HONDA MEN HEAD FOR WEST COAST

2011-07-19 17:05
Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner had little time to celebrate their first and third place finishes in the German Grand Prix before flying 9300Km for this weekend�s United States Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the final race before the much-needed summer break.

Pedrosa�s victory was both inspiring and unexpected. The Spaniard, 25, had only returned from collarbone surgery in the previous race at Mugello and the physically demanding Sachsenring was always going to be a challenge. The single most important factor in allowing Pedrosa to race at the highest level was that the track has a preponderance of left-handed corners, which was less taxing on Pedrosa�s surgically repaired right collarbone. Laguna Seca also features mostly left-handed corners, but the shortest circuit in grand prix racing has no real straightaway, hard braking zones, quick changes of direction, and nowhere to rest.

Laguna Seca has been good to Pedrosa. He won the race from the second row in 2009 and finished second in his first visit to the track in 2006.

Stoner came away from Germany leading the MotoGP World Championship by 15 points over Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha). Stoner led the German GP for nine laps until traction issues robbed him of the confidence to attack late in the race. Lorenzo took advantage and passed the championship leader in the final corner.

Still, Stoner has an enviable record, with podium appearances in every race he�s finished and a winning record at Laguna Seca. The Australian, 25, won the 2007 race en route to the first MotoGP World Championship of the 800cc era, and he hopes to end the MotoGP era with a second world championship. He followed his 2008 USGP victory with second place finishes in 2008 and 2010.

Andrea Dovizioso, the 25-year-old third member of the Repsol Honda team, sits third in the championship on the strength of a remarkably consistent season. The first half of the season ended with Dovi having finished no worse than fourth in every race, but one, with four podiums. Last weekend in Germany Dovi passed fellow Italian Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) three laps from the end to secure fourth.

Dovizioso has finished just off the podium twice at Laguna Seca, coming fourth in his MotoGP debut at the track in 2008 and again in 2010.

�Super Sic� was set to finish fifth in Germany when he was passed in the final corner by fellow second year MotoGP rider Ben Spies (Yamaha). Simoncelli, 24, from Cattolica, Italy, continues to look for his first MotoGP podium in a year in which he�s clearly had the speed. His qualifying record includes six front row starts, including a pair of pole positions. But various mistakes and other issues have prevented him from fulfilling his promise in the races. A rear traction problem late in the German GP meant he couldn�t challenge for fourth. Still, he moved up two spots to eighth in the championship heading to California.

Team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama is looking forward to his first race at Laguna Seca, which uniquely hosts only the MotoGP class. As a MotoGP rookie, the 29-year-old Japanese star missed last year�s race after breaking his back at the British Grand Prix. Injuries are again slowing Aoyama, who continues to recover from a dramatic crash in the Dutch TT in Assen. His confidence has taken a hit and he�s just now coming around to being comfortable on the San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V.

The LCR Honda MotoGP team is two-strong for 2011, with former American Superbike champion and World Superbike winner Ben Bostrom, 37, making his MotoGP debut alongside Toni Elias. Bostrom, who races for basketball legend Michael Jordan in the AMA Superbike series, won last year�s Superbike support race on the USGP weekend. He also three World Superbike wins at Laguna Seca, including a sweep of both races in 2001. In addition, he won the AMA Superbike race in 2004 aboard a Honda and has wins in two other classes.

Bostrom will be doing double duty on the weekend, going back and forth between his AMA machine and the LCR Honda MotoGP RC212V, but it won�t be a problem. Bostrom is the most fit racer in the AMA paddock, competing in bicycle races on off weekends. In November, Bostrom beat 7-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong in a six-hour mountain bike race at Armstrong�s ranch west of Austin, Texas.

Elias, 28, has worked hard to get back in the flow of MotoGP racing with little to show for it. The MotoGP bikes require riding and set-up techniques meant to get heat into the rear tyre, which Elias has yet to fully master. In his last two appearances at Laguna Seca, Elias finished sixth and seventh.

Laguna Seca is a track like no other. The 3610m layout, with seven left hand corners and four rights, offers riders not a minute�s rest. Riders are rewarded for carrying momentum on the track which is carved into the hills of a county park just outside of the seaside town of Monterey. A flying lap begins from the near dead stop turn 11 left leading onto the 966m front �straight,� which features a pair of kinks, the second of which is a blind hill taken flat out in fifth gear. From there the track drops quickly into the Andretti Hairpin before heading to two of the four right-handers that precede the least complex part of the track. The turn five left feeds the short straight to turn six. Then it�s up the Rahal Straight, named for Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal, up to the Corkscrew, the track�s signature corner at the track�s pinnacle. The Corkscrew is a plunging left-right with a blind approach that sends riders into Rainey Corner, a fast left named for the three-time 500cc World Champion and Monterey resident, after which they dip into the heavily banked turn turn 10 right. From there it�s a short run to the final turn 11, a hard braking left where more than one race has been decided.

