FULL REPSOL HONDA LINE-UP AT MotoGP’s RODEO RACETRACK
MotoGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT PREVIEW
UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX, LAGUNA SECA
July 18/19/20 2008, round 11 of 18
Dani Pedrosa will join Repsol Honda team-mate Nicky Hayden
at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, despite
the heavy tumble he took during last Sunday’s rain-lased
German GP.
World Championship challenger Pedrosa was leading the race
when he fell at high speed, fracturing the left index finger
and the big bone of the left wrist and spraining his right
ankle. After the accident he immediately returned to Spain
where he was treated by the doctor Xavier Mir at Barcelona’s
Instituto Universitari Dexeus hospital. He left hospital at
noon on Tuesday and flew to the US on Wednesday.
2006 MotoGP World Champion Hayden, winner of the 2005 and
2006 US GPs, comes to Laguna Seca following a run of ill luck
and hoping that the first of his two home races this year
will turn things around for him and his pneumatic-valve RC212V.
Sunday’s US GP is the last event of a frantic run of
six races over eight weekends. The MotoGP circus now takes
its traditional summer break, reconvening for the Czech GP
on August 15/16/17. Repsol Honda and the rest of the MotoGP
grid returns to the United States for the inaugural Indianapolis
motorcycle Grand Prix on September 12/13/14.
Dani Pedrosa
“In agreement with my doctor we have decided that I
will fly to the US and I will do my best to ride this weekend.
We know that it will not be easy and that we won’t know
my exact situation until I get on the bike on Friday morning.
This is a difficult time for me, of course, but my will is
strong and if it is possible for me to ride the bike properly
then I really want to ride. Laguna is a physically demanding
track when you are 100 per cent, so it will be tough with
my injuries, but I know I can count on the support of the
people around me to get me in the best possible shape. Laguna
is what I call an ‘old school’ circuit, with a
lot of steep uphill and downhill sections. The fans are great
there, very respectful of all the riders, so I would like
to do my best for them. We will see what we can do. I would
like to thank everyone around me and also my fans for their
support over the last few days."
Nicky Hayden
“I’m excited to go to Laguna, even if we go there
on a bit of a run of bad luck. Hopefully things will turn
around for us, it would be a nice place to get everything
to roll from Friday through to Sunday. Whatever happens I’ll
just keep pushing. Laguna certainly has a special place in
my heart. The track itself is like one big lap, it’s
not like all different sections, a lot of the turns lead into
one another, so you’ve really got to put it all together.
Like if you screw up the Corkscrew you miss the next three
or four corners. It’s a very technical track and I love
it. Racing your home race is always a special deal and something
I don’t take lightly. The first couple of years I came
to MotoGP we didn’t have a US GP so I think that makes
me cherish it, treasure it even more. I wouldn’t say
it’s my home track as far as knowing it goes because
the MotoGP guys have had three years there, so I don’t
think it has any advantage for me anymore. But that home crowd’s
got to be worth something. Last year we struggled, it was
our worse place for tyres all year. But I’m excited
now because I’ve seen how much Michelin have improved
at other tracks this year.”
LAGUNA SECA - THE TRACK
Constructed: 1957
Latest modification: 2006
Length: 3,610m
Width: 15m
Pole position: Right
Right corners: 4
Left corners: 7
Longest straight: 966m
Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’22.542
2007 motogp race: 1st C.Stoner (Ducati) 2nd C. Vermeulen (Suzuki)
3rd M. Melandri (Honda)
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