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Pole Sitter and current points leader JORGE LORENZO/Fiat Yamaha inherited the MotoGP lead on Lap 12 and never looked back Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. This was his sixth MotoGP victory this season, and eleventh overall. His points lead stretched to 72. One comment was that Lorenzo has “gratuitously piled it on.”

Lorenzo livened up the post race celebration. On his victory lap, he stopped at Turn Eight at the top of the Corkscrew, ran off to the sidelines to change into costume and then ran back to the gravel. He was wearing a silvery space suit, and planted a large black Lorenzoland fan flag in the gravel. The Spaniard then stood tall, saluted and bowed to the assemblage of race officials and others all watching. This is Lorenzo’s victory tradition – planting the fan club flag somewhere at the track post race; but this time was a first for such ceremony. He then ran off to change costume, and continued on his victory lap, all to the delight of the fans. Lorenzo continued antics and revelry in Victory Circle.

Valentino Rossi. Photo by Lynne Huntting

CASEY STONER/Ducati finished second, 3.517 seconds behind Lorenzo. He also turned the fastest race lap of 1:21.376. Fastest Race Lap is also considered Circuit Best Lap as it’s only considered official during a race. Stoner holds that record also, 1:20.700 in 2008.

VALENTINO ROSSI/Ducati evidently shook off is aches and pains from his recent accident to finish third after finally passing ANDREA DOVIZIOSO/Repsol Team Honda. However, he paid for it afterwards, limping into the post race press conference. He was aided by a high-tech lightweight blue cane support.

Fifth through eighth were the three Yanks, NICKY HAYDEN/Ducati, and the two Monster Yamaha Tech 3 riders, Rookie BEN SPIES and COLIN EDWARDS. The other American, for the weekend, was ROGER LEE HAYDEN, younger brother of Nicky. He ran in last place until the very end when he rode his LCR Honda past ALEX DE ANGELIS/Interwetten Honda MotoGP to finish eleventh. The Hayden brother, older TOMMY, rode his Rockstar Makita Suzuki to third place in the AMA National Guard American Superbike race. Dad must have been busy this weekend.

The best racing was between the American swarm: Hayden, Spies and Edwards. During that closeness, Spies had a ‘moment’ and Hayden passed him. Other good racing was Dovizioso and Rossi. Rossi passed Dovizioso on Lap 27 and Dovizioso kept after the recovering Rossi, who is showing good form despite his broken leg seven weeks ago.

DANI PEDROSA/Repsol Honda, who gridded second, immediately took the lead at the Green Light for the start and led for 12 laps until he drove straight off at Turn Five, bike tumbling ahead of him into the barrier. Pedrosa is alright … physically. Not happy. He hit a bump coming into the corner and he “couldn’t do anything”. Pedrosa won last year’s race at Laguna Seca.

Other riders who crashed out included ALVARO BAUTISTA/Rizula Suzuki, HECTOR BARBERA/Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati, MARCO SIMONCELLI/San Carlo Honda Gresini-whose hair-do looks like the Said Heads at NASCAR races; and ALEIX ESPARGARO/Pramac Racing Ducati. All riders are alright.

The weather was a balmy 73 degrees F/23 C, and the track was 104 F/40 C. Humidity had dropped to 44 percent.

Two Bridgestone compounds were brought to Laguna Seca for this round, Mediums and Hards, for both front and rears. All but three riders ran hard fronts, and all ran medium rears. The new asymmetric tires worked well. In the morning Warm-Up, Stoner and Lorenzo went faster in the cold and mist, than last year’s race lap. And the overall elapsed race time for the 32-lap event was fastest ever at Laguna.

Each rider can run 18 slicks, 10 asymmetrics for the rear, with a 5/5 ratio of Mediums and Hard compounds; and eight symmetrics for the front, with several options – 3/5, 4/4, or 5/3 Mediums to Hards. The choice designations must be made after the first practice. For Qualifying, the riders usually run Hards in front and the softer compound in the rear.

Bridgestone has been the Official Tire Supplier for MotoGP since 2008 when Michelin pulled out – as it also did from Formula One racing. For the past two years, tire improvements have been evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Also, there haven’t been Qualifying tires, as such, since the end of 2008.

