In perfect conditions at the Laguna Seca circuit on Friday afternoon, with blue skies, Californian sunshine and temperatures of 24°C, the MotoGP riders got the eighth race weekend of the year underway – the World Champion Valentino Rossi putting down the fastest time late in FP1.
The current MotoGP ‘big three’ were on top again as the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix commenced, Rossi followed on the timesheet by his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Ducati’s Casey Stoner.
Rossi’s 1’21.981s lap around the shortest track on the MotoGP calendar, on the last of his 32 laps, was enough to put him 0.112s ahead of the young pretender to his crown Lorenzo.
A first lap crasher in the 2008 race on his Laguna Seca debut, Lorenzo will aim to put the memories of last year’s contest behind him and already looks comfortable around the picturesque American track.
Stoner was just 0.189s down on Rossi’s pace himself as he tested his condition following the severe exhaustion he has experienced in recent weeks. The 2007 Laguna race-winning Australian is out for revenge over Rossi this weekend following their epic 2008 battle which Rossi won in such style.
In fourth place was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. The Spanish rider is still fighting back to 100% fitness this weekend, although he is already in far better shape than last year when he went home after the Friday practices due to injuries he sustained at Sachsenring.
There was a good start to the weekend for San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Toni Elías who immediately benefitted from the introduction of the new chassis on the Honda RC212V to lap fifth quickest.
Italian pair Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) were sixth and seventh, respectively 0.899s and 1.159s down on the pace.
Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen crashed at the beginning of the session but soon got back out on track to complete 27 laps in total and still managed to go round eighth fastest.
Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) rounded out the top ten, whilst Edwards’ compatriot Nicky Hayden made a sluggish start to his American Ducati debut in 14th place.
Rossi satisfied but with improvements still to make
Friday, 03 July 2009 motogp.com
World Champion Valentino Rossi spoke to motogp.com on Friday after starting the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix in good form.
In search of GP victory 101 this weekend in California the sensational winner of last year’s Laguna Seca race Valentino Rossi was the fastest man at the track on Friday as the round eight action got started.
Topping the FP1 timesheet ahead of his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Ducati’s Casey Stoner by 0.112s and 0.189s respectively, with a 1’21.981 lap, Rossi knows he needs to stay on the pace and to improve his setting on Saturday in order to keep in front of his young rivals.
“It was a good first practice because I’m in first place and also because we worked well on the bike,” said the iconic Italian rider. “We checked some interesting things, we tried to improve the feeling with the bike and we gathered important data in order to improve on Saturday.”
The 30 year-old continued, “Already the lap time is not too bad. We are very close together again with Stoner and Lorenzo but it looks like we are competitive and our Yamaha is good here at this track.”
Asked about the specifics as to where he will focus on Saturday, Rossi replied, “We have to improve the setting still, because on certain corners it is possible to make it better. We are also working a lot on the electronics so that we control the ‘wheelies’ because on this track there are lots of bumps and jumps, so tomorrow we will continue to work in this way.”
Marathon man Lorenzo relearning Laguna Seca
Friday, 03 July 2009 motogp.com
Extended sighting mission for Fiat Yamaha rider in opening Laguna Seca session
38 laps –the fastest of which a 1’22.093- was all it took for Fiat Yamaha Jorge Lorenzo to make up for any lack of track time at Laguna Seca. The current second-placed rider in the MotoGP World Champion crashed out of his U.S. debut last year before even crossing the start/finish line once, although on Friday in 2009 he quickly reacquainted himself with the technical circuit.
“I was very fast today and I feel good here at this track in the California sunshine! I know that this is a very complicated circuit to get used to and that you have to make a lot of laps to learn it, but I did have some time on it last year and I feel great here now,” said the Spaniard, once again edged out at the last moment by teammate Valentino Rossi in the Friday run by just a tenth of a second.
“Today I stopped after a few laps and changed the tyre to the harder Bridgestone one and then I felt even better; I was having a lot of fun riding the bike and I was able to do more or less race distance with consistent lap times. We will work on further improving our setting tomorrow and I hope that I can continue in the same way again.”
