PressSnoop

The two Ducati MotoGP Team riders met with invited media individually after the race.

Fourth place finisher CASEY STONER had another understatement – “It has been a weekend to forget.”

“I’ve still got a bit of painkiller wearing off. 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 other two, but I’m still not right. I really found it hard to concentrate and keep my focus in the last few laps, and I was in a bit of a daze at the end.

“Also, my left arm was feeling really tired at the end because of so many left-handers here, and my left wrist still doesn’t have the full range of movement after my operation last winter. I just couldn’t keep up. It was taking too much risk. My left arm just kept collapsing in every hard braking area. I was just useless in the braking points. My body wouldn’t go the right way. I was mad.

“I didn’t have the stomach cramps I had at the last two races. In that respect, I was a lot better at the end of this race. I didn’t lose energy like I did before.

“I’m really disappointed because without all of these problems, we could have done so much better. It’s so frustrating. I have a great bike and I can’t do jack on it. I want to thank my team for giving me a great bike and also Dr 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. Monday I go see Dr. TING, and test everything we can. We’re going to figure out something, so we don’t have to keep covering it up trying to get through it. It’s been covered, but there’s always some other issue.

“Quite a few people have suggested I might have Epstein-Barr or something, and I’ve had some doctors say no way. I’ve read that everyone has Epstein-Barr and if you don’t have enough rest, you get it. I’ve been traveling and racing and working out for years. But, it’s not the only possibility out there.

“If it is Epstein-Barr and rest is the only help, then I’ll get rested up during the long off season. I might have to back off in my training, traveling or something. But first, we need a diagnosis, and then take it from there.

“And yes, I’d like to have a quick fix and be ready to go for Germany.

“I’m very happy about NICKY (teammate NICKY HAYDEN finishing fifth). It was awesome., really good to see. These past few races have been a progression for him.”

Fifth place finisher, NICKY HAYDEN, is a laid-back Kentucky boy, who came up from the ranks of the American Motorcyclist Association in the United States. He has two younger brothers, ROGER and TOMMY, who raced in AMA this weekend at Laguna.

“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 savor this feeling. To be racing at home, to score a solid result, and to have had fun out there is nice.

“I 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.

“The thought of not doing well at my home track literally had me sick to my stomach Friday. I wish I could have got by Tony (his teammate) and get in that front group and I think I could have moved up. It was my best qualifying and best race this year. I’m really happy. I’m making progress.”

Some instrumentation kept telling Hayden to slow down.  “”I basically ran what I qualified in for 32 laps I wasn’t going to slow down and kept pushing him (Stoner) and finally it (the annoying instrumentation) gave up and went off. Riding this bike for 32 laps is a lot different than that Honda I had before. I was at my limit for the 45 minutes of the race.

“The latest stuff we tested were some electronics I hadn’t really used before. We went actually another step, but this week was the biggest improvement with the electronics.

“Being here at this track helped. I rode the bike. The closer I get and the faster I go the easier it gets. Except for my rookie year, this is the first year I’ve not been on podium at Laguna.”

“The tires start working better for me as the race wears on. I ran softs. I was 21 seconds from the front. I don’t really have a home track advantage any more. These guys (fellow competitors) aren’t beginners. Casey came here and led the first session. Even the last couple of races, I have made progress, steadily, especially from Barcelona on. I hope we’re on our way. By the time we get to Indy, I hope to get some hardware there.

“My riding style is different from Casey, so I can’t do everything Casey does. He”s a lot littler than he actually looks.

“I was pretty confident in the soft front tire here. I did 32 laps on softs this morning, but they weren’t consecutive. I could brake harder. In Turns One, Two, Nine and Ten I was on the edge. I crashed trail braking into Turn Seven. With this bike (Ducati) you gotta brake a lot, and I have to get used to it. You have to stay on the brakes to keep it turning. I’ll have moments on the track when I almost crash, and then I watch it on TV and it’s nothing.”

