This just in:
2009 MotoGP World Championship
US Grand Prix preview, Laguna Seca
July 3/4/5 2009
HONDA RIDERS HEAD TO CALIFORNIA COOL
The 2009 MotoGP World Championship continues its
most concentrated stretch with its most vivid
study in contrast. From last week's Dutch TT, at
the historic Circuit van Drenthe near the North
Sea, the championship flies halfway across the
globe to the California cool of Mazda Raceway
Laguna Seca, within sight of the Pacific Ocean,
for the first of two Grands Prix in America. The
United States Grand Prix is the second of four
races in five weeks that span the midpoint of the
17-race championship and the only event on the
calendar to feature only the MotoGP class.
With so much attention paid to Laguna Seca, it's
a little known fact that the first two U.S GPs
took place at Daytona International Speedway in
1964 and '65. Both were won by the legendary Mike
Hailwood on an MV Agusta. Then followed a 24-year
absence after which the U.S GP returned to the
calendar at Laguna Seca for six years, ending
with the 1994 running. Eleven years on, when
MotoGP came to Laguna for the first time, the
race was won by a Honda, as was the 2006
edition. Repsol Honda RC212V riders Andrea
Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa lead the six-strong
Honda contingent into the 2009 U.S GP.
Dovizioso and Pedrosa currently sit fourth and
fifth places in the championship, behind series
leader Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), Jorge Lorenzo
(Yamaha) and Casey Stoner (Ducati).
The short interval between Assen and Laguna gives
both Dovizioso and Pedrosa a chance for quick
redemption. With limited set-up time for their
Honda RC212V machines equipped with revised
chassis, both men slid off in the Assen race.
That followed a promising start to the weekend
when Pedrosa missed out on pole position by a scant 0.085 seconds.
Dovizioso was one spot off his possible first
podium with the Repsol Honda squad when the
23-year-old Italian fell, ending a string of
fourth-place finishes in the previous three GPs.
In his first visit to Monterey last July,
Dovizioso was the highest placing Honda rider in
fourth place. With a year's further experience on
the RC212V, and on a circuit he finds fascinating
and challenging, Dovizioso is certain that all
the pieces are in place to secure him a place on the podium.
Pedrosa has recently shown improvement after
hitting a rough patch that began at the Italian
GP at Mugello. Following a promising start to the
season - with three consecutive podium finishes -
Pedrosa injured his right hip in an incident
during Italian GP practice. Since then he has
been fighting to regain fitness and was
encouraged in Holland, where he was able to
complete the weekend without the help of
pain-killers. And he did himself no further
damage with the crash, which came while he was in
the thick of the battle for second place. Despite
having to fly some 9000kms, Pedrosa is in better
shape than he has been in more than a month and
anxious to get back to work at Laguna Seca. This
will be only his second race at Laguna. Pedrosa
skipped last year's race after injuring himself
in the previous weekend's German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.
The Honda MotoGP satellite squads arrive in
Monterey with varying fortunes. Randy de Puniet
(LCR Honda) is coming off a promising weekend in
Assen. The Frenchman led the 18-strong MotoGP
field in Thursday practice and followed it up
with his second top ten finish of the year. He is
the most consistent Honda rider at Laguna Seca,
with sixth place finishes in his last two visits.
San Carlo Honda Gresini riders Alex De Angelis
and Toni Elias are hopeful of better luck when
they arrive in California. Elias was in position
to take sixth place in Assen when a mistake in
the final chicane sent him off the track. Because
he'd cut the course, race direction applied a
20-second penalty, which dropped him from his eighth place finish to 12th.
From Laguna onwards, the Scot Racing Team will
continue with Gabor Talmacsi in the MotoGP class.
Due to unavoidable circumstances Yuki Takahashi
will no longer ride with the team. This decision
was reached after exhaustive attempts to find a
way to continue with two riders, but the
economic realities facing the team, combined
with the increased cost involved in running two
riders, has led to this regrettable outcome.
"For Honda as well as the Scot Racing Team, this
is a sad announcement," said HRC vice president
Shuhei Nakamoto. "But we understand that the
extremely challenging financial circumstances
facing the team left them with no choice.
Takahashi was the only Japanese rider in the
MotoGP championship and of course Honda wanted to
see him continue. But in the end the team made it
clear that this outcome was impossible and we
respect their decision. Honda will continue to
support the Scot Racing Team in MotoGP with Gabor Talmacsi riding."
Talmacsi will have his hands full this weekend.
Laguna doesn't host the 250cc and 125cc classes
so the Hungarian hasn't previously seen the
track, which isn't easy to learn, especially for
a rider with only two previous races on a MotoGP
bike. On the plus side, Talmacsi will now have two RC212Vs at his disposal.
In a championship that features 17 of the best
racetracks in the world, Laguna Seca stands out
for its uniqueness. Set in the natural terrain of
the foothills east of Monterey, California, the
track has undergone a number of changes over the
course of its life, which began in 1957. The
biggest changes came in 1988 when it was
lengthened from 3.1kms to its current 3.61kms to
conform to the World Championship minimum. Prior
to the change, the track had nine corners, seven lefts and two rights.
