MotoGP – The United States Grand Prix turn-based –

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The United States Grand Prix turn-based

MotoGP - The United States Grand Prix turn-based -

Laguna Seca, United States. For the third year, the pilots in the premier class meet in California on the legendary circuit of the Continental Circus great era, revised and corrected to meet modern safety requirements. Round by round.

With its famous Corkscrew – the biggest braking on the circuit – and the succession of big-hearted curves, the Laguna Seca circuit attracts many enthusiasts. But the scorching heat that reigns there at the moment could well soften the heat !

Especially since the circuit which is not unanimous among the pilots. Rossi in particular doesn’t like the American track, but he needs to score big points and get ahead of his biggest rival, Casey Stoner, in his Ducati.

Nicky Hayden, in need of results and on a good momentum since the important modifications made to the Honda, will be like all American riders a serious customer for victory, he who won the first two editions…

Very particular point of Laguna Seca: the famous Corkscrew ("corkscrew") is a chicane whose first tip is a left. After a very difficult trajectory to learn, he begins by braking on very destabilizing bumps, plunges blindly into a very pronounced descent, the paf to the right returning flat to command a left that starts with all the support on the ‘before due to compression at its exit !

Another particularity, Laguna Seca is currently only contested by the MotoGP category, the 125 and 250 are already on vacation … This circuit is difficult to learn, which in theory favors American riders who already have it. convenient. A circuit for large hearts, not very demanding for the machines, which must have flexible and linear motors but not necessarily very powerful, and a chassis to absorb the many bumps and slopes of the route.

Laguna Seca also deserves its name because of the local weather conditions: the track is more than 50 ° and the lack of grip complicates the task of manufacturers and teams! Finally, the 3610 m of the Californian route includes a short straight line – not quite straight by the way – of 966 m, seven turns to the left and five to the right.

MotoGP

Friday morning, Casey Stoner immediately announces the color by taking the best time of the 1st free practice session ahead of Melandri, Edwards, Hopkins, Rossi, Vermeulen, De Puniet, Hayden, Barros, Roger Lee Hayden, Pedrosa, Capirossi, Tamada, Checa, Nakano, Duhamel (replacing Elias at Honda Gresini), West, Guintoli, Kurtis Roberts and Hofmann.

From the 5th lap of Guintoli and Hofmann, the Frenchman failed under braking and mowed down the German who got up with an open fracture of a metatarsus and had to forfeit, replaced at a moment’s notice by the Englishman Chaz Davies…

In the afternoon, Stoner drives home the point by dominating again the 2nd free session with again very fast Melandri behind him, then Hopkins, Edwards, Pedrosa, Rossi, Vermeulen, Hayden, Capirossi, Tamada, Checa, De Puniet, West , Guintoli, Hayden, Barros, Roberts, Nakano, Duhamel and Davies.

Saturday morning, Stoner confirms its hold on the category by beating Vermeulen, Hopkins, Melandri, Hayden, Pedrosa, Edwards, Tamada, Rossi, Checa, RL Hayden, West, De Puniet, Capirossi, Guintoli, Nakano, Barros, Duhamel, Roberts and Davies. Race Fact: Rossi made a mistake and suffered minor injuries to his left shoulder and little fingers…

The qualifying session saw Roberts, Hayden, Guintoli, Melandri, Pedrosa and Davies take turns for the fastest time, then Stoner and Melandri compete for pole for four laps … But it is the Australian who takes the best time.

Twist: in a fast lap, Melandri arrives behind Roberts who cuts abruptly in the middle of the curve on the trajectory, forcing the Italian to leave the track to avoid him and to jump from his motorbike into the sand to avoid hitting the air fences that line the circuit. More fear than harm, but Super Marco loses the benefit of a good session and has to spend 20 minutes off the track to have his ankle examined, due to a rookie error by the American: infuriating !

On the track, Stoner improved his time two more laps in a row, then Vermeulen took pole from him and improved his time on the following lap. Pedrosa in turn rose to the top of the timesheet and became the first to break Hayden’s 2006 record! At the end of the session, Stoner pulled off another fastest time which he improved again, beating Hayden’s pole record by 0.4s in 990! The grid is therefore as follows:

  • 1st line: Stoner, Pedrosa and Vermeulen

  • 2nd row: Hayden, Rossi and Capirossi

  • 3rd line: Hopkins, Edwards and Nakano

  • 4th line: Melandri, Tamada and West

  • 5th line: De Puniet, Guintoli and Checa

  • 6th row: R. L. Hayden, Barros and Roberts

  • 7th line: Duhamel and Davies

During the warm-up, while Marco Melandri was being treated, Nicky Hayden took the best time during three laps. Then it is Capirossi the fastest, then Stoner who on his 5th lap sticks more than 1 second to his teammate! Guintoli, West and De Puniet start well with very good times while Rossi takes his time to improve, staying at the bottom of the times table.

