Rossi tops Stoner in fantastic duel at USGP July 13, 2008
Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) took his first career win on American soil today, emerging victorious after an epic duel with Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) at Laguna Seca. The Italian, who signed a new two-year deal with Yamaha this week, has now won four races this season and is 25 points clear at the top of the championship.
Rossi started from second and was able to pass Stoner on the brakes during the first lap to take the lead. From then on it was clear that the pair were in a class of their own today as they gradually pulled out a gap from the chasing pack, trading passes with one another but with no one else able to stay with them. Stoner was often faster than Rossi on the straight but the seven-time world champion had the advantage in the twisty parts of the track and he was able to gain the lead back on the brakes each time the Australian passed him. With only 100ths of a second between them most of the time it looked like being a nail-biting race to the end, but on lap 24 of 32 Stoner made a mistake and ran off the track and into the gravel. This allowed Rossi some breathing space for the final eight laps and he eventually crossed the line 13 seconds clear of Stoner, who had been able to remount and still finish second, such was the gap the pair had pulled out from third-placed Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki).
The duo exchanged places numerous times, riding at the pace that put incredible gap between them and others. Stoner was visibly faster than Rossi, but he was unable to find way through as Rossi consistently outbraked the defending champion to the apex - at one point making up nearly two bike lengths at turns 1 and 2. As Stoner's frustration grew - he outbraked himself at the end of the main straight, flipped bike into the gravel and lost chances to catch Rossi. After the race, Stoner Refused to shake hands to Rossi, claiming later that the Italian's passes were unfair and overly aggressive.
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!
Loreno and Stoner Crash
Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro - 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.
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.
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.
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 tires we had available. We really had only two race tires. 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 tires. In the race when we put in a grippy new race tire, 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.
Randy De Puniet - LCR Honda - 6th After our worst Friday since the beginning of the season we finally gained a very positive result. We struggled a bit with rear grip in the last two days but at the end the bike set-up was good and I could race as I like. My start was not perfect but I knew I had the potential to race up there. I was behind Toseland for many laps and tried to pass him three times without success. On lap twelfth I passed him pushing to close the gap with Dovizioso and Hayden. I was not able to pass them so decided to keep my position to get this positive result for me and the Team.
Toni Elias - Alice Ducati - 7th Notwithstanding this isn't a track that adapts to my riding style I obtained a good result, my best on this track so far. We have been very competitive on all three days. Already in the last two races, from when we received new material from Ducati, the bike has always been competitive on the dry and we have always registered top ten lap times. Now we'll go to Brno trustful to be able to fight with the bests. I want to thanks all my Team that have worked really well.
Ben Spies - Rizla Suzuki - 8th It was good out there today, and I've got to be pleased with the result. I couldn't get going right off the bat as I haven't quite got used to the tires yet. I started to reel a few riders in, and I could see Nakano and Toseland coming back to me. I got past them and on the last couple of laps I could see Hayden and Dovizioso up there, but they were a bit too far away. Everything was getting better and better and then Elias came past me and I thought I had one more lap, but the checkered flag was out, and that was the end of the race. It was a good race, and I will now be even more prepared for when we get to Indianapolis later in the year.
James Toseland - Yamaha Tech 3 - 9th I'm pretty disappointed with that because I feel have put in a lot of effort and done my best to finish only ninth. I got a fantastic start and was fourth but unfortunately it was a tough race after that and I had to ride more defensive than I wanted to. With the harder compound tyres I knew I'd have to wait to get some temperature into them and that cost me a few places early on. Once I got into my pace in the 23s I was pretty happy because I'd hoped that would be good enough for a top six finish looking at the times from earlier in the weekend. I had a good long battle with de Puniet but our lap times were almost identical and I tried everything I could to close him down. At the end I was just trying to block people from passing me but Spies and Elias got me late on and that is a bit frustrating. On paper ninth doesn't look like a great result, and it doesn't feel like much of a reward for the effort that I have put in with my team this weekend. But I really couldn't have done anything else and I feel I got the best out of the package I had today. We'll hopefully be able to come back much stronger after the summer break and be fighting to be back in the top six again where we belong.
Shinya Nakano - San Carlo Gresini Honda - 10th I'm really disappointed with today's result because despite our good start, when I made up some positions over the opening few laps, I have finished tenth. Halfway through the race when I was in eighth place I tried to pass Toseland but I went wide under braking and lost a lot of ground, which I was unable to recover. We were obviously hoping for much better because my pace in practice was so good but I tried my best. There are still a lot of races left before the end of the season and after a short holiday we'll get fully focused again for Brno.