Ducati North America unveiled a new special, limited edition 848 Nicky Hayden middleweight sport bike to be sold only in the United States. The livery matches the patriotic graphics Hayden had on his Laguna motorcycle.  “There will be 100 bikes made like mine, so that’s cool.. so this finish really had some meaning behind it.”

Attendance figures released by the promoter announced an overall attendance of 105,817 for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix MotoGP race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Friday – 25,079; Saturday 34,059; and Sunday 46,679. Last year’s Laguna figures were 131,250 overall: Friday – 41,798; Saturday – 42,573; and Sunday – 46,879.

GILL CAMPBELL, CEO & General Manager of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, believed the crowd was larger than announced. She was generous in her praise for the “show” and the tens of thousands of people who turned out for the race. “And I love every one of them.”

Campbell can’t yet firm up the 2010 MotoGP date, until the Formula One calendar is released. Currently there is one more year on the original contract, and last year a new five-year agreement was signed.

The MotoGP Championship point spread among the top riders was just that – spread. VALENTINO ROSSI/Fiat Yamaha Team now has 151 points, nine ahead of his teammate, JORGE LORENZO, and 16 points ahead of CASEY STONER/Ducati MotoGP Team. Pole sitter/Race winner DANI PEDROSA/Repsol Honda Team is fourth in the standings with 92 points, and American COLIN EDWARDS/Monster Yamaha Tech 3 is fifth with 76 points. The other American rider, NICKY HAYDEN/Ducati MotoGP Team, is in twelfth with 38 points.

Yamaha leads the Constructor’s Championship with 185 points, ahead of Ducati. Fiat Team Yamaha is leading the Team Championship with 293 points, with runner-up Ducati having 173 points.

Three riders are Rookies this season, but only one was in Sunday’s race – NICCOLO CANEPA of Italy, who rides for Pramac Racing. He finished twelfth, the last motorcycle running. He is second in the Rookie Championship, with 16 points earned in the five of eight races he’s run.

One more number – the Margin of Victory winner Pedrosa had over Rossi – 0.344 seconds. Pedrosa had such a wide margin earlier on in the race, that on the last lap he eased up thinking he had sufficient cushion. He didn’t know that Rossi was hard charging behind him, closing the gap lap by lap. Suddenly, in Turn Eleven on the last lap, Pedrosa heard Rossi, and bobbled just a bit. He held on and took the checkered flag for Honda’s first victory of the season.

DANI PEDROSA/Repsol Honda Team Honda made it look easy for his MotoGP victory Sunday at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. He started fourth but took the lead almost immediately and never looked back. The Spaniard built up a commanding lead during the 32-lap race, before being hounded by a charging VALENTINO ROSSI/Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha, who narrowed the margin from 3.3 to 0.334 seconds.

The current MotoGP champion and winner of last year’s Laguna Seca race was nearly sniffing Pedrosa’s tail pipe coming down the Corkscrew on the final lap in a last ditch effort to catch, pass and win. That was about the most drama in the otherwise uneventful race.

This was the first victory for Honda this season. Pedrosa turned the fastest race lap of 1:21.928, breaking the record of 1:22.488 set last year by CASEY STONER/Ducati Team Ducati.

It was an especially sweet victory for Pedrosa, who had crashed out early in the 2008 Laguna race, and then suffered with hip problems early this season. He said “I’m finally happy after a long, tough year.

Rossi said “I wasn’t strong enough in the first half of the race. But lap by lap I got better but couldn’t quite win. Try to make better next year.”

Polesitter JORGE LORENZO and Rossi’s teammate got snookered at the start and fell back to fifth place early on, and had to slowly work his way back up to finish third. Afterwards it was obvious his shoulder was hurting. He said “I did the best I could. I did manage to race in this condition. It was a very quick race.”