On his 6th lap, Stoner approached his record pole of 4 / 10ths. Finally, Rossi on his 9th lap approached 1s from Stoner. In his 11th lap, the young Australian beat the time from his pole with 1’22.220 and Edwards climbed back to 5th. Vermeulen and Hopkins hold the top of the sheet behind Stoner and ahead of Rossi and Edwards, the top three being the only ones to turn below the 1’23 ’’ mark..

And in his 11th lap, Stoner killed the competition with a time of 1’21.975, an all-time record for Laguna Seca who kept him in the lead of this warm up until its end, not without regularly setting times in 1’22. Behind the Australian, Vermeulen and Hopkins are at 4/10, Rossi at 7 and Pedrosa is last in the same second as Stoner, at 0.8s. Capirossi is at 1 s, Edwards at 1.1 s, Hayden at 1.3 s, Barros at 1.4 s, De Puniet at 1.5 s, RL Hayden at 1.7 s, West and Davies at 1.9 s, Guintoli at 2 s, Checa at 2.1 s, Roberts at 2.3 s, Tamada at 2.4 s, Nakano at 2.5 s and Duhamel at 3.8 s. In the last slow corner of his last lap, Nicky Hayden falls but not seriously.

Departure. Pedrosa got the best start ahead of Stoner on the inside and Hayden on the outside, who tried to get past the Australian but pulled away. Hayden sees Hopkins who was in his wheel come inside as he returns to the rope: it is the clash between the two compatriots! Hopkins fell, Hayden recovered almost by a miracle and returned to the middle of the pack. Hopkins picks up his bike but has to return to the pit to repair his left lever and start more than one lap late !

Meanwhile, Stoner has already outflanked Pedrosa from the 2nd corner under the eyes of Vermeulen, Edwards, Capirossi and Rossi, a few lengths ahead of Melandri, Nakano, De Puniet, Tamada, Checa, West and R. L. Hayden. Edwards and Capirossi are in the fight: the Italian tries an outside but has to give in and Rossi takes the opportunity to steal 5th place. In the lead, Stoner and Pedrosa are a few steps ahead of Vermeulen, himself a few more ahead of Edwards, Rossi and Capirossi.

At the entrance to the corkscrew, Rossi passes 4th in front of Edwards while Melandri passes 6th in front of Capirossi under braking on the last left before the straight line.

On the first lap, Stoner leads ahead of Pedrosa and Vermeulen. Further on, Rossi is very slightly ahead of Edwards, Melandri, Capirossi, Nakano, De Puniet, Tamada, Checa past R. L. Hayden and West. Vermeulen made the effort and gradually came back to the two leaders. De Puniet passed 8th ahead of Nakano. Stoner is gradually getting ahead of Pedrosa, who is returning to Vermeulen.

On the second lap, Stoner, who had the fastest lap, was 0.3 s ahead of Pedrosa, 0.8 s over Vermeulen, already 1.8 s on Rossi, 2.6 s on Edwards and Melandri, 3.7 s on Capirossi and 7.1 s on De Puniet passed 7th in front of Tamada . Stoner took the lead with a 1.2sec lead over Pedrosa, Vermeulen in his exhausts. Rossi cannot keep pace with the leaders. Vermeulen attacks and passes Pedrosa under braking on the last left.

On the third lap, Stoner, who set a new fastest lap, was 0.8 seconds ahead of Vermeulen and Pedrosa who tried to hang on, 2.7 seconds on Rossi, 3.4 seconds on Edwards followed by Melandri and 5.4 seconds on De Puniet and Capirossi. This is followed by Tamada, Nakano, Checa, R. L. Hayden, West and Barros. Vermeulen lets go of Pedrosa and Melandri passes 5th in front of Edwards. Capirossi returns to his stand: abandonment due to mechanical failure !

On the 4th lap, Stoner who improved again was 1s full ahead of Vermeulen, 1.4s over Pedrosa and 3.4s over Rossi on which Melandri returned who let Edwards go. De Puniet, Tamada, Nakano, Checa, R. L. Hayden and West follow. Hayden is 16th.