MotoGP has cut back the allowed testing to two days during the season and four between seasons. There are no designated tire tests, as occur with some American series. So tire testing is just part of whatever the MotoGP teams are testing. Testing tires takes away from whatever else the teams are testing.

Individual Points Standings: Lorenzo-210; Pedrosa-138; Dovizioso-115; Stoner-103; Rossi-90; Hayden-89; Spies-77; RANDY DE PUNIET, who is on the injured list-69; MARCO MELANDRI-53; and MARCO SIMONCELLI-49.

Team standings are: Fiat Yamaha-301; Repsol Honda-253; Ducati-192; Monster Yamaha Tech 3-125; San Carlos Honda Gresini-102; LCR Honda-74; Rizla Suzuki-61; Pramac Racing-59; Paginas Amaryllis Aspar-41; and Interwetten Honda Moto-30.

There’s now a three-week break before the next round in Brno. In the US, when an athlete wins, he or she is oft asked “What will you do now?” and replies “I’m going to Disneyland”. Lorenzo has more elaborate plans for his relaxing time off including Majorca.

JORGE LORENZO/Fiat Yamaha was fastest in Sunday morning MotoGP warm-up at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. For the most part, it was the usual suspects up in front: Lorenzo, CASEY STONER/Ducati, DANI PEDROSA/Repsol Honda, VALENTINO ROSSI/Fiat Yamaha, MARCO MELANDRI/San Carlos Honda Gresini, BEN SPIES/Monster Yamaha Tech 3, NICKY HAYDEN/Ducati, ANDREA DOVIZIOSO/Repsol Honda, COLIN EDWARDS/Monster Yamaha Tech 3, and LORIS CAPIROSSI/Rizula Suzuki MotoGP.

It was a chilly 57 degrees F/14C with 83 percent humidity. But there were no problems.

Lorenzo, current points leader, has never won at Laguna Seca, and is aiming to extend to ten his current run of consecutive podium finishes.

ALEX CRIVILLE speaking with WAYNE RAINEY. Photo by Lynne Huntting

Rossi’s sixth place grid spot is his lowest since the last 2008 race.

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO/Repsol Honda had his first MotoGP front row grid position in his third year in the top tier series.

WAYNE RAINEY, Motorcycle World Champion 1990-1992, for whom Rainey Curve is named at Mazda Raceway Laguna, also consults with Yamaha. BOB STARR, Yamaha Communications Manager of Yamaha Motorsports Group, said Rainey was more than a consultant. Rainey is part of the family.”

After the Saturday noon Yamaha press conference, Rainey had some interesting things to say, when asked about Yamaha’s support for its riders given the current situation: two riders – one current points leader and going for the Championship, and the other recovering from injuries which interrupted his Championship chase. “Yamaha wants the Championship. Since the accident of Rossi’s (VALENTINO ROSSI-seven time MotoGP champion,) Yamaha has given its support to Jorge (JORGE LORENZO.) Yamaha is going to have a big problem if Rossi wins the next four races.”

WAYNE RAINEY. Photo by Lynne Huntting

Rainey said as a rider, “It’s my job to convince the other rider that I’m Number One” and get the team to treat me as that.

BOB STARR, Communications Manager of Yamaha Motorsport Group, was asked what he thought about the American interest in motorsport. “Interest has never been stronger in motorcycle racing, and that’s why Yamaha supports United States motorcycle racing.”

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

NICKY HAYDEN/Ducati sat down with American journos after Qualifying for a down home chat as only The Kentucky Kid can do. He’s sporting a newer version of his mohawk, this one with a new insignia on the sides, “special for this weekend.”

Hayden said he’s not going fast enough. “I probably went backwards in the morning session. I went faster in the afternoon, but so did everyone else. We changed the transmission and some electronics in the morning, but it didn’t improve the speed. I’m braking through the Corkscrew. The track is bumpier this year”

Hayden admitted to finding Turn One uncharacteristically problematical. “It’s a big issue for me. I’m losing a lot of time there. Normally it’s a spot I like.”

