Laguna Seca witnessed Jorge Lorenzo’s sixth win of the season, achieved in fine style by leaving his rivals trailing so far behind. The only rider that can match Lorenzo’s current form, Dani Pedrosa crashed out while leading halfway through the race – which made it more easier for Lorenzo. Australian Casey Stoner finished 2nd while defending champion Valentino Rossi crossed the finish line in 3rd spot.
Starting from pole for the fifth time in a row, Lorenzo lost ground to his rivals at the fearsome downhill turn one and was relegated to third first time around. For the first few laps there was little he could do except hang on behind Pedrosa and Stoner but on the sixth lap Stoner ran wide and Lorenzo stormed through to take second.
By now Pedrosa was nearly a second clear but Lorenzo’s pace had begun to improve and he started to push as hard as he could and exert some pressure on his fellow Spaniard.
On lap twelve, with the gap now narrowed to half a second, Pedrosa crashed out and left Lorenzo in the lead and from then on it was plain sailing for the 23-year-old as he expertly controlled his advantage over Stoner to bring it home and take his second win on US soil. This victory was his 11th in MotoGP, his 32nd in all classes and his 10th successive podium.
Rossi made a triumphant return to the podium just seven weeks after breaking his right leg, overhauling Andrea Dovizioso during a thrilling last ten laps to finish third. And on the 27th lap he made his move and passed his countryman, managing to hold him off over the last couple of laps to make a popular return to the podium.
With exactly half of the season gone Lorenzo heads the championship with an impressive 72-point lead over Pedrosa, whilst Rossi chance of defending his title looked ever so dimmed as he is 120 points adrift of his team-mate in fifth position.
The whole MotoGP paddock will now have a short mid-season break, before re-grouping for the next round of the championship at Brno in the Czech Republic on Sunday 15th August.
Jorge Lorenzo : “I am so happy to win here at Laguna Seca, it’s something I’ve always dreamed of. I rode so well today, right on the limit and I had to push very hard to stay in touch with Dani. He is always so strong on race day but I knew if I kept the pressure on him then there was a chance he would make a mistake and I would be able to catch him. I’m sorry he crashed but from then on it was very easy for me because I had a big gap from Casey. I really enjoyed riding my M1! I have a big lead in the championship but there is half of the season left and it wouldn’t be the first time a rider has lost the title with such a big lead, so we can’t take anything for granted. I am really looking forward to some time to relax now after two very busy months. Thanks to everyone in my team for doing a brilliant job.”
Casey Stoner : “At the beginning of the race everything felt pretty good and once I got the tyres up to temperature I wanted to try and make a pass on Dani… as soon as I tried to close in on him a little bit I lost the front and ran it wide. It happened again, and a lap or two later I lost the front too much and basically ran very wide and Jorge was able to get through. For me it just wasn’t worth it, I had to ease off a bit and the rest of the corners seemed okay. I put up the best fight I possibly could, but it wasn’t enough today again. I can always come back in the next race in Brno and see what happens. We are happy with the overall weekend.”
Valentino Rossi : “The start of the race was very hard for me because I had a lot of pain and I was far from the podium. But then I saw Pedrosa on the gravel and I just had to try to catch Dovizioso! I just pushed as hard as I could for a few laps and that brought me closer to him and then I couldn’t give up, somehow I caught him and it was a great feeling to pass him to take third. It’s a great result after my injury and it felt so good to be back on the podium in front of the fans. There are so many people I have to thank who have helped me to get back to this position. I am very happy that we have some time off now because I have a lot of work to do on my body to try to be back to my best for Brno, which I love.
Loris Capirossi : “I think we did our job today because our rhythm is about half-a-second slower than qualifying and that’s where we were. I tried to do a different line on every one of the 32 laps to try and improve my time in the third section, but I struggled with front feeling. The race was quite tough and at the end I got in a fight with Kallio and Espargaro. On the last lap I tried to close the door to protect my place, but it seems he got me right on the line. I thought I was in front but the video shows he beat me. I don’t really care whether it was ninth or tenth because it’s not good enough and we have to go up the leader-board!”
Dani Pedrosa : “At the time I that I crashed I was pushing hard to maintain the gap to Lorenzo and my rhythm was good. Unfortunately though I hit a bump on the way into the corner and I couldn’t do anything – I was down. It’s extremely disappointing, obviously, but this can happen when you’re trying everything to win. You have to push as much as you can and take risks – and I really wanted to win this race.”
Race Results :
1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 45’54.873
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team + 3.517
3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 13.420
4. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team + 14.188
5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team + 14.601
6. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 19.037
7. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 40.721
8. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 47.219
9. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Green Team + 52.813
10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 52.814
11. Roger Lee Hayden (USA) LCR Honda MotoGP + 1’14.089
12. Alex de Angelis (ITA) Interwetten Honda MotoGP + 1’14.666
DNF :
Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Pramac Green Team 4 Lap
Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 14 Lap
Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 21 Lap
Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 29 Lap
Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 30 Lap
Championship Standings :
1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 210
2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 138
3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team 115
4. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 103
5. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 90
6. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 89
7. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 77
8. Randy de Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 69
9. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 53
10. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 49
11. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 48
12. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 41
13. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 36
14. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Green Team 31
15. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Pramac Green Team 28
16. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 25
17. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Interwetten-Honda MotoGP 18
18. Alex de Angelis (ITA) Interwetten Honda MotoGP 8
19. Kousuke Akiyoshi (JPN) Interwetten Honda MotoGP 4
20. Wataru Yoshikawa (JPN) Fiat Yamaha Team 1
Rossi’s helmet for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix
Photo : Fiat Yamaha / Rizla Suzuki / MotoGP
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