired, almost finished, I couldn’t get my left arm strong enough and here at this track you don’t rest for a moment, so I had to drop. It’s been quite difficult to set up the bike this weekend, I had a lack of grip generally, but the team worked very well. Now we have some holidays and it will be good for me to have some days off to rest and relax my muscles and be back training to arrive fully fit in Brno”. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 5th World Championship Position: 3rd with 143 points “We knew that it was going to be a tough race because this track is short, with very strong braking and it’s also very demanding. I made a good start and I was able to move into fourth position. In the first laps I pushed hard to stay with Casey, Dani and Lorenzo. I was loosing a lot in some corners, such as T3 and T11 and to recover I was pushing in the other areas. I used up a lot of energy and I couldn’t be consistent for the 32 laps. I’m disappointed because today we had the speed to fight for a good result, in fact I lapped two tenths behind the fastest lap, but I couldn’t be consistent. I lost the battle with Spies and this is the first time I’ve lost a battle this year. The good point is that we were able to be fast. Now we have to focus and continue working, we are third in the Championship and we want to keep on fighting. We will take advant age of the three week break to recharge the batteries and return in Brno more determined. My congratulations go to Casey and Dani”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha MotoGP Team: World Champion Jorge Lorenzo put in a superhuman effort today for the Grand Prix of U.S.A, battling for victory with Championship rival Casey Stoner to finish second on the podium. Lorenzo made a strong start from pole and led the GP field for an impressive 26 lap run before conceding to Stoner as the effects of yesterday’s massive crash took its toll on his energy levels. Fellow Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies had a less than perfect start from the grid, initially dropping to seventh behind Valentino Rossi on the first laps of the race. Rossi was eventually dispatched by the Texan on lap three, freeing him to focus on Dovizioso ahead. Spies put in an incredible ride to close a gap of over five seconds and take fourth with just three laps to go. The weekend’s results leave Lorenzo heading into the short holiday break trailing Championship leader Stoner by 20 points. Team mate Spies will arrive at Brno still in sixth place in the standings but now just 12 points behind Dani Pedrosa in fourth. Jorge Lorenzo Position : 2nd Time: +5.634 “Well first of all I’m lucky to be in the second position, after the crash yesterday I thought it wasn’t possible to race for a little while. After qualifying I hoped I might be able to fight till the end for victory but sometimes expectations are not reality. Casey was faster today, I couldn’t match his pace at the end. My physical condition is not so perfect which makes us a bit slow as well. Second is ok, we are only 20 points behind Casey and we’ll try again next time.” Ben Spies Position : 4th Time: +20.562 “I got a really good start but going uphill to the steep part of the track basically we didn’t have enough power. I got stuck behind Valentino, I tried to get around as quick as I could but he’s really good on the brakes so it was pretty tough but I did the best I could. Once we got around him it was quite a big gap to Dovizioso but I just kept my head down and kept going. I’m happy we were able to track him down and get fourth. It was a really good race for us it just got spoilt in the first five hundred feet. I would have liked to have been on the podium as I think we had a package to fight with Dani, I guess that’s racing and I gave it 100% as always.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “A spectacular race by Jorge with a great 20 points secured. It is obvious we wanted to win this one but I think yesterday’s crash gave us not the best physical condition for a 32 lap race. At the end of the day, to take 20 points after a crash like that is not so bad. We’ll take some rest now and head to Brno recovered and in fighting form ready to challenge Casey again.” Massimo Meregalli Team Director “We leave here with some good points; second position is the best that Jorge could achieve considering his condition, which is very important for the Championship. Unfortunately Ben lost too much time behind Valentino, then when he was able to pass him there was already a big gap to the front guys. He did really well and caught Dovizioso to finish fourth which is good for him and for his standings. We’re looking forward to the next one already in Brno, the team have worked really hard this weekend and it’s been a special time to celebrate our 50th anniversary of Grand Prix racing with everybody here at Laguna.