Hayden said his bike is better this year. “Stoner said his bike is good enough to win. For me, it’s better for me. There’s better communication this year. The engineers are talking with each other. All the Ducati engineers on five motorcycles are working together. My former crew chief now handles that and he looks at a big chart on the wall, comparing the bikes.”

Hayden couldn’t say enough good things about the Bridgestone asymmetrical tires, which he called ‘duals.’ “We could have used them last year here at Laguna. They’re a must here. The riders requested it.”

TOM TREMAYNE, Bridgestone MotoGP Press officer, said Bridgestone listened to the riders. Last year the duals were used at six tracks including Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but not Laguna. This year they will be run at 12 races including both American rounds.

When asked if he was considering quitting all this (MotoGP) and going dirt trackin’ Hayden said “Not even close.”

Hayden’s younger brother, ROGER LEE, is substituting this weekend for injured rider, RANDY DE PUNIET for LCR Honda. Nicky Hayden said “They spent time between the two Saturday sessions watching video, and we’ve talked some about the track, but we haven’t talked since qualifying – Roger Lee “almost crashed in front of me on his out lap.”

Dad Hayden spends a lot of time going between the two pits, “but he can handle it. You should see him running around the house, doing all kinds of things. And you’ll have to ask him how old he is. I’m not going there.”

Hayden thinks the weather has been perfect. The wind wasn’t an issue. Saturday’s morning session was a little cold, almost borderline misty. He said Sunday morning’s warmup will be 15 minutes earlier than today’s practice session, so it could be interesting.

Hayden agreed with journos that other riders were following him in the morning session, “like I’m the Laguna Seca expert.”

Hayden has spent a lot of time signing autographs, maybe more than any other rider.

It was a battle between JORGE LORENZO/Fiat Yamaha and CASEY STONER/Ducati for MotoGP qualifying Saturday afternoon at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, each leading for a long time. Near the end of the session they took turns besting each others laps, and it was down to the wire before Lorenzo took the pole with a lap of 1:20.978. It was his fifth straight MotoGP pole, and he leads the BMW M Award MotoGP Best Qualifier standings. The Spaniard was the only rider of the session or all weekend to make it into the twenties, and it was on his second to last lap.

Lorenzo said “It is not so important the pole position, but it is good. The less positions you can lose at the start of a race, it’s much better.”

Stoner’s best lap was 1:21.169, and he will start second. He said “It was more fun than last week. We definitely did better. I was happy to get the time I did, but had hoped to be a bit quicker. I am definitely happy to be on the front row.

“We lost some time changing a setting, tried a few things, which weren’t working. We wasted a little bit of time there. We went faster than in the morning, and I think we could go even faster.”

Third was ANDREA DOVIZIOSO/Repsol Honda.

The second row consists of DANI PEDROSA/Repsol Honda, Rookie American BEN SPIES/Monster Yamaha Tech 3, and VALENTINO ROSSI/Fiat Yamaha. Pedrosa said “I think we are fast and that we can improve for the race.”

Americans NICKY HAYDEN/Ducati and COLIN EDWARDS/Monster Yamaha Tech 3 start seventh and eighth, respectively.

Rookie for the weekend, American ROGER LEE HAYDEN pulled off at the top of the Corkscrew and then went back on course. He ran almost as many laps as the other 17 riders, but ended up in last place.

Again, MIKA KALIO/Pramac Racing Ducati went down, this time harder, in the middle of the Corkscrew. He is alright.

The weather was sunny and dry – 77 degrees F/25C.

There is still no decision on Suzuki’s request for an engine waiver – for another engine to supplement the mandated six sealed engines per season. The unanimous decision has to come from the Grand Prix Commission, and they are scheduled to meet in two weeks at Brno. The Commission is comprised of an alphabet soup of organizations – FIM, DORNA, IRTA and MSMA

Yamaha Motor Corporation U.S. has extended its sponsorship of the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix and as Official Motorcycle of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The MotoGP sponsorship extension coincides with the DORNA extension for the race. The new Yamaha extension includes Yamaha Parts an Accessories, specifically the Yanalube and GYTR brands.