Lorenzo is riding this weekend without Team Manager Daniele Romagnoli accompanying him on his side of the garage, the Italian attending to a family matter back in Europe.
Stoner expecting Assen/Barcelona-like fatigue at Laguna
Friday, 03 July 2009 motogp.com
Third in Friday’s free practice session, Casey Stoner was frank about his continued lack of fitness when talking after the run-out.
2007 racewinner Casey Stoner opened up this year’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix weekend with the third fastest time of the first free practice session, with a 1’22.170 lap of the Laguna Seca circuit belying his still-fragile physical state. The Australian has been battling a mystery virus over the past pair of races and, unfortunately for the Ducati man, is predicting just as hard a fight this Sunday.
“The bike’s working well, which is once again a disappointment for me because I don’t think that we can really keep up for the race this weekend,” a downbeat Stoner acknowledged on Friday afternoon.
“Everything’s been working well these past three races, and I feel like we should have been fighting at the front -even if we finished in the same positions. It looks like it’s going to be a similar weekend to the last two, but at least this time we are kind of expecting it, whereas at Assen I thought that all my problems were over.”
Stoner was experiencing fatigue as early as the midway point of the session, causing him to make running modifications to his riding style in order to conserve his energy. In order to maintain his endurance for the session, the former MotoGP World Champion is having to make sacrifices to his lap strategy.
“Braking is one of the hardest points for me at the moment. I’m taking the corners however I can at the moment, which is what you do when you get fatigued. My braking points are getting way too early though, so it all just combines to give a slower lap time,” he lamented, before giving credit to those who he believes have been the driving force behind his recent podium damage limitation.
“For me it’s been the bike these past two races. If it wasn’t working so well I wouldn’t have been on the podium. The bike can still do quick lap times even when I’m backing off.”
epsol Honda riders fourth and sixth
In Laguna FP1 moto-live.com
| 04/07/09 11:09 |
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Dani Pedrosa
| The first Free Practice session for the US Grand Prix took place at Laguna Seca today with Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso finishing the one-hour period in fourth and sixth places. Under sunny skies at the highly-technical Californian circuit, the factory Honda pair began the intricate process of tailoring their RC212V machines to the unique challenges of Laguna's flowing corners and relentlessly undulating layout. Pedrosa made continuous steady progress today as he and his crew continued to familiarise themselves with the improved feeling from the RC212V's modified chassis. Though he missed last year's race here due to injury, the 23-year-old Spaniard looked comfortable and relaxed on track today and steadily climbed the timesheets, setting his fastest time on the last of the 31 laps he completed this afternoon. With a gap of 0.656s to today's fastest time, set by Valentino Rossi, and with a further i ncrease in pace expected in tomorrow's practice and qualifying sessions, Pedrosa looks on course for a competitive weekend. “I'm quite happy with how this session went on my return to Laguna Seca after missing most of last year's race meeting. I took my time this afternoon, getting familiar with the layout again before working up to full pace later in the session”, he said. “We did a lot of laps and at the end of the session my hip was a little bit painful, but it wasn't too bad and I was able to ride the bike as normal. That's important here because this is a circuit where the machine wheelies and shakes quite a lot so you need to be able to control it. We have to work a little more to get the correct gearing and to improve the set-up so I think tomorrow morning's session will be very important to prepare for qualifying. I'm feeling confident for tomorrow.”Dovizioso took a more direct approach to today session than his Repsol Honda team-mate, almost instantly appearing towards the top of the timesheets and holding first place early in the hour.It's only the second time Dovizioso has ridden at the Laguna circuit - after his impressive debut in last year's race when he finished fourth - but once again he showed his immediate grasp of the peculiar demands of the track, ending the session in a competitive sixth place and just 0.243s behind Pedrosa. The Italian will work with his crew to improve the feeling from the front of his RC212V, and when that's achieved Dovizioso too is destined for a strong showing in qualifying tomorrow. “The lap times came easily today and I'm quite happy with the pace we were able to achieve. We did three runs with the soft Bridgestone tyres and then the last run with the hard tyre option and the results were promising”, he said. “It took a while for the hard tyres to warm up though, so in the end I couldn't push as hard as I wanted to improve my lap time. Because of that I'm confident we have room to go quicker tomorrow. Despite the fact that it was quite easy to get the rhythm, I'm not totally happy with my feeling from the front of the bike in the middle of the turn so we will need to work on that and try a few options tomorrow. I like the challenge of this track and the atmosphere here, so I'm looking forward to getting back out there in the morning.”