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: ELIAS MANAGES TO FNISH 13th AT TRICKY LAGUNA SECA RACE TRACK BOSTROM ENJOYS HIS MOTOGP DEBUT DESPITE AN EARLY RACE FINISH Monterey, 24 July: On a near perfect summer’s day with air temperature of 23 degrees LCR Honda MotoGP Team racer Toni Elias managed to finish the 32-lap Californian round in 13th position despite his usual front end issues. His team mate Ben Bostrom took a good start from the last spot on the grid ahead 52.070 country fellows dropping his lap time of one second after the first lap. Unfortunately the American SBK rider went wide into the gravel twice and preferred to enter the garage trying not to crash his RCV no. 23. Now the MotoGP Championship is “on holiday” and premier class riders will be back on track on the 14th of August for the Czech Republic GP in Brno. Elias: “In this morning warm up we have changed rear set up of the bike and I felt immediately better. As always I took a good start but on this track you get stuck if you start from the last row so I pushed but in the first corner I went a bit wide. I was 12th when I suddenly lost the front running off into the gravel. I could rejoin the race but for the rest of the race I felt like I was lapping on a frozen surface. We have finished the race in 13th position but the situation is still very tough for us”. Bostrom: “I took a good start and immediately felt very comfortable on the bike. I improved my lap time of one second from the practice so I was very optimistic to see that so early in the race. As I was riding so much faster I started to be uncomfortable in the first corner when I had to shift down because my foot hit the ground and after few laps I made a mistake running off the track into the gravel. It took me 30 seconds to rejoin the race but I wanted to continue but the next lap I had the same problem. So I have decided to enter the pits even if the bike was fantastic. Honestly I was thinking about my race and didn’t want to crash this bike. Once again I want to thank MJM, Lucio and all the guys here: it was an incredible experience for me!” More, from a press release issued by Honda: 2011 FIM MotoGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 10 AMERICAN GRAND PRIX, MONTEREY RACE DAY, JULY 24 Weather: Hot, sunny Temperature: 23C ambient / 44C track Weekend crowd attendance: 136,285 STONER BRILLIANT IN AMERICAN GRAND PRIX Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner stormed to one of the greatest wins of his career with a tactically brilliant race on a warm, sunny day in the U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) was second with Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa third. Stoner’s fifth MotoGP win of the season, and 28th overall, was an ominous sign for the competition. With the exception of 2009, when the race was won by Pedrosa, every winner at Laguna Seca has gone on to win the MotoGP World Championship, including Stoner in 2007. Stoner kept alive his amazing record of a podium finish in every race he’s completed this season. The Australian now goes into the summer break with a 20 point lead over Lorenzo, 193 to 173. Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso, today’s fifth place finisher, is third with 143 points, and Pedrosa moved up to fourth in the championship, despite missing three races. In the race Lorenzo led from the start with Pedrosa and Stoner chasing, with Dovi just off the back in fourth. Pedrosa and Stoner kept the Yamaha rider honest, not letting him break away for the first half. The first major change of the order came on the 18th of 32 laps when Stoner passed Pedrosa in the Corkscrew, the track’s signature corner. Then it was on to Lorenzo who was nearly a second in front. Stoner stalked and waited, not wanting to make a rash move on the 3.610Km track that rewards momentum and punishes mistakes. There was nothing between Lorenzo and Stoner on the 23rd lap as they crossed the line separated by only .212s. Then came Stoner’s move, which was brilliant and unexpected. He went around Lorenzo on the outside on the gas over the turn one crested kink at about 265 Km/h on the 27th lap. Almost immediately Stoner began to pull out a gap. When the 27th lap ended his lead was already .789s. By the second split of the 28th lap his lead was over a second and when the lap ended, with four to go, the lead was 1.544s. The eventual margin of victory was 5.634s. Pedrosa was alone in third on the physically demanding circuit. He said the pace at the beginning was quite high and as the race wore on it became too much and he had to settle for third. Still, it was his second podium in a row following his comeback to race three races ago in Italy. Dovizioso seemed secure in fourth for much of the race. He maintained a five second cushion until the second half when Ben Spies (Yamaha) began to close in. As the race neared its conclusion Spies got closer and closer and made a pass in the final corner ending the 29th lap. Dovizioso didn’t let the Texan get away and chased him to the flag only to come up short by .680s. Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) had a difficult start to the race from 14th on the grid. The Japanese rider made a number of passes on a track known to be difficult to pass on and finished the day with a top ten finish. The final Honda finisher was LCR Honda MotoGP rider Toni Elias in 13th. Elias ran off the track at one point and when he returned he didn’t have any confidence in the front end. San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli continued to have problems in Monterey. The Italian failed to finish the race for the second year in a row, crashing, unhurt, out of fifth place on the seventh lap. The problem was a lack of front end feel, which gave him warning two laps before he fell. And Ben Bostrom failed to complete the race in his MotoGP debut. The American had struggled with the carbon brakes on the LCR Honda MotoGP Honda RC212V and ran long in the second turn at the end of the front straight. The 37-year-old American Superbike rider continued for another lap before pitting, preferring to preserve the LCR Honda for another day. MotoGP rider quotes Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: Race winner “All weekend we’ve been struggling a little so we weren’t too confident that we could run with Jorge and Dani in the race. However, this morning in warm-up we found something I was a little happier with. Before the race I felt relaxed, confident and generally calm, we started a little slower to get the tyres warm gently, but also with a full tank of fuel, the bike didn’t feel that great. So I was patient and took my time, staying with Jorge and Dani to control the gap and make sure they didn’t get too far away. I felt I had more speed, but decided to wait and watch. I saw Dani struggling a bit and he started to drop back from Jorge so I had to attack at this point. Once I caught up to Jorge, I watched to see if he made a mistake and kept the pressure on him, then chose my moment to make the move and was able to slowly open up a gap and bring the race home. It’s really fantastic to come from such a difficult weekend and get a great win and I’m very thankful to all my team.” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 3rd “I’m very happy with another podium, the second after my come back from injury. I could have predicted this result before coming to Laguna because I knew it would be physically very tough for me and it has been great to keep up with the pace of Casey and Jorge in these past two races. Today, by the middle of the race, I was very tired, almost finished, I couldn’t get my left arm strong enough and here at this track you don’t rest for a moment, so I had to drop. It’s been quite difficult to set up the bike this weekend, I had a lack of grip generally, but the team worked very well. Now we have some holidays and it will be good for me to have some days off to rest and relax my muscles and be back training to arrive fully fit to Brno.” Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 5th “We knew that it was going to be a tough race because this track is short, with very strong braking and it’s also very demanding. I made a good start and I was able to move into fourth position. In the first laps I pushed hard to stay with Casey, Dani and Lorenzo. I was losing a lot in some corners, such as turn three and turn 11, and to recover I was pushing in the other areas. I used up a lot of energy and I couldn’t be consistent for the 32 laps. I’m disappointed because today we had the speed to fight for a good result, in fact I lapped two-tenths behind the fastest lap, but I couldn’t be consistent. I lost the battle with Spies and this is the first time I’ve lost a battle this year. The good point is that we were able to be fast. Now we have to focus and continue working. We are third in the championship and we want to keep on fighting. We will take advantage of the three week break to recharge the batteries and return in Brno more determined. My congratulations go to Casey and Dani.” Hiroshi Aoyama, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 10th “Starting from 14th place is never easy so I had to make a few passes before I could get into my true rhythm. I am partly satisfied to have finished, tenth but it was a tough race because I am still not physically fit. My intention was to make it to the end and I am happy I did that because this was my first race here at Laguna. Now we have a short break and I hope I can come back stronger in the next race at Brno, ready to fight for a good result.” Toni Elias, LCR Honda MotoGP: 13th “In this morning warm-up we have changed rear set up of the bike and I felt immediately better. As always I took a good start but on this track you get stuck if you start from the last row so I pushed but in the first corner I went a bit wide. I was 12th when I suddenly lost the front running off into the gravel. I could rejoin the race, but I was last and for the rest of the race I felt like I was lapping on a frozen surface. We have finished the race in 13th position but the situation is still very tough for us”. Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini: DNF “I am really disappointed. I don’t know whether I would have caught Pedrosa if I’d stayed in the race, it’s impossible to say, but I could have definitely had a battle with Dovizioso and Spies so it’s a real shame. We had worked so well and managed to improve from session to session, but I realised early in the race that the front was giving me more trouble than it had in practice. It closed in turn seven on the first lap, which is a strange place for it to go, and then again two laps later in turn eight. All we can do right now is dust ourselves down and head to Brno looking to do our best again.” Ben Bostrom, LCR Honda MotoGP: DNF “I took a good start and immediately felt very comfortable on the bike. I improved my lap time of one second from the practice so I was very optimistic to see that so early in the race. As I was riding so much faster I started to be uncomfortable in the first corner when I had to change down the gears and after few laps I made a mistake running off the track into the gravel. It took me three seconds to rejoin the race, but I wanted to continue but the next lap I had the same problem. So I have decided to enter the pits even if the bike was fantastic. Honestly I was thinking about my race and didn’t want to crash this bike. Once again I want to thank MJM (Michael Jordan Motorsports), Lucio (Cecchinello) and all the guys here: it was an incredible experience for me!” RESULTS MOTOGP RACE: (32 laps = 115.52 Km) POS / RIDER / NAT. / TEAM / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / KM/H / GAP 1 / Casey STONER / AUS / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 43’52.145 / 157.997 / 2 / Jorge LORENZO / SPA / Yamaha Factory Racing / YAMAHA / 43’57.779 / 157.659 / 5.634 3 / Dani PEDROSA / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 44’01.612 / 157.431 / 9.467 4 / Ben SPIES / USA / Yamaha Factory Racing / YAMAHA / 44’12.707 / 156.772 / 20.562 5 / Andrea DOVIZIOSO / ITA / Repsol Honda Team / HONDA / 44’13.030 / 156.753 / 20.885 6 / Valentino ROSSI / ITA / Ducati Team / DUCATI / 44’22.496 / 156.196 / 30.351 7 / Nicky HAYDEN / USA / Ducati Team / DUCATI / 44’23.176 / 156.156 / 31.031 8 / Colin EDWARDS / USA / Monster Yamaha Tech 3 / YAMAHA / 44’37.647 / 155.312 / 45.502 9 / Hector BARBERA / SPA / Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP / DUCATI / 44’43.694 / 154.962 / 51.549 10 / Hiroshi AOYAMA / JPN / San Carlo Honda Gresini / HONDA / 45’00.995 / 153.969 / 1’08.850 11 / Karel ABRAHAM / CZE / Cardion AB Motoracing / DUCATI / 45’01.277 / 153.953 / 1’09.132 12 / Loris CAPIROSSI / ITA / Pramac Racing Team / DUCATI / 44’05.129 / 152.308 / 1 lap 13 / Toni ELIAS / SPA / LCR Honda MotoGP / HONDA / 44’29.962 / 150.892 / 1 lap Pole Position: Jorge LORENZO 1’21.202 160.045 Km/h Fastest Lap: Casey STONER 1’21.673 159.122 Km/h Lap 3 Circuit Record Lap: Casey STONER 1’21.376 159.703 Km/h 2010 Circuit Best Lap: Casey STONER 1’20.700 161.040 Km/h 2008 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TO DATE: 1 STONER 193, 2 LORENZO 173, 3 DOVIZIOSO 143, 4 PEDROSA 110, 5 ROSSI 108, 6 SPIES 98, 7 HAYDEN 94, 8 EDWARDS 67, 9 AOYAMA 63, 10 SIMONCELLI 60, 11 BARBERA 56, 12 ABRAHAM 46, 13 BAUTISTA 39, 14 ELIAS 38, 15 CRUTCHLOW 34. NEXT EVENT: ROUND 11 SUNDAY AUGUST 14 BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner took victory over Jorge Lorenzo at the Red Bull US Grand Prix race at the spectacular Laguna Seca circuit, his fifth win of 2011 to further strengthen his lead in the World Championship rankings. In front of a crowd of over 52,000 passionate fans, the MotoGP field lined up under the California sunshine for the start of the Red Bull US Grand Prix. Yamaha Factory rider Lorenzo had a great launch from pole position leading into turn one with the three Repsol Hondas tracking close behind, with Dani Pedrosa heading the trio. Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) had a strong start and followed a tight fifth behind the Hondas until he crashed exiting turn 5 on lap seven, ending the race for the Italian. While Lorenzo led the race, behind him Stoner was picking up steam, first passing his team mate Pedrosa on lap 18 of the 32 lap race, then ticking off fast laps to reel in the race leader. The Australian caught up to the Spaniard and proceeded to pressure him for several laps, finally making his move around the outside of Lorenzo, driving out of the last corner to take the lead with six laps to go. Stoner immediately put down the hammer and pulled away, crossing the finish with a five and a half second lead to take his fifth win of the 2011 season. Local hero Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) had a poor start at his home track, fighting his way past Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) in the early laps of the race, then scrapping with Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) to end the race in fourth position, the highest placing American on home turf. Dovizioso crossed the line in fifth place, ahead of the battle for sixth between the Ducati Team riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden. Hayden lost out to the Italian, crossing the line on his GP11 seven tenths behind the GP11.1 of his teammate. Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was unable to improve the feeling of his bike after citing struggles with it after qualifying the day before, ending the race what is sure to be a disappointing eighth place in front of a huge following of loyal fans at the circuit. Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) finished in ninth, one place behind his qualifying position and Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) met his top ten goal, finishing in tenth. Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) finished eleventh, in front of Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing) who is still struggling with pain from injuries, and Toni Elías (LCR Honda) in thirteenth. Cal Crutchlow crashed out on lap three, the British rider hugely disappointed after qualifying ahead of his team mate Colin Edwards at the Texan’s home track, followed by Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) who fell on lap 13, while Ben Bostrom rode off the track after missing a gear on lap six, decided not to re-enter the race and retiring the LCR Honda to the garages. More, from a press release issued by Ducati: ROSSI AND HAYDEN SIXTH AND SEVENTH AT LAGUNA SECA Valentino Rossi finished in sixth place at Laguna Seca, one spot ahead of his teammate Nicky Hayden. The two Ducati Team riders lapped at a good pace, even if it wasn’t quite enough to stay with the faster group. The team worked very hard on both the GP11 and the GP11.1, and they’ll continue the development of the 800cc bikes during the next round at Brno, in the Czech Republic, which will follow a short two-week break. On the Monday after that race, the season’s second official test for the team riders will take place. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 6th “We worked well this weekend. We started from a better position than we have in recent races, and I got a good launch on the start and tried to stay with the leaders. I did a lap in the mid-’22s, but then I closed the front twice in a row on the bumps in Turn 5 and nearly crashed. I still had a tough race after that, because Nicky stayed glued to me and didn’t give me a chance to breathe. We obviously don’t want to be fighting for sixth place, but we’re having some problems at the moment and we have to try and do our best with what we have. We’re losing too much on corner entry, where I’m very slow because I don’t have enough feeling, but Ducati is working and we must stay focused and positive, making progress step by step. In the short term, we have to make up those missing tenths in order to stay with the group with Spies, Sic and Dovizioso. Then we’ll think about the others.” Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 7th “I’ve won this race before, so I’m not going to jump up and down celebrating seventh place. We knew it was going to be tough, and crashing in qualifying didn’t help. I got a decent start, but I didn’t get to go with that second group like I had hoped. It was kind of like the Sachsenring: a good battle with Valentino, but thirty seconds behind the front. Vale was no faster than me, but he’s a racer: he doesn’t make mistakes and give you anything. A couple of times I thought I might be able to go up the inside, but I’m not just going to close my eyes and knock us both down trying for sixth place. People who think he’s not trying are crazy. I saw his right foot come off the peg a couple of times when he almost went down. We’ll take two weeks off, regroup and go to Brno. Now is no time to be negative. I believe in my team and Ducati, and I really think we’re still going to have a good season.” Vittoriano Guareschi (Team Manager) “I think the guys on the team and both of our riders deserve a big thank-you for what they did this weekend. The two crews were ready to give Vale and Nicky both the GP11 and the GP11.1, and they worked without a moment’s break in both directions, which was an enormous effort that allowed us to collect a lot of data for the engineers back at the office. With Vale we continued focusing on the setup of the GP11.1, thinking toward the future. Vale was able to improve over the course of the weekend, and in the race he made the most of the package that’s currently available to him. Nicky did comparative tests between the two bikes. Then for his home round he opted to race with the one that he knew better, although he liked a number of aspects about the new bike, which he’ll try again at Brno.”