MotoGP: Laguna Seca USGP results and rider comment

What a race - no wonder Rossi looks pleased

VALENTINO ROSSI took victory in the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca this weekend in what must have been one of the best MotoGP races in years.

The Italian became embroiled in a ding-dong, fairing bashing clash with reigning world champion Casey Stoner, which started at turn one and continued until the Australian outbraked himself towards the end of the race.

The duo put up a scintillating show to a worldwide audience, hammering round at qualifying pace lap after lap. Before Stoner's low-speed tumble, the pair had pulled out a 20-second lead over the main pack. Stoner remounted his undamaged Desmosedici to finish the race a creditable second.

Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen took the final spot on the podium after reeling in Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden for third spot. The result was Vermeulen's second successive podium.

MotoGP rookie Andrea Dovizioso made former MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden more than a little embarrased after pipping the American for fourth spot in the closing stages of the race - on an inferior machine. Dovizioso was piloting a customer-spec Honda RCV212, compared to Hayden who gets the full-fat factory special. Both rider were on Michelin rubber.

The result gives Rossi a 25-point lead in the championship.

Here's what the riders had to say after the race:

Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 1st

“What a race today! We made some modifications to our bike after warm-up and these gave us the last few tenths that enabled me to fight with Casey today; the result was just fantastic. I got a good start and I was able to pass him in the first lap, but I knew I had to try and stay in front of him and it was impossible to relax even for one second. My M1 was brilliant and so were my Bridgestone tyres; I really only made one mistake, at the corkscrew when I went a bit wide but in fact the dirt had quite good grip also! Casey was a bit faster on the straight than me but I was stronger on the brakes so I had to make all my passes there. I don’t know how many times we changed the lead but it was a lot and it was great, great racing for me and I think also for the fans, because it’s been a while since we’ve been like this.

To stay in front I had to do high 21s at least on every lap and I want to thank my team and engineers for giving me a bike that could do this. I had a great rhythm and I am really so happy to win for the first time in America. About the passes, I am sorry that Casey thinks some of them were a bit strong but I really don’t agree; I passed only on the brakes, I braked in the same places every time and we never touched. Of course this was an aggressive race, but it was definitely a fair one. Now we have the summer break and I am looking forward to relaxing a bit, but not too much because it’s going to be a hard fight for the final seven races and we must keep the concentration!”

Casey Stoner - Marlboro Ducati - 2nd

"At the end of the day I'm not happy because I've made a mistake and it has cost me the chance to win this race, but I also think that even if he rode a great race, some of Valentino's moves early in the race were too aggressive. Anyway, we can't do anything about that now - the important thing is that we've come away from here with 20 valuable points and after being written off in some quarters four races ago we now go on our summer holiday with a fighting chance of winning the title again. We're 25 points behind, which is a big gap, but there are seven races left and a lot can happen. We can take a lot of positives out of this weekend - mainly the fact that all the hard work by everybody at Ducati and Bridgestone has paid off again."

Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki - 3rd

“I’m really happy to be back on the podium again. That’s two podiums in a row, not just in two races but two in a row at Laguna as well! The last two have come in completely different conditions and I think it proves that the Suzuki is becoming a lot more competitive and the changes we are making is getting us a lot closer to the front. I was hoping to run with the front two today but I got held up a bit at the start and lost some time. After I had got through they were a long way ahead and I ended up having quite a lonely ride – it was tough to keep my concentration at times as there was nothing to focus on other than count down the laps.”

Andrea Dovizioso - Jir Scot Honda - 4th

“I am pleased to have achieved this result to be the first Honda rider on Michelin tyres, which shows how good they are! Valentino and Casey were riding unbelievably fast. I made a good start, and on the first lap when I saw Lorenzo fall, I knew that the first two were away and that I could not follow them. I was behind Hayden who was quick, even though Vermeulen was able to catch us. When I realized that Hayden was running slower, I wanted to pass him, but Laguna is difficult to pass on and I spent four laps trying. Then I pushed to the maximum to pass Hayden and De Puniet, who are strong ‘brakers’ and who were difficult to pass.”

Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - 5th

“Obviously at my home race I’d hoped to be able to put up a better fight than that. It was certainly a tough weekend, we struggled a bit with the tyres we had available. We really had only two race tyres, the one I used in practice I kept using again and again, I used it Friday, Saturday and again this morning, by the end it had 35 laps on it. I think I learned a good lesson, we set up the bike on quite old tyres. In the race when we put in a grippy new race tyre the balance of the bike changed a lot, so it was pushing the front in a lot of places. I would’ve liked to have been closer to the front but I think we learned a good lesson. Now we’ve got a few weeks off, so we’ll regroup and try to finish the year strong. Hopefully I can improve and they can do some work in Japan.”

Laguna Seca US Grand Prix results

1 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 44'04.311

2 C. STONER AUS Ducati Team + 13.001

3 C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 26.609

4 A. DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 34.901

5 N. HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team + 35.663

6 R. DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP + 37.668

7 T. ELIAS SPA Alice Team + 41.629

8 B. SPIES USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 41.927

9 J. TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha + 43.019

10 S. NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini + 44.391

11 J. HACKING USA Kawasaki Racing Team + 46.258

12 S. GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team + 55.273

13 A. DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini + 55.521

14 C. EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha + 1'02.380

15 L. CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 1'08.207

16 M. MELANDRI ITA Ducati Team + 1'10.962

17 A. WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team 1 Lap

DNF - Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha

2008 MotoGP World Championship Standings

1 1 ROSSI Valentino ITA 212

2 STONER Casey AUS 187

3 PEDROSA Dani SPA 171

4 LORENZO Jorge SPA 114

5 DOVIZIOSO Andrea ITA 103

6 EDWARDS Colin USA 100

7 VERMEULEN Chris AUS 89

8 HAYDEN Nicky USA 84

9 TOSELAND James GBR 72

10 NAKANO Shinya JPN 70

11 CAPIROSSI Loris ITA 61

12 ELIAS Toni SPA 46

13 DE ANGELIS Alex RSM 41

14 DE PUNIET Randy FRA 40

15 GUINTOLI Sylvain FRA 38

16 HOPKINS John USA 32

17 MELANDRI Marco ITA 32

18 WEST Anthony AUS 22

19 SPIES Ben USA 10

20 HACKING Jamie USA 5

21 OKADA Tadayuki JPN 2

2008 Constructors Championship

1 YAMAHA 241

2 HONDA 197

3 DUCATI 192

4 SUZUKI 112

5 KAWASAKI 52

2008 Individual Team Points

1 FIAT YAMAHA TEAM 326

2 REPSOL HONDA TEAM 255

3 DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM 219

4 TECH 3 YAMAHA 172

5 RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP 152

6 SAN CARLO HONDA GRESI 111

7 JIR TEAM SCOT MOTOGP 103

8 ALICE TEAM 84

9 KAWASAKI RACING TEAM 59

10 LCR HONDA MOTOGP 40