According to three-time Motorcycle World Champion, KENNY ROBERTS, Yamaha’s sponsorship at the 53-year old race track goes back at least to the seventies, and probably as early as 1948. Yamaha stepped up to the plate with $2 million in 2005 for track upgrades necessary to meet FIM specifications, and another $7 million the next year for further FIM requested track safety modifications and improvements.

The cost to put on a single MotoGP is $10 million, according to GILL CAMPBELL, CEO/general manager for Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. As the track is a 501 C(4) not for profit facility, the only income to stage the event comes from sales – tickets, vendors and hospitality.

The track has thirty paid employees, and approximately 200 SCRAMP (Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula) volunteers including its Board, Directors and Assistant Directors. Augmenting this at events are thousands of clubs, such as Scouts, Pacific Grove Fire, and Disabled American Vererans, who help out in a wide variety of positions. At the end of the year, all net proceeds are donated to all those volunteer groups.

As for any changes in the support groups, such as other FIM classes in addition to/in lieu of the current AMA groups, Campbell said that depends on dollars, logistics and scheduling. “Stay tuned.”

MotoGP Points Leader JORGE LORENZO/Fiat Yamaha was fastest in Saturday’s hour-long mid-morning U.S. Red Bull Grand Prix practice at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with a time of 1:21.763.

Lorenzo had dogged the faster CASEY STONER/Ducati during the first 40 minutes of the hour-long qualifying session, clinched his time on his nineteenth lap but was unable to improve. He and Stoner both went out and ran to the end, trying to best each other.

Most of the top riders set their best times 15-20 minutes before the checkered flag.

Stoner was second fastest in the second practice, with a lap of 1:21.826; but his overall weekend time of 1:21.699 still is tops. He holds three other records, all set in 2008: Pole position and Circuit Best Lap/1:20.700/100.065 mph/161.kph; and Circuit record Lap/1:21.488/99.098 mph/159.483.kph. Bridgestone, now the sole tire supplier for MotoGP, points out that 2008 was the last year there was tire competition in MotoGP.

Third and fourth were Repsol Honda teammates, DANI PEDROSA and ANDREA DOVIZIOSO.

Fifth, top Rookie and top American was BEN SPIES/Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Spies comes to MotoGP this season from World Superbike, but racing at Laguna Seca this weekend is only the third MotoGP circuit with which he has previous experience. The other two were Assen in The Netherlands and Silverstone in England.

VALENTINO ROSSI/Fiat Yamaha was sixth.

The other three Americans were COLIN EDWARDS/Monster Yamaha Tech 3 in seventh, followed by 2006 MotoGP Champion, NICKY HAYDEN/Ducati in eighth. His younger brother, ROGER LEE HAYDEN was sixteenth, substituting for injured RANDY DE PUNIET for LCR Honda. Roger Lee comes from AMA and runs World Superbikes, so Laguna Seca is familiar for him also.

Laguna Seca has its own micro climate. All around the track the Monterey Bay fog was still lurking, and nearby Salinas was all grey. However, the 2.238-mile elevated road course was nearing sixty degrees F/ midmorning for MotoGP Qualifying. Laguna Seca, which has 11 turns, runs counter-course wise, not that common on road courses.

The only fall was MIKA KALLIO/Pramac Racing Ducati who fell in Turn Nine at the very beginning of the session. But, as the song goes, he picked himself up, dusted himself off and started all over again. He ran 26 laps and placed fifteenth overall.

Qualifying is at 2 PM local time Saturday.

The Monterey weather was sunny, bright and just warm enough to be comfortable at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the first day of the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix – 75 degrees F/24C. Seventeen MotoGP riders are entered, including two replacement riders for the weekend.

American ROGER LEE HAYDEN, younger brother of 2006 MotoGP champion, NICKY HAYDEN, is replacing RANDY PUNIET of France on the LCR Honda team. De Puniet broke both leg bones in Germany. The other subbing rider is ALEX de ANGELIS of San Marino, who is filling in for Rookie HIROSHI AOYAMA of Japan on the Interwetten Honda team.