Melandri relieved to be on the pace
| By Matt Beer from autosport.com | Saturday, July 4th 2009, 05:22 GMT |  Marco Melandri believes Hayate Kawasaki is back on the pace at Laguna Seca after a run of poor events.
The Italian took seventh place in Friday practice and hopes to maintain that form in qualifying. "It's been a good day for me," Melandri told the official MotoGP website. "I really like this track and it looks like the bike is working quite well, so we've had a good start to the weekend. "Now we've got to keep working hard and see what's going on for the race, because 32 laps on this track is going to be very, very tough." After a very promising start to the season for the new team formed in the wake of Kawasaki's departure, Hayate and Melandri's fortunes have declined in recent weeks. Melandri took three straight top six finishes, including an incredible podium at Le Mans, but for the past three races he has been unable to get into the top ten, apart from some brief heroics during the wet part of the Italian Grand Prix. Given those frustrations, he said he was relieved to only have minor issues to attend to after practice at Laguna Seca. "We have to improve the turning a little bit, especially when the tyre drops off a little bit. Also rear grip can be not so bad for us," he said. "Just normal things, so I'm quite happy because compared to the last three races, where we've been struggling a lot, this is a good step forward for us." Tech3 riders confident of big improvements In Laguna Seca moto-live.com
| 04/07/09 10:48 |
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Colin Edwards
| Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland are confident they can make big improvements in Laguna Seca after an encouraging start to the American Grand Prix this afternoon. Home favourite Edwards and British rider Toseland were both challenging for the top five in the early stages of a session run in gloriously sunny California conditions. Brimming with confidence after equalling his best result of the season with fourth place in Assen just six days ago, Edwards eventually finished ninth with a best time of 1.23.285. Looking to score his 100th point-scoring Grand Prix finish in Sunday's 32-lap clash, Edwards is confident he can drastically improve his pace having encountered some front and rear suspension issues today. The 35-year-old though was only 0.6s away from fourth place. “It wasn't the great start to my home race I was looking for and the bike feels just way too stiff. The main problem is in the hard braking because I've no feeling with the bike bouncing around on me. There's just not enough movement from the suspension”, he explained. “When you've got the handlebars moving and up and down and the seat moving up and down it's obvious the suspension is not absorbing the bumps enough. There are some huge bumps out there and today it felt a bit like motocross. So we'll soften it up for tomorrow and make the suspension react faster and let it move more freely rather than having a jerky and bouncing sensation. It feels like there's a second waiting right in front of me but I'm a bit handcuffed at the moment. Once we fix these issues, and I know we will because my guys at Tech 3 are awesome, I'm not going to have to push and hang it out to find the time. I know it will come immediately as soon as we get the bike working. I'm confident we can find what we need and put on a good show for the American fans and for Monster's home race.”Boosted by his season best sixth place in Assen last weekend, Toseland finished in 13th place with a best time of 1.23.690s, though he was less than a second off sixth in another close session. With Fiat Yamaha Team Director Masahiko Nakajima again helping the 28-year-old this weekend, Toseland will work hard with his team tonight to find a setting to improve rear grip ahead of title sponsor Monster's all-important home race on Sunday. “The position isn't that great but I feel like it was a pretty decent session. We've got a bit of work to do but there is no need to panic. We're just missing a bit on the set-up really”, he said. “I'm lacking a bit of edge grip on the harder rear tyre, and that is the one we're going to have to race with looking at the temperature. This track isn't quite as good for grip as Assen and we know what we've got to do to get more grip from the rear but we just ran out of time at the end of the session. And I'm still adapting to the new set-up we had in Assen because that changed the balance of the bike quite a lot. With the tighter corners and the undulation it just takes a bit of getting used to being so different to Assen. I'm confident with the bike a bit more comfortable that I can go quite a bit faster and be up there challenging for a good result for Monster in what is a massive race for our sponsor.”