The ailing CASEY STONER/ Ducati Team Ducati had duked it out early on with Rossi for second, before being re-passed by Rossi and then Lorenzo, to finish fourth. He showed signs of fatigue and was nearly 12.5 seconds behind Lorenzo at the checkered flag. No doubt he is looking forward to medical testing Monday in an effort to diagnose his lingering exhausting malady.

American and local favorite, NICKY HAYDEN/Ducati Team Ducati started and finished fifth,  although he was passed early on and had to earn back his position. He was followed by TONI ELIAS/San Carlos Honda Gresini Honda, who finished sixth. The other Yankee driver, COLIN EDWARDS/Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha started and finished seventh

Eighth through eleventh were CHRIS VERMEULEN/Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki; RANDY DE PUNIET/LCR Honda MotoGP Honda; and ALEX DE ANGELIS/San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda.  MARCO MELANDRI/Hayate Racing Team. Bringing up the rear, some 1:18.531 behind Melandri was NICCOLO CANEPA/Pramac Racing. All twelve were on the lead lap.

Those not finishing were ANDREA DOVIZIOSO/Repsol Team Honda and, SETE GIBERNAU/Grupo Francisco Hernando; and GABOR TALMACSI/Scot Team all crashed out of contention but are unhurt. LORIS CAPIROSSI/Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki pitted and went to the garage.

JAMES TOSELAND/Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha jumped the start, was given a stop and go penalty, black flag and finally excluded from the event for not responding quickly enough to the initial penalty for the jumped start.

The weather was sunny and mild. The ambient temperatures were 72 degrees F/22C while the track was 107 F/42C.

The next round two weeks in Germany.

All of the walking wounded were on course Sunday morning at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix MotoGP warm-up. Three of the riders had crash injuries from Saturday’s qualifying, with varying degrees of hurt. And walking wasn’t exactly the operative word.

The weather was its typical foggy overcast and the ambient temperature was 58 degrees F/14C.

Pole sitter JORGE LORENZO/Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha was injected with pain killers and rode his pit motorcycle, with a passenger, from his motor home to his garage. He was not wearing the sling he had on Saturday afternoon, but perhaps he was favoring his right foot which sustained a small fracture. The plan was to see how he fared in the session before a final decision to race would be made. It took a few laps before he moved up to fifth.

CASEY STONER/Ducati Team Ducati walked stiffly to his garage and motorcycle, and it was only a matter of a couple of laps before he rose to the top of the chart where he remained for the  rest of the session. He ran six laps, with the fifth being the fastest – 1:21.918. Stoner then rested in the pits, the only rider to get into the 1:21 range.

Stoner was the fastest qualifier last year at 1:21.700, but DORNA doesn’t recognize that as a qualifying track record. It only recognizes fastest race lap records. Stoner holds that too – 1:22.488, from last year.

COLIN EDWARDS/Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha tore part of the finger nail off his right hand. This is one of the fingers operating the clutch on his handle bars, but he was OK. He was fourth overall in the twenty-minute session.

The other American in the field, NICKY HAYDEN/Ducati Team Ducati was seventh fastest. He is sporting a patriotic red/white/blue livery this weekend, celebrating the unveiling of a new special edition Ducati road bike.

TONI ELIAS fell off his motorcycle and slid down track on the rumble strips into the gravel, following his bike. He was assisted to the wall by the USARM track marshals. Elias was twelfth fastest.

The 32-lap race starts at 2 PM local time/5 PM EDT, and will be telecast live in the United States on Fox TV.

PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Troutman   DMT Imaging   http://www.dmtimaging.com

This is the latest update on the two high-flying MotoGP riders Saturday during qualifying for Sunday’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Two riders, Pole sitter JORGE LORENZO/Fiat Team Yamaha and third placed qualifier, CASEY STONER/Ducati Team Ducati each really went flying off their bikes and the track in the waning moments of the hour-long qualifying session…both in the exit of Turn Three.