It was on that layout that Freddie Spencer rode
the oval-piston Honda NR500 to victory over Kenny
Roberts in a heat race in 1981, a victory that
former Honda Motor Company CEO Takeo Fukui calls
his favorite win in all of racing. To meet the
minimum length, the track turns back on itself at
turn two, incorporating the right hand turns
three and four before rejoining the old circuit
with a left at turn five. The most recent change
came in 2006 with the flattening of the run-up to
turns 8-8A, the legendary Corkscrew.
The Corkscrew is the track's signature turn, a
blind left-right downhill that some riders love,
some don't. A number of races have been decided
in the Corkscrew, including last year's classic
when Valentino Rossi rode up the inside and
through the dirt to re-pass Casey Stoner en route
to what is considered the turning point of the
2008 MotoGP World Championship. The Corkscrew is
the track's highest point, after which it begins
a 91 meter drop, through the daunting turn nine
Rainey Curve downhill left, into the dip that is
the difficult right-hand turn ten, and to the
track's lowest point, the near dead stop turn 11
left-hander that leads onto the 996 meter front
straight. Out of turn 11, riders accelerate out
of first gear up the straight to a quick rise and
into the formidable turn one, a high speed
drop-away left-hand kink taken by the bravest
wide open, but by most at partial throttle.
Honda has won two of the four MotoGP classes at
Laguna Seca, with the last victory coming in 2006
by Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda).
HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES
Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) says: "I really
look forward to the race in Laguna Seca. The
track itself and the whole atmosphere makes
coming to Laguna a fascinating experience. Last
year was the first time that I had raced in the
United States and I was impressed by this track.
Some parts are quite dangerous and very different
from the European standard of racetracks we are
used to, but the whole atmosphere is incredible
and I like it a lot. I'm confident that we can
have a good race here. Last year I had a good
battle and finished 4th, which I was pleased
with. I feel as though I've come fourth enough
times this year though, so I hope to make the
step up. At each race we're getting closer to the
leading riders but we're still not close enough
yet. So we need to work hard to get the speed and consistency we need."
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) says: "I'm actually
really looking forward to getting to Laguna and
I'm feeling confident going into the weekend - as
I was before Assen. The result there wasn't
great, but there's no reason why we can't have a
strong race in the US. I felt much better on the
bike in Assen than I did in Barcelona and,
although my physical fitness is not at 100 per
cent because I haven't been training as usual for
quite a while, the injury is getting better and
isn't giving me any problems on the machine. The
Laguna track itself is unique and it can be a lot
of fun to ride - as long as you're going quickly.
When you're struggling it obviously isn't quite
as much fun! As a team we've got to continue
working hard and bring the whole machine package
up to a level where we can compete for wins
again. We're making progress and with luck Laguna
will take us closer to that target."
Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) says: "Laguna is a
very special racetrack - I love the challenges
that it throws at you. We had quite a challenging
time there last year, but came out of it all with
a not so bad sixth-place finish. This year we
have the potential to do better if Friday and
Saturday go well for us. I feel really good on
this year's bike and tyres, so I'm really looking forward to the race."
Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) says:
"I am extremely motivated going into this race
because we're finally finding the right way with
the bike and working through our problems. We
know that sometimes when you solve one problem
you can create another and finding the ideal
package isn't easy, but the point is that we are
solving our biggest issue, which is rear
traction, and that is important. I don't think
anything more problematic than that is going to
crop up! I love Laguna Seca, I went fast from the
first day on my debut there last year and we know
the tyres work well there too, so I am excited.
The target is to get involved with that second
group again but this time be fighting with them
all the way to the final corner."
Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) says: "I
left the last race at Assen feeling frustrated
with the result, having been relegated to twelfth
by Race Direction for an aggressive move in the
final corner, but even the eighth place I managed
before the penalty was below our expectations.
Having said that I was encouraged by the
performance and to have passed so many riders in
the race gives me motivation and determination to
continue where I left off at Laguna Seca. For
this race I'll have both bikes equipped with my
preferred chassis, which should allow us to work
a bit more calmly and make quicker progress in
adjusting the set-up. Our recent pace suggests
that we're not far from making another step
forward - not into the top four just yet but at least a little closer to them."
Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) says: "I never have
been there. I'm really curious. I asked for
information from my more experienced companions
and everybody told me that Laguna is different
and difficult. Well, the great majority of things
are new for me in the MotoGP class. So, I'm
getting used to facing new challenges. I will try
to understand by myself as many things as I can
about Laguna Seca, then I will knock on Nicky
Hayden's motor home and ask for his advice; he
declared himself glad to teach me the secrets of
his home circuit. We reached a point at which I
feel necessary to work a little bit more on the
set-up, to improve my performances. In the first
races, the target was simply - not to do silly
things and learn as much as I could. Now I want
to make a step ahead and leave the last position to some other guy."
