Red Bull US Grand Prix
DOUBLE PODIUM JOY FOR YAMAHA AT LAGUNA SECA
Yamaha Motor Company celebrated its 50th Anniversary with
a double podium finish at Laguna Seca today, as Colin Edwards
and Valentino Rossi took second and third place respectively
in the United States Grand Prix. Both riders played a starring
role in the eighth round of the MotoGP World Championship
and enjoyed a thrilling battle for the final two rostrum positions
that went to the last lap of a race won by Nicky Hayden (Honda).
Whilst Hayden got an electric start from pole position, both
Rossi and Edwards were baulked in their attempts to give chase
on the opening lap. Having started from second on the grid,
Rossi made it back to the same position by the end of the
first lap after a battle with Troy Bayliss (Honda), whilst
Edwards was forced to fight his way through the pack after
being forced back to seventh in a combative first-corner clash.
With Hayden clear at the front, Rossi rode alone in second
place until he was caught by his American team-mate on the
sixteenth lap, when Edwards lined up an inch-perfect pass
into the famous Corkscrew corner. After briefly closing down
the gap to Hayden, Edwards suffered from tyre wear in the
closing stages and was happy to settle for a second consecutive
podium finish. Third place for Rossi extends his advantage
at the top of the championship to 79 points over Marco Melandri
(Honda), who crashed out on the first lap.
COLIN EDWARDS (2nd; Race time – 45’17.315;
Fastest lap – 1’23.915)
“I made another bad start and ended up with two riders
making a sandwich of me into turn one. They had my handlebars
on each side and just carried me into the corner so I thought
it was going to end in a big mess. Once I got clear of the
group I got my head down and pushed as hard as I could to
pass Valentino. At that point I still had something left to
try and catch Nicky but every time I closed the gap he responded,
so hats off to him. When the tyres went off I was just hanging
on to finish the race. I knew I had an advantage of around
two seconds over Valentino but on the last lap I looked at
my board and it said 0.6. I guessed it must be a mistake but
I then looked over my shoulder in turn two and he was right
there! I thought “oh no, not on the last lap!”
I gave everything I had left to hold him off and came close
to crashing a few times so second place is really pleasing.”
VALENTINO ROSSI (3rd; Race time – 45’17.686;
Fastest lap – 1’24.207)
“I lost some time during practice trying to learn the
circuit so the bike was not at 100% today, and also our tyre
choice was not perfect. Anyway, Nicky rode very hard and it
was impossible to catch him today. I knew Colin was coming
but I didn’t realise how close he was and he caught
me by surprise in the Corkscrew. I lost some time there but
at the end he lost some of his rhythm and I tried to catch
him. He turned around to look at me and I said: “Hello,
I am here!” I thought maybe to attack on the last lap
but then I had a vision of both Yamahas in the dirt so decided
third place was okay, especially for the championship! Anyway,
I am very happy because I expected this to be the hardest
race of the season but I am the fastest European rider here
and I fought with the Americans. I have learnt a lot to try
and beat them next year! ”
DAVIDE BRIVIO – YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM
DIRECTOR
“It has been a very good weekend for us and to have
both riders together on the podium for the third time this
year is a nice way to celebrate Yamaha’s 50th Anniversary.
It is great to see the yellow, white and black colours on
the podium after so many years, but most importantly we have
seen Valentino extend his advantage at the top of the championship
and Colin get much closer to the top. It has been a positive
Grand Prix in every aspect for us. We have also enjoyed the
experience of being in California, and we look forward to
coming back next year.”
|