Lorenzo has a partially dislocated right collarbone and bruised right foot. He had already crashed his primary motorcycle earlier in the session, wasn’t hurt, and went back out on his back-up bike. With three minutes to go he crashed again – same place, exiting Turn Three.

Lorenzo said the injury is painful, but not dangerous. He was hand-carried, literally, into the Qualifying Press Conference in a chair made by the hands of two crew members. Lorenzo had his right arm in a sling.

The decision to race won’t be made until Sunday morning after the Spaniard receives another medical check.

Lorenzo said “I was trying to push but first I had some traffic and then the tires were cold, and I wasn’t in the right shape to try and improve my time. I’m disappointed for these two crashes but I am okay and I am optimistic that I will be able to ride tomorrow. Now the American doctors and the Clinica Mobile are working together to try to help me as best they can and make me more comfortable.”

Stoner’s crash happened after Lorenzo’s, in the same place. He said he will be OK. The Aussie said despite the Saturday crash, he is better going into Sunday’s race at Laguna than the past two races. Stoner has been suffering from an unknown illness which leaves him exhausted and makes him sick. He said he’s got “just a few strains here and there. I have a bit of pain in my shoulder and groin.  I may have torn something in my groin, which is not the best thing to happen before the race. The other problems my physio worked on this afternoon, a lot of arm pumping.”

Stoner’s teammate, American NICKY HAYDEN, summed up qualifying – “It got pretty gnarly at the end of the session there, a lot of guys were crashing and there were yellow flags everywhere.”

Another rider suffered an injury Saturday. American COLIN EDWARDS/Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha crashed in the morning practice, hurting his right fingers. Turns out he lost most of the fingernail off his middle right finger. He said “I made a mistake this morning and did a bit of damage to a finger on my right hand, but nothing that is giving me too many problems. It wasn’t fun, though, high-siding at Turn Ten because that is not a slow corner. I was on my head, and then my back, so just to take a fingernail off I feel pretty lucky. I know it is going to be tough to get a podium tomorrow, but I’ll be giving it my all for the American fans and for Monster. I’m determined to give them a good result.”

In years past, the tire manufacturer choice was open and the number of tires per rider was unlimited. This year the limit is 20, and the tires are mostly single compound, meaning the tire compound is the same on the left and right. For six races the tires are asymmetric, but Laguna Seca isn’t one of those tracks. Of the eleven turns on the 2.238-mile road course, nine are left handers and two are right – Turn Three and Turn Ten.

Tire warmers are allowed and used by all teams right up to gridding. However, it takes time for the tires to warm up, and Turn Three is the first right hand corner, which allows the right side of the tire to cool off. Bridgestone said “Laguna Seca is a tricky circuit as the weight transfer of the bikes is different from corner to corner. The right-handed Turns Three and Ten are downhill, so this makes it difficult to load the rear of the bike on corner entry, but Turn Six for example is uphill so the weight transfer is totally different. Also, Turns Three and Ten use the right shoulders of the tires heavily after a series of left-handers, so temperatures in these shoulders are lower and this adds to the difficulty of these corners, in which Casey and Jorge crashed today.”

For qualifying, the ambient temperature was 66 degrees F/19C and the track was 118 F/48C.

This just in regarding the two top MotoGP riders who took similar flying leaps in the same place a lap apart during Saturday qualifying for Sunday’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway:  Pole sitter JORGE LORENZO/Fiat Team Yamaha is reported to have a partial dislocation of right collarbone and bruised right foot.

Third place qualifier,  CASEY STONER/Ducati Team Ducati,  will be OK. The team spokesperson said he is shaky, but will be fine. This is apart and separate from his ongoing problems with an unknown illness which saps his strength and leaves him exhausted and sick.

More to follow as it is known.

JORGE LORENZO/Fiat Team Yamaha has the MotoGP pole for Sunday’s Red Bull U.S. GP at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with a lap of 1:21.678. However, the quick lap was his twenty-third around the 2.238-mile elevated road course, before he took a horrific flying tumble exiting Turn Three on his twenty-seventh lap. Both Lorenzo and the bike took multiple tumbles, and he landed on his right knee at least twice. Afterwards, it appeared that knee was hurt.