On the 5th lap, Stoner maintained his lead over Vermeulen while Pedrosa gradually let go. As for Rossi, he is now under direct threat from Melandri…

On the 6th lap, Stoner sets another fastest lap. Vermeulen, who is holding on, is at 1.1 s, Pedrosa at 2.9 s, Rossi and Melandri at 5.1 s, Edwards at 6.8 s, De Puniet, Tamada and Nakano at 9.9 s. Melandri shows Rossi his wheel but still can’t find the opening on the super brakeman that his compatriot is … Kurtis Roberts, after a straight braking of the Corkscrew, retires, suffering from a brake problem.

On the 7th lap, Stoner leads ahead of Vermeulen who rode a few thousandths faster than the leader. Behind Pedrosa 3rd, Rossi still under threat from Melandri nibbles tenth after tenth on the little Spaniard. Edwards 6th regularly loses ground on De Puniet, Tamada and Nakano.

In the 8th lap, Stoner lost a big tenth on Vermeulen, Pedrosa stabilized his margin on Rossi still under pressure from Melandri and Edwards was picked up by De Puniet and Tamada.

In the 9th lap, Stoner stabilized his lead over Vermeulen. Pedrosa hangs on, then Rossi finds it more and more difficult to contain Melandri. Halfway through the circuit, Melandri who prepared his attack well finally overwhelmed Rossi when braking the long left !

On lap 10, Stoner, who accelerated again, picked up a little lead over Vermeulen. Pedrosa lost 0.4 s of his lead over Melandri who gradually let go of Rossi. Edwards regained a little margin on De Puniet and Tamada still wheel to wheel, then West followed narrowly by R. L. Hayden back to Nakano.

On lap 11, Stoner who accelerated again equaled his best lap and was 1.5 seconds ahead of Vermeulen. Pedrosa is just 1.5 seconds ahead of Melandri and 0.5 seconds ahead of Rossi. Status quo between Edwards, De Puniet and Tamada who did not take anything back in Texan.

On the 12th lap, Stoner improved his best lap and increased distance to Vermeulen. Melandri comes back 1.1s behind Pedrosa and lets go of Rossi at 1s. Edwards again loses his lead over De Puniet and Tamada. Miguel Duhamel, Elias’s replacement, is also forced to retire due to mechanical breakdown.

On lap 13, Stoner was more than 2 seconds ahead of Vermeulen. Pedrosa is just 0.9sec ahead of Melandri who is 1.2sec ahead of Rossi. Edwards lost another 0.2s to De Puniet who defeated Tamada. Guintoli fights for 13th place with Checa.

On the 14th lap, Stoner widened the gap in front of Vermeulen while Pedrosa had Melandri on his heels. Behind Rossi, Edwards gradually lost ground on De Puniet, Tamada, Nakano, West and R. L. Hayden. Davies returns to the pit but leaves behind Hopkins.

On lap 15, behind Stoner and then Vermeulen, Pedrosa managed to hold out in front of Melandri, who was visibly more comfortable. Rossi cannot even take the opportunity to come back and behind him Edwards has lost another 0.5 s on De Puniet! Melandri finds the opening to overtake Pedrosa in the change of angle of the last chicane before the finish left.

On lap 16, Stoner, who set a new fastest lap, increased his lead over Vermeulen to 3.3 s! Melandri and Pedrosa are at 13.6 s, Rossi at 15.6 s, Edwards at 20.9 s, de Puniet at 22.4 s and Tamada who let go at 23.3 s. Nakano is now closely followed by West and R. L. Hayden while Guintoli is back 13th ahead of Checa. West passes 9th in front of Nakano.

On lap 17, Stoner slowed down slightly. Vermeulen holds, Melandri distances Pedrosa, Rossi returns to the Spaniard and Edwards is only 1.3s ahead of De Puniet.

On the 18th lap, Stoner resumed his previous pace and increased his lead to more than 4 seconds over Vermeulen. Melandri always distances Pedrosa on which Rossi returns. Edwards is still 1.1 seconds ahead of De Puniet, who has returned to Tamada. Hayden is 15th in a pace 5s slower than Stoner’s !

On the 19th lap, Stoner still flies in the lead. Vermeulen follows and Melandri still distances Pedrosa who is only 0.8 seconds ahead of Rossi. Behind, Edwards sees De Puniet come back 0.7 s, Tamada 0.7 s further and West 0.7 s even further, which rolls faster than these last two drivers! Rossi took 4th braking on the last left in front of Pedrosa.

At the 20th lap, behind Stoner, Vermeulen and Melandri, Rossi gradually distances Pedrosa, then Edwards sees De Puniet 0.5 s behind him and Tamada even faster 0.4 s behind the French. West unleashed Nakano on who returned R. L. Hayden.