Aussie CASEY STONER/Ducati was fastest the mostest with a top MotoGP time of 1:21.699. He kept pushing the envelope, getting faster. Of his 26 laps, the top time was set on Lap 24. Stoner holds the fastest lap record when he won in 2007, two tenths second+ faster than Friday’s time. Stoner said “I’m not looking to be first in practice; I would like to be first at the end of the race on Sunday.”

Other leaders included the recovering VALENTINO ROSSI/Fiat Yamaha, who is running his second race since his broken leg accident six weeks ago. He returned to racing last weekend in Germany, two races earlier than anticipated. Talk about motivation. Rossi was sixth overall in the session, and said he had more pain than he did in Germany. “This track is a bit harder for me than Sachsenring, and the pain is mostly in the ankle, but also in the shoulder at the breaking point before the Corkscrew. Aside from that I think we can be better tomorrow. We used the hard tyre at the end but the track was maybe a bit dirty for it. Tomorrow we will try the soft tyre also in the front.”

The top five were Stoner; Rossi’s teammate and current points leader, JORGE LORENZO; Repsol Honda Team teammates ANDREA DOVIZIOSO and DANI PEDROSA; and Rookie BEN SPIES/Monster Yamaha Tech 3, who was also the fastest American. Pedrosa is 47 points behind Lorenzo in the chase. He won last weekend’s German race and last year’s Laguna Seca race. He said “From the first day the lap times at the top are quick already, but I’m not worried about the gap because I know we can improve from here. Last year here we were also not so fast on the first day, so we’ll keep working and get ready to take a step forward tomorrow.”

The other Yanks, COLIN EDWARDS/Monster Yamaha Tech 3 and Nicky Hayden were seventh and eighth and Roger Hayden got as high as fifteenth before dropping back to last. Roger Hayden’s motorcycle is with the top rated privateer team and is seventh in points. Although the bike is new to Roger Lee, his AMA Laguna track knowledge should come in handy as he gets up to speed.

Nicky Hayden, who is fifth in the standings, said “We need to work a little on the gearbox tomorrow because the engine is quite different to what we had last year. It’s maybe something we need to look at tonight. This track is really tricky because there are so many second and third gear corners so we need to find something that works in every one of them.”

Rossi and Lorenzo, unveiled their new Fiat livery Thursday to launch the United States sale of the Fiat 500 car. The graphics on the bike fairings feature a black and white design portraying the faces of 500 fans. Rossi said “I like the special livery; it’s something different and fun. Tomorrow I will have a helmet to go with it.”

It’s mid-season Silly Season, and the riders are moving or rumored to be moving, like chess pieces on a motorsports chess board.

Inevitably Rossi was asked about his oft-rumored move to Ducati, and with a twinkle in his eye, he said “check (or was that Czech) with me in Brno.” While most consider this a done deal. there is more interest in what will or will not be going along for the ride, such as Rossi’s current Fiat sponsorship and crew members, who followed him to Yamaha. Of special note would be JERRY BURGESS who has been with Rossi since he started pro racing. The team said “We have nothing to say.”

Rossi’s vacancy at Fiat Yamaha could be taken by impressive Rookie Yamaha rider, Spies, as his contract is with Yamaha, not a specific team.

With Stoner moving to Fiat Yamaha, Ducati has a vacancy to partner with Nicky Hayden. The team says there will be no announcement this weekend – about Hayden’s contract or the new teammate; and won’t commit to when it will be revealed. One rumored name is LORIS CAPIROSSI/Rizla Suzuki, who has been struggling all year. Suzuki is nearly out of engines and has asked for a waiver to the IRTA rules of six sealed engines per year. The decision has yet to be made, and Enquiring Minds Want to Know. Maybe this weekend?

All teams can swap their engines around as long as they give prior notification to IRTA. Capirossi has already WFA two engines – Withdrawn From Allocation – and has used a total of four so far. Teammate ALVARO BAUTISTA also has two WFA engines, and he’s now running his fifth engine. The Rizla teammates languished on the bottom end of the charts, in fifteenth and sixteenth in a 17-rider field.

Saturday mid-morning MotoGP has another hour Practice session, and a mid-afternoon hour-long Qualifying session.