Earlier, while leading, Lorenzo took quite a tumble in Turn Nine, and he and the motorcycle went flying into the gravel pit – separately. Both were tumbling head over tea kettle. Lorenzo quickly recovered and ran to the closest SCRAMP bike for a ride to the garage. He ran in quickly and was literally scrubbed down by one of his team while the rest rallied around the bike.  Sing along with me – pick yourself up, dust your self off, and start all over again.

Last year’s Laguna winner, VALENTINO ROSSI/Fiat Team Yamaha, was second. He said “It would be a good race as he and Lorenzo had similar race setups.”

CASEY STONER/Ducati Team Ducati finished third, after dueling fiercely with Lorenzo throughout the session, leading several times. Stoner also took a late flying leap, tumbling in the same corner. The bike was pushed into the garage, and the door was pulled down shut. Stoner, who has been exhausted all weekend was last seen being escorted by his team into the Medical Center.

Stoner’s qualifying track record of 1:21.488 set last year remained intact.

Earlier, Stoner had two episodes. On Lap 11 he came down the Corkscrew, stood up on his bike and then bobbled and seemed off his pace for the rest of that lap. Stoner pitted and came in to the garage, just shaking his head as he sat down. After a short rest, he went back out. On his twentieth lap, Stoner rode wide off track into the Turn Nine gravel pit and was able to slow it down before he hit the tire wall. Stoner again continued on into the garage, rested and went back on track.

Stoner will have lab tests run Monday locally with sports medicine/orthopedic surgeon, DR ARTHUR TING, who has treated other MotoGP and AMA riders including NICKY HAYDEN. Ting also treats athletes in a wide variety of other sports, including BARRY BONDS, formerly of the San Francisco Giants.

DANI PEDROSA/Repsol Honda Team Honda hurt his hip during the Italian race, and was off the pace for a bit;  but he is fine now. He briefly led mid session, before ending up fourth. Honda hasn’t won a race yet this season.

Fifth was up and comer, ANDREA DOVIZIOSO/Repsol Honda Team Honda.

Not exactly a flag waving day for the two Yankee riders. COLIN EDWARDS/Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha was running in the teens but rallied for a seventh spot on the grid. 2006 MotoGP champion and two time winner at Laguna Seca, NICKY HAYDEN/Ducati Team Ducati, ran as high as seventh and qualified eighth.

The only MotoGP rookie this weekend,  NICOLO CANEPA/Pramac Racing Ducati, slid and fell off his motorcycle on track and the two went off into the gravel. He is unhurt. Canepa qualified sixteenth.

This year all the MotoGP riders run Bridgestone tyres, which has signed a three-year contract as sole supplier. For this race, Bridgestone engineer, THOMAS SCHULZ, selected medium and hard compounds to bring to the race. Each rider gets 20 tyres, eight fronts and twelve rears. The riders/teams make the selection as to which tyre to run in any given session. There is no deadline for tyre choice before the race.

MotoGP qualifying TV coverage in London showed Lorenzo being transported via ambulance to the Clinica Mobile at the track. He gestured to his right knee when Dr. Costa met him.  The same British TV coverage showed Stoner carried off on a stretcher, with a TV message saying he was OK.

At this point, there is no further information on the medical condition of any rider. Stay tuned.

JORGE LORENZO/Fiat Team Yamaha pipped CASEY STONER/Ducati Team Ducati on his last lap clocking a 1:21.799 after the checkered flag had flown. Stoner’s fastest lap was set on his thirteenth lap of the 23 he rode. He was in the pits when Lorenzo’s time knocked him off the top. Lorenzo had led at three other times during the session, and Stoner topped twice.
Stoner had to pit during the session to rest, and the team spokesperson said he was really exhausted after the session, and is resting now until qualifying. A photog who was shooting him could tell by his body language on the bike that he didn’t feel well.

