WEST AND HACKING READY FOR LAGUNA SHOWDOWN
The US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca will mark the MotoGP debut
of AMA Superbike contender Jamie Hacking, who will deputise
for the injured John Hopkins aboard Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR
this weekend.
Hacking, who received the call-up to MotoGP during his 37th
birthday celebrations two weeks ago, has already impressed
aboard the Ninja ZX-RR during a two-day, pre-race test at
the Autopolis circuit in Japan, where he broke the lap record.
The three-time AMA champion arrives in Laguna determined
to match, or even exceed, the performance of his Kawasaki
teammate, Roger Lee Hayden, who finished tenth as a wild card
rider in this race twelve months ago.
Hacking will make his MotoGP debut off the back of six consecutive
podium finishes in the AMA Superbike class, which he will
also contest at Laguna Seca, making for a very busy weekend
for the British born rider.
Like his temporary teammate, Anthony West also heads for
Laguna Seca with high hopes for the weekend. The Australian
celebrated his 27th birthday on 17th July, and is looking
to give himself the best birthday present possible with a
strong performance ahead of the summer break.
A seventh place in the USGP last year was West's best result
of the 2007 season and, despite the fact that he's carrying
injuries from two big crashes last time out at Sachsenring,
the plucky Australian is determined to improve on last year's
result this time around.
The Laguna Seca circuit is the shortest on the MotoGP calendar,
but one that is regarded as being the most physically demanding
on the riders. The 3.61km track also features possibly the
most famous corner in MotoGP; the infamous corkscrew at turn
eight.
Anthony West
Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #13
"I'm looking forward to racing at Laguna Seca again,
as I like the track and I really enjoy the whole lifestyle
thing in California. I had my best result of the season at
this track in 2007 with seventh place, and I hope this year's
race will prove as successful after a difficult first half
of the season for me. As well as being one of the most exciting
circuits on the MotoGP calendar, Laguna Seca is also very
physically demanding. With fractured vertebrae from my practice
crash at Sachsenring, I'm not in the best condition going
into the USGP weekend. I just hope the injury won't cause
too many problems on the bike, although it's sure to be quite
painful. As always, I'll be out there to do my best this weekend,
and I hope we'll be rewarded with a good result on Sunday."
Jamie Hacking
Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #12
"I'm really excited about riding Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR
in the USGP at Laguna Seca this weekend. We had a successful
test with the bike in Japan two weeks ago, and now I'm looking
forward to riding the Ninja ZX-