Elias made an impressive start and was in the 1'23s on his first run, making two pit-stops as he adjusted the base setting of his factory spec. RC212V machine and briefly leading the time sheets as he eventually broke into the 1'22s. “We're happy to have started the weekend in this way. We know everybody will go faster tomorrow and we'll have to wait and see how much margin for improvement we have but for now it is important to start like this because so far this year at every circuit we've had a bad first practice”, he said. “We've made some pretty major adjustments to the suspension here because this is a very aggressive circuit in that respect, in terms of the elevation changes, the bumps and the hard-braking areas, and we need to improve it even more tomorrow if we are to keep pace with the others. Tomorrow I'll be working with two identical chasses for the first time and that will be important if we want to try something radical because we can quickly revert to a setting we know is working. Hopefully that can help us improve more than usual in the time available.”Elias and De Angelis make positive startmoto-live.com De Angelis worked diligently on ironing out front-end problems suffered during the race at Assen before himself breaking into the top ten with a lap made all the more impressive by the fact that it was set on a used front tyre and a hard compound rear.As such, the San Marino rider is confident that a few set-up tweaks overnight can help him make an even stronger challenge in tomorrow's final free practice and qualifying sessions. “I did my fastest time at the end of the session on the harder tyre and the track temperature today probably wasn't as hot as it could be, so I'm really pleased. We have worked a lot today on the problem I had in the race at Assen, which was with the front folding, and I think the fact I spent the whole session today on the same front tyre without virtually any trouble shows that we've made some good decisions”, he explained. “We still have to work the set-up of the bike around the intricacies of this circuit but to have set the tenth fastest time on a used front tyre and a hard rear – I have to be happy with that. We've also worked a lot on rear traction since the Barcelona test and whilst the front guys clearly have a bit more than us in this aspect we're getting closer. This circuit in particular is a place that gets grippier as the weekend goes on so hopefully we can make more improvements tomorrow.”Vermeulen frustrated by early crash | By Matt Beer from autosport.com | Saturday, July 4th 2009, 05:28 GMT |  Suzuki ended Friday practice for the United States Grand Prix frustrated after Chris Vermeulen's early accident spoiled the team's plans for the afternoon.
Vermeulen had high hopes for the weekend given his excellent record at Laguna Seca, having taken pole on his MotoGP debut at the track in 2006 and finished on the podium for the past two years. But he fell at Turn 2 within the first few minutes of the opening practice session and was unable to get his primary bike back to the pits. He was eighth fastest on his spare by the end of the afternoon, but was unable to complete the team's planned programme. "I was really looking forward to coming back to Laguna as it is obviously a track I enjoy, but it wasn't the start I wanted," Vermeulen admitted. "On the fourth or fifth lap I was just starting to build up my pace and as I entered Turn 2 I locked the front wheel and went down. Unfortunately the bike was on the outside of the circuit so I was unable to get it back for the rest of the session. "I got back to the pits and went out on the other bike but it was set up very differently - geometry wise - and it didn't quite work as well as we'd hoped around here." Vermeulen's team-mate Loris Capirossi was also unhappy, having ended the day in 12th. "We tried to do something big with the setting today and we started with two very different bikes," he said. "We never really found the best solution with either bike and went back to the first one and modified that a bit to try and find the best settings for this track. "On the last run we did improve a bit but we still need to work harder and improve a lot more tomorrow." Randy de Puniet – 11th “In the beginning I faced some front end problems but we quickly fixed them with the guys. After that I came in on a harder rear tyre but struggled with the rear grip on the maximum angle in the corners so I could not go faster. Unfortunately my machine no. two had some brake problems so we could not really use that bike to adjust our problems. However we knew our issues and we’ll try to fix them for tomorrow’s qualifying. Obviously I expected a better base set up but we still have track time to improve the grip."
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