Lorenzo’s teammate, VALENTINO ROSSI, was third, after leading three times.

Fourth and fifth were TONI ELIAS/San Carlos Honda Gresini Honda, who led once early on, and ANDREA DOVIZIOSO/Repsol Honda Team Honda, who later fell while running eighth. He was not hurt.

Saturday’s top times were also fastest overall for four of the top five riders. Rossi’s Friday time was faster but still kept him in third place overall.

American NICKY HAYDEN/Ducati Team Ducati led once during the session, and later fell off his bike. He went back out and was ninth overall. He was not hurt and there was only minor damage to his motorcycle. On his cool-off lap he popped wheelies in Turn Three and photogs in that area said he really looked happy.

The other Yankee, COLIN EDWARDS/Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha, also fell off, and pitted to nurse the fingers on his right hand. But he got got back out and was seventh overall for the session.

CHRIS VERMEULEN/Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki fell off his motorcycle for the second day in a row. Friday he was all right. Saturday he walked away stiff and limping.

Other leaders during the session included MARCO MELANDRI/Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki, DANI PEDROSA/Repsol Honda Team Honda, and JAMES TOSELAND/Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha.

The session started out with a marine layer overcast and 58 degrees F/14C, and while it didn’t warm up much, the sun did break through half way through the hour-long session.

All seventeen riders were on course.

Little known fact – Rossi did not put a photo sticker of his dog on his SuperKart Thursday for the SuperKart race. “Only for MotoGP” said he. Rossi personally affixes this photo sticker of his dog on the seat of his motorcycle before each race. One of his superstitions.
MotoGP qualifying is at 1:55 PM local time/4:55 PM EDT

GILL CAMPBELL, President & General Manager of  Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca said this year’s MotoGP ticket sales were somewhat down, which was expected given the current economic climate. This year the fans were waiting later to purchase tickets, compared to previous years. But Friday’s ticket sales were up over 2008. The Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca is the only MotoGP venue to allow fans in the MotoGP paddock, and 5,000 were in Pit Lane Friday. The economic impact of MotoGP on the Monterey Peninsula is $100 million, half of the annual overall economic impact Laguna Seca has on the community. Overall, only five percent of the annual ticket sales at Laguna come from locals. Most of the race fans come from elsewhere. Expected Saturday attendance is 32-35,000, and 132,000 for the weekend.

An obviously weak CASEY STONER/Ducati Team Ducati met with a few media after his Friday MotoGP practice session at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. His head was hung and his  voice was low, so it wasn’t easy to follow the conversation.

The understatement of the weekend – “I’ve felt better.”

“I had plenty of time to recover between the Barcelona and Assen races, but still encountered the same problems, so it’s no surprise to come here after just six days and be struggling. The feeling of tiredness and sickness has started earlier than it did in those two race weekends, so it’s not looking good.  There is no time to recover. I was already getting tired the last few laps of the session.

“But again, we have found a good set-up with the bike. We know we have something competitive and I just wish I was able to use it more. The bike still needs traction but otherwise it is doing well. We will make a few changes Saturday and run on hard tires (Bridgestones.)

“Stomach cramps came after the Assen race due to exhaustion. I have no idea what it is. I feel good during the weekend, then in the middle of the session I got sick. I’ve never had this problem before in racing. It’s hard for the doctors because I don’t have any symptoms until I am physically tired, at which point I go rapidly down the other side of the hill; so it’s not like they can give me antibiotics, because they don’t know what it is. Anyway, they have given me something new to try here and we’ll see if we can bring it back for race day. If it works, I’ll be very grateful.”

Stoner said the Laguna track is not physically challenging. “The track is so short, that each lap is a refresh.”