On the 21st lap, Stoner drives home the point: he is still the only driver to turn below the 1’23 mark! Vermeulen, 2nd fastest on the track, was safe from a comeback, while Melandri contained Rossi at 1.4sec. Pedrosa is more than 1 second behind. De Puniet and Tamada are in Edwards’s wheel. Behind West, R. L. Hayden passed 10th ahead of Nakano.

On the 22nd lap, behind Stoner then Vermeulen, Melandri and Rossi neutralize each other, Pedrosa loses ground and Edwards resists De Puniet, Tamada and West come back.

On the 23rd lap, Stoner who prances in the lead sees Hayden in distress turn around to let him pass: quite a symbol! Vermeulen ensures, Melandri lost 0.2 s on Rossi, Pedrosa is content with his 5th place and Edwards resists a pack made up of De Puniet, Tamada and West. R. L. Hayden took the opportunity to reduce his delay somewhat by outrunning Nakano. Randy De Puniet manages to pass Edwards for 6th place while Nicky Hayden returns to the pit to retire.

On the 24th lap, Stoner was 7.8 s ahead of Vermeulen, 21.3 s on Melandri, 22.6 s on Rossi, 26.5 s on Pedrosa, 33.3 s on de Puniet, Edwards, Tamada and West, 36 s on RL Hayden, 37.7 s on Barros who overtook Nakano at 39.1 s, 47.6 s on Guintoli and 54.1 s on Checa. Tamada in turn found the opening to Edwards at the entrance to the straight ahead of Corkscrew. West also passes the Texan when braking on the last left !

On lap 25, behind Stoner then Vermeulen, Melandri was 1.5 seconds ahead of Rossi. Behind Pedrosa, De Puniet sees Tamada come back on him, followed by West who gradually lets go of Edwards on who return R. L. Hayden and Barros.

On the 26th lap, Stoner and Vermeulen ensure, Melandri manages Rossi, Pedrosa is content with his 5th place, then De Puniet must resist Tamada and West to keep his 6th place. R. L. Hayden is 0.4s behind Edwards.

On lap 27 the positions are unchanged but Edwards is now under direct threat from R. L. Hayden and Barros !

At the 28th passage, still no change. In third position, Melandri still maintains his lead over Rossi despite a personal best lap from the Doctor. R. L. Hayden then Barros successively pass Edwards! West, on the other hand, comes back on Tamada’s heels, who has lost contact with De Puniet. West passes 7th in front of Tamada under braking on the last left and Barros passes 10th in front of Edwards.

On lap 29, Stoner still leads ahead of Vermeulen, Melandri, Rossi, Pedrosa, De Puniet, West, Tamada, R. L. Hayden, Barros, Edwards, Nakano, Guintoli and Checa. Barros follows R. L. Hayden who does everything to resist him.

On the 30th pass, the positions are unchanged with West which contains Tamada and R. L. Hayden which contains Barros.

At the start of the last lap, Stoner ensures, Vermeulen too, Melandri is safe from Rossi, Pedrosa is all alone, De Puniet the fastest on the track after Stoner secures his 6th position and Tamada is safe from Barros who finally took 10th place from RL Hayden.

Stoner therefore won his sixth victory of the season in total dominance, punctuating it with a superb wheelie all over the finish straight! Vermeulen finished brilliant 2nd and courageous Melandri 3rd completed the podium. Rossi failed in 4th place ahead of Pedrosa 5th, De Puniet 6th – which equaled his best result -, West 7th, Tamada 8th, Barros 9th, Roger Lee Hayden 10th, Edwards 11th, Nakano 12th, Guintoli 13th, Checa 14th and Hopkins 15th at two towers.

In the championship, Stoner takes off with 221 points, a comfortable 44 points lead over Rossi 177 … Follows Pedrosa with 155 points ahead of Vermeulen and Melandri tied (113), Hopkins (104), Edwards (93), Capirossi (77), Barros (76), Hayden (73), Hofmann (60), De Puniet (50), Elias (49) and Tamada (31).

On the brands side, Ducati leads well with 233 points ahead of Yamaha 197, Honda 190, Suzuki 151, Kawasaki 74 and KR211V 12.

The Ducati team also leads with 298 points ahead of Fiat Yamaha 271, Repsol Honda 228, Rizla Suzuki 217, Honda Gresini 168, Pramac D’Antin 136, Kawasaki 88, Tech 3 52, Honda LCR and Konica Minolta Honda 29 and Team Roberts 12.

See you in Brno on August 19 !