Jamie Hacking - Kawasaki Racing - 11th I'm thrilled! I didn't get the best of starts from the back of the grid, but if I'm honest, I was little relieved to see everyone pulling away and leaving me to ride my own race early on. With a fairly clear track, I was able to find a good rhythm on the bike, and I was soon lapping in the low 1:23s bracket. I fought my way up to Ben Spies, and I was just thinking to have a bit of a breather when he looked back and saw who was behind him. As soon as he saw it was me, he upped the pace and managed to pull enough of a gap that I couldn't quite stay with him. The bike was working great, and the lap times were pretty consistent throughout the race, but then Toni Elias managed to work his way past me toward the end, which meant I just missed out on matching Roger Lee's (Hayden) 10th-place finish from last year. Even so, I've really enjoyed my weekend as a MotoGP racer, and I'd like to thank Kawasaki for giving me the opportunity. Everyone made me feel really welcome, and they are a great team to work with.
Sylvain Guintoli - Alice Ducat - 12th I started well, but then, in one of the first turns, I touched the rear tire of another rider and I went off track losing too much time. I tried to comeback but I couldn't maintain this morning's rhythm. Maybe because of the different temperature the rear tire didn't give me the same confidence I had during warm up. We will check what happened. I am not happy for how the race went because we could have done a really good race.
Alex De Angelis - San Carlo Gresini Honda - 13th That was a really difficult race and I'm so disappointed with what happened in qualifying. In the second half of the race I lost so much time stuck behind West. I don't think I could have fought for the podium even if I was fit and qualified better but the group ahead of me was within my grasp. At the end of the day this was a positive race for us because the condition I raced in was always going to make it tough to reach the finish line, but I did so and scored points too. It's a shame though because we were in shape to do well here the good thing is that the thumb should be okay for Brno.
Colin Edwards - Tech 3 Yamaha - 14th I don't think I need to say that this race was well below what I expected. I've had a lot of great support from Yamaha US, the American fans and my family this weekend, and they haven't got the result I wanted to give them. My guys at Tech 3 have worked tirelessly all weekend too, but nothing really went for us. To be honest, I was struggling from the start with the harder-compound front tire I had. I'd have some moment on the brakes while I was trying pass someone, and I'd lose a load of time and a bunch of places. I'd gradually work my way back through only for it to happen again, and it was frustrating. I just didn't have any confidence in the front, and everybody knows I am a front-end guy. It has been a difficult week with the crash in Germany, too, so I'm looking forward to the summer break and being able to return stronger in Brno. I'm still fighting for fourth in the championship and Tech 3 is still fourth in the team standings, so we have got a lot to fight for in the last seven races.
Loris Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki - 15th It was a really hard day today. We had a good setting and although I didn't start so well I managed to make up a few positions early on, but after a couple of laps I started to have a lot of pain and struggled to change direction - and this is a track that demands a lot of that. I just tried as hard as I could to keep going to the finish. It's not good to end with one point but I always try to fight for the best I can and for the team - this is the most important thing I can do. I know one point is nothing but I did fight till the end! I hope now to get three weeks of good rest and get my condition 100% right for Brno, because today it was impossible to ride fast.
Marco Melandri - Ducati Marlboro - 16th I hit a marker or something going into turn one and my hand came off the handlebar, so I couldn't get the bike turned. I took a heavy blow to my hand in the crash and needed a couple of laps to get back into the race because I wasn't sure how bad the injury was. The pain started to subside eventually but I was way back, lapping alone. I'm disappointed because after the first two or three laps I had a good pace together. It's a shame because it's another potentially good result ruined. I'm particularly sorry for the team because they have made a fantastic job and they deserved a good result.
Anthony West - Kawasaki Racing - 17th This weekend has been a huge disappointment. I had the same problems in the race that I've been having all weekend; I just don't seem to have the confidence in the front-end of the bike, and that meant I couldn't push for a good lap time at all. It's frustrating, as Jamie had the same problem at the beginning of the weekend but managed to ride around it. I need to go away from here and get it together during the summer break, so I can come back at Brno and try and score the results I know I'm capable of.
Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha - DNF/Crash I'm very sad today because I had a lot of confidence for the race after the qualifying session yesterday and, above all, after the very start of the race when I was fourth and feeling good. Then I crashed; my tyre was not up to temperature, I lost the rear and the next thing I knew I was in the gravel, with pain in my foot. It is one more crash, one more injury and it's another moment that I have to forget as soon as possible. I need to look forward. I am so sad but now I must concentrate on the fact that I have a whole month before Brno in order to be fit and to be able to race in good shape. This is my aim. I would like to congratulate to Valentino for his great victory and race today, he did a fantastic job.