As much as the race track, the MotoGP paddock enjoys being on the Monterey Peninsula, a series of small towns linked by sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and an abundance of good restaurants and other diversions, including a world class aquarium. But the proximity to the ocean makes weather unpredictable, with fog sometimes rolling in on cool mornings that blend into hot afternoons.

The USGP is the 10th of 18 MotoGP races and sixth in eight weeks, the busiest stretch of the season, and precedes the summer break. The series has two free weekends before resuming for the Czech Grand Prix in Brno on August 12-14.

MotoGP Rider Quotes:

Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner says:
�I'm looking forward to going to Laguna Seca. It's a circuit I've always enjoyed quite good results at and we've always been naturally quite fast there. The track itself is a very tight and technical track, there are lots of sweeping gradients and unusual corners with a lot of camber, so you need to be delicate on the track and not �attack� it too much. We'll be looking to improve our results from the past three weekends - three podiums are great - but I'm here to win races, so we'll be aiming to get back on the top step next Sunday in Laguna. It's been a pretty tiring few weeks and we have another back to back race now, but I love going to America and the area of Monterey is truly beautiful, the fans are always very welcoming and the atmosphere there is fantastic.�

Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso says:
�I really look forward to racing in Laguna Seca. I have always had a good feeling with this track and I like the whole ambience there. We arrive very motivated and it�s good that we race straight after Sachsenring. I�m satisfied of the improvement we have done in the last GP in terms of consistency and race pace and I�m confident that in Laguna we can return competitive to fight for the podium and hopefully for the win. Our target is to gain important points for the championship, reducing the gap to (Jorge) Lorenzo and Casey (Stoner). I like Laguna Seca very much, it�s a very different to the European circuits and I find it special, as are the fans and it�s always a pleasure to race in California.�

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa says:
"It was nice to stop, even if only for a couple of days at home to enjoy the victory in Germany with my family and friends, who also deserved to celebrate. The United States Grand Prix will be another challenge for me. I know that I will suffer more in Laguna Seca because there are many hard braking areas and very fast direction changes. Anyway, it will be another race and I'll try to prepare well and enjoy it as I did in Sachsenring. The track is very different to the European circuits and the atmosphere there is special. With the exception of last year, when I crashed, and in 2008 when I couldn't race due to injury, I've always had fun racing in Laguna and the victory in 2009 was very exciting. In the second half of the season I want to enjoy the bike and gain the best results possible and would like to close the first part of the season with a good feeling.�

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli says:
�Fourth place at Sachsenring would have been a different story, but I am still satisfied with my performance there and I take a lot of motivation with me to America. It was important for me to keep my form up even though it was disappointing I couldn't stick the pace for the full thirty laps. Unfortunately I had problems with the degradation of the left side of the rear tyre and I couldn't push as hard at the end of the race as I could for the first half. It's a shame, but at least I get the chance to make up for it at Laguna, a unique circuit that I really like. The track itself fascinates me, the Corkscrew is thrilling and the enthusiasm of the fans gives you an extra boost. Together with the team we will be working to be more consistent over race distance, which will be an important part of closing the gap to the leaders.�

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Hiroshi Aoyama says:
�I was still struggling a lot at Sachsenring with my injuries from Assen and even though I tried my best to come away with a positive result it was very difficult for me to get a feeling for the bike. I am sorry to the team for that and I hope to be able to make it up to them in the next race at Laguna Seca. This will be my first time at this circuit so it won't be an easy weekend for me but I will be pushing hard to get on the pace as soon as possible.�

LCR Honda MotoGP rider Toni Elias says:
�I�m happy to have Ben Bostrom in the garage with me. Ben is one of Laguna Seca�s most experienced riders and I hope that he will be able to help me with getting to know this wonderful track even better. As far as I�m concerned, I want to continue in working on the set-up of my bike with my mechanics, who deserve a big �thank you� for their great work from the beginning up to now.�

LCR Honda MotoGP rider Ben Bostrom says:
"Words can't express how excited I am to get this amazing opportunity to race on my home track in front of the whole world. I have to thank Michael Jordan Motorsports and American Suzuki for allowing this to happen. The collaboration between Lucio (Cecchinello), LCR and the MJM team has been terrific. I'm going to get on the GP bike and put it as close to the front as possible. Then I'm going to hop on my Jordan Suzuki bike and try to create even more magic.�

Source: Honda Pro Image

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