MotoGP: Round 9

MotoGP Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland

Tyler Hopper

AllAboutBikes.com Staff-Writer

With Yamaha and Ducati dominating the top three spots in championship points, both manufacturers face stumbling blocks on the road to Deutschland. Jorge Lorenzo, currently in second place, and Casey Stoner, in third, will be competing at less than 100 percent heading to Sachsenring, Germany, for the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland.

When Lorenzo arrives for the ninth round, he won’t be concerned with the media; his attention will be with the Clinica Mobile, whose staff helped prepare him for the Laguna Seca race after his qualifying crash. The crash resulted in a collarbone injury, a micro fracture in his right foot and two bruised ankles.

Casey Stoner, who suffered a crash during qualifying at the Laguna Seca race, has recently been diagnosed with slight gastritis and mild anemia. Stoner said, “I still don’t feel like I am 100 percent, but the biggest problem now is that my ribs are very painful after the crash in qualifying in the U.S. It will be probably another hard weekend in Germany, but as always, we will do our best to stay as much as possible close to the lead of the Championship.” Stoner managed to finish fourth at the Red Bull Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, despite his misfortune in qualifying. That kind of performance, at a time when he needed it, is an indication of how much Stoner wants to stay in the battle for the championship.

Two riders looking forward to top performances this weekend are Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi. Coming off of a victory in the US, Pedrosa looks forward to the race in Germany. “I’ve had some good results at this track and I take a lot of confidence into the race weekend at Sachsenring because we’re probably in the best shape we’ve been in for a while,” stated the Pedrosa. “The win in Laguna Seca was really important for me and the team because it proves we’ve been making progress and we now have the pace to win races.”

Rossi is looking to continue his run for the title this weekend. Rossi said, “Sachsenring isn’t one of my favorite tracks but I’ve had some great races there and generally it suits Yamaha well, which is good. We need another good result to keep our lead because our rivals are so strong and we can’t afford to make any mistakes. Last year there was a lot of rain in Germany but in fact we were able to take a great second place. I hope this year we can go one better.”

MotoGP – Laguna Seca

Independence Day, and of course Rossi

Tyler Hopper

AllAboutBikes Staff-Writer

If history repeats itself, this 4th of July weekend at Laguna Seca is sure to be an action-packed thrill ride. Last year at Mazda Raceway, a battle between Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi resulted in an unbelievable overtaking by Rossi through the corkscrew and Stoner sliding through the gravel, but ultimately finishing second.

The battle between Rossi and Stoner continues this season with Rossi ahead in points with 131, and teammate Jorge Lorenzo a close second, trailing by only 5 points. Four points fewer than Lorenzo, Stoner hangs on to third with nearly double the points of Andrea Dovizioso, 69 points, in fourth.

Also this Independence Day weekend, MotoGP racers will share the same track with AMA Superbike and Sportbike stars at Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca. And all the Haydens will be together; Nicky sharing the track in different events with his brothers Tommy and Roger. Could there possibly be a better way to celebrate this holiday as an American racing in MotoGP.

The weekend of the 4th at Laguna Seca is sure to be one great show for fans and riders alike. It’s not everyday that greats like Mat Mladin, Tommy Hayden, Valentino Rossi, Colin Edwards, Casey Stoner and Neil Hodgson get to entertain a crowd all in the same day.

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MotoGP heads west to Laguna Seca

The riders in the premier class this week make a dash across the Atlantic to the West Coast of the US, to the superb Californian track of Laguna Seca.

Press Release

This weekend’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca is the first of two World Championship visits to America this year and is the second of four GPs in a five week period as the 2009 season really begins to gather pace.

With Indianapolis to come in August the MotoGP riders will this weekend enjoy their first Stateside trip of the campaign as they head to California, with visits to Sachsenring and Donington Park still to come on the busy schedule before the summer break.

After seven rounds so far this year things are tight at the top, with three main protagonists emerging as the title candidates. Heading to Assen in the Netherlands last weekend, Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner were all square on points at the head of the standings and even though Rossi has pushed ahead with the superb 100th GP victory of his career at the Dutch track his young rivals are still snapping at his heels.

Last year at Laguna Rossi took a hugely important win over Stoner, passing him brilliantly on infamous Corkscrew corner and scoring a significant psychological blow against the Australian. This year, however, he has two key rivals to contend with.

World Champion Rossi goes into round eight in great from, with a five point lead over Lorenzo in the general classification, having relegated his Fiat Yamaha team-mate to second place in the last two races at Catalunya and Assen. The Italian looks as strong as ever, with his Yamaha M1 machine working brilliantly as he looks to turn up the heat on his rivals.

Lorenzo, meanwhile, has never completed a race at Laguna having crashed out on the first lap on his debut at the Californian track last year. He insists however that this year he is finding things more comfortable at tracks which did not favour him in the past and can be expected to be pushing Rossi hard at the front again this weekend.

Fitness doubts for Stoner could be the major factor hindering the Ducati star following another grueling race in The Netherlands, where for the second round in succession he finished third, but was totally exhausted on the podium. If he can recover full strength he will be confident of another good performance on Sunday, at a track where he won in 2007 and finished second in 2008.

Behind the leading three in the championship, the Repsol Honda duo of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa will be desperate to bounce straight back from their Assen disappointments having both crashed out of the Dutch contest, in separate incidents at the same corner, when well positioned to earn some decent points. Dovizioso is currently fourth in the standings, some distance behind the top three, but with just a two point advantage over Pedrosa and Colin Edwards.

Texan rider Edwards arrives for his home race in good form following his fourth place at Assen and is hoping for another good result as he seeks to extend his MotoGP career. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider was on the podium at Laguna Seca in 2005 but since then has struggled for good results there and will aim to correct that pattern on Sunday.

His compatriot Nicky Hayden, the only other American rider in the premier class at present, boasts two of his three MotoGP career wins at Laguna and would love nothing more than to get his first top five result of 2009 on his Stateside debut for Ducati this weekend.

The Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix promises to be a memorable event, coinciding with the American 4th July celebrations and commencing this Friday, 3rd July, with Free Practice 1 at 1.55pm local time, (9.55pm GMT, 10.55pm CET). The 250cc and 125cc classes do not compete at Laguna and will be back in action at Sachsenring on the 17th-19th July weekend.

June 30, 2009

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