They explain themselves…

Casey Stoner (1st) :
It has to be my best racing weekend. We had a good weekend at the Sachsenring last week but it just didn’t make it in the race. Today everything was perfect, the tires, the bike, everything went very well throughout the weekend. We managed to be the fastest in every session and we put all that hard work into the race. We also broke the long streak of non-race winning poles: the last person to do it was on Ducati and the new one is too. I am amazed by this race. This morning during the warm-up we were able to line up 1 ’22 and even 1′ 21 at halfway so we were pretty confident. At the start of the race I hit the 1 ’22, I wanted to see how fast the others were. I was gaining about half a second on Dani, then Chris passed it and he started chasing me. I realized he was a bit faster so I decided to increase my pace and slowly but steadily built a gap. Chris was very quick but I felt my rear tire was a bit better so I kept pushing. I didn’t expect it to have a big group in front, I knew we were on point and just had to go with the plan, no bad luck, and it all worked.

Chris Vermeulen (2nd) :
I am literally delighted to be on the podium here at Laguna! Last year we had a lot of pace as well, but it hadn’t done so in the race. Suzuki went ahead and we had a carefree weekend. The Bridgestone tires worked well and only Casey and I had the chance to do lap times early in the race. Unfortunately I couldn’t hold on to him the whole race but I am very happy with my 2nd place. Now we have to go ahead and get new podiums.

Marco Melandri (3rd) :
It was a fabulous race for me: it’s amazing to be on the podium. I couldn’t even drive this morning without an injection to calm my pain and I have to warmly thank the whole Mobile Clinic: Doctor Costa, the therapist Francesco Chionne and Doctor Monica. They gave me great treatment before the race so that I wouldn’t suffer while driving. At first I just tried to keep my pace and I thought it was pretty good. I was not very comfortable at first but in the end my pace was ok. Five or six laps before the end I started to feel a little pain in my ankle which prevented me from downshifting properly but it was a great race and great emotion to be on the podium. I want to thank all my team, all my guys and all my sponsors: they work so well.

Valentino Rossi (4th) :
This day was considerably disappointing because the differences in terms of tires meant that our rivals seemed to be in another race. My team and I worked really hard, especially after the crash yesterday and we did our best under our conditions. But without grip it was impossible to fight with the leaders. I had the best race I could and was very happy to overtake Pedrosa but couldn’t catch up with Melandri: we just didn’t have the same pace or grip today. I’m very sad for the last week at the Sachsenring because the Michelin were very strong and we missed the possibility of scoring big points there. Today we really realize it! It looks like the tires have the deciding factor this season and that’s a shame for the fans and the show. We are not giving up, there are seven races left and we know Michelin will work as hard as possible to improve the situation for the second half of the season but Stoner is very strong and it will be difficult. Finally we have a vacation now and we will be back in Brno to fight as much as possible until the end.

Randy de Puniet (6th) :
I am very happy. It wasn’t all easy, we had to find the right settings and get into the rhythm. This morning, I tried new suspension settings during the warm-up and the front axle handling was much better for the race. It’s a good result, especially since I started from thirteenth place on the grid. I got off to a good start and the first lap went well, I didn’t waste any time behind Nakano and Edwards, then I raced behind some pretty quick drivers. I saw on my panel that Anthony was behind me, it’s a great result for Kawasaki and I’m very happy to have had a good race before the summer break.

Makoto Tamada (8th) :
I am very happy because today I had my best race of the season, both in its course and in the result. My Yamaha was perfectly tuned and my tires were very consistent throughout the 32 laps, especially at the rear. So I was able to run in very consistent lap times and fight until the end. I really want to thank Yamaha, Dunlop and the whole team because they did a great job all weekend.

Sylvain Guintoli (13th) :
I’m disappointed because I started the weekend well, making steady progress. But since the qualifying session, I have adopted a false rhythm that I have not been able to get rid of. Besides, I completely missed my start and almost collided with Kurtis Roberts in the first left turn. Then I made a big foul getting up on Makoto’s group and shot straight. Whenever I wanted to increase the pace, I made mistakes. It’s a disappointing weekend.

Nicky Hayden (Dropped out) :
It’s such a shame to get this result for my national GP, for me, the team and the fans. It’s really a difficult season but things are like this: another incident at the first corner. I do not want to expand on the subject because it will not change anything so I leave this incident as it is. My brakes got softer and softer and the adjuster was broken so I couldn’t do anything. I continued to run in case a red flag was waved but when I was given a lap I returned to the pits because I was not going to interfere with the leaders with brakes that no longer worked.

J. ARSOUILLE – Photos DR

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