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.