Stoner is already aware that his symptoms are similar to Epstein-Barr. He has been discussing it with a doctor in Australia, who said it could be EB. An Aussie footballer struggled with EB. And MAT MLADIN, AMA Superbike rider had it mid-season 2003 and pulled out of the second Superbike race at Laguna after ten laps. The diagnosis came a month later. He suffered through the extreme fatigue and still won the championship.

This weekend at Laguna, Mladin is running the AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited Series race. He currently is leading the standings by a country mile, with nine wins in ten races, plus a fifth place finish.

First thing after this race Stoner is going to be tested and wait for results. He hopes for answers sooner rather than later. About the only thing one can do with Epstein-Barr is rest. Stoner said the Australian doctor talked of replacing balance. “If my body is low in something, then it’s replaced.

“I don’t see how much more rest will help me in the race. I have to keep going. In Assen, I was buggered after the race, but not too bad. Then it hit all of a sudden and I had to throw up. I have to try and survive this weekend, and see if I can keep up my energy.

“The last few races it’s been Rossi, Lorenzo and myself on the podium, and I’d like to change the direction of the podium a bit.”

Warm, sunny and windy – that is the weekend weather forecast at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.  MotoGP is enjoying summer temperatures of mid-sixties.

On his last, obviously flying lap, World Champion VALENTINO ROSSI/Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha turned the fastest Friday practice time of 1:21.981. He eclipsed his teammate, JORGE LORENZO, who had been leading for the last fifteen minutes of the hour-long session.

Rossi had been playing back and forth with Aussie CASEY STONER/Ducati Team Ducati for second. Despite his ongoing but as yet undiagnosed internal ailment, Stoner was able to top the charts for a good while during the session. But a team spokesperson said “he is not well. He is weak and has no strength. He didn’t do as well as he could have.”

Stoner holds the Laguna track records for both qualifying (1:21.700) and the race (2:22.488), set last year.

Stoner’s pattern the past two races has been to start out the weekend feeling relatively better, and qualifying well. But as the race wears on, fatigue sets in and he gets sick during the race. Afterwards, he is totally exhausted and in need of care.

Fourth and fifth were DANI PEDROSA/Repsol Honda Team; and TONI ELIAS/San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda.

MotoGP and SCRAMP (Sports Car Racing Association of Monterey Peninsula) measure the 11-turn road circuit using slightly different lines. SCRAMP’s track length, as measured by Timing & Scoring, is 2.238 miles, while MotoGP measures it at 2.243 miles.

Update on Rookie MIKA KALLIO, the Finnish Pramac Racing Ducati rider who is sitting out this race due to his finger injury incurred last weekend. When he crashed on the last lap at Assen, his motorcycle landed on his ring finger, tearing off the finger nail. It will never re-grow, and in August he will have a skin graft from his hip to cover the end of the finger. For the next two races in Germany and Great Britain, Kallio will have a temporary skin cover on the finger. It’s painful and the risk of infection is still high, which explains his absence at Laguna – the first race he’s missed this year. He is fifteenth in the standings, with 26 points.

Kallio’s affected finger is his left ring finger. He is engaged, soon to be married.

GABOR TALMACSI from Hungary is racing his third MotoGP race this season, with the Scot  Racing Team MotoGP Honda, and was second to last of the MotoGP riders in Friday practice. He started the season with a 250 cc team, and then left after three races. Scot tapped him for its team, and a team spokesperson said “Talmacsi is here for the season.” Financial concerns as well as a back disc problem with its other rider, YUKI TAKAHASHI, led Scot to the ‘regrettable decision’ to run only one motorcycle the rest of the season. Takahashi had run every race so far this season and was eighteenth in the standings with nine points. Talmacsi has zero points.

MotoGP had but the one practice session Friday. Saturday morning has an hour of practice, with afternoon qualifying. That session will be telecast live on SPEED TV in the US at 1:55 local time/4:55 PM EDT. The live race telecast will be aired on FOX at 2 PM local time, 5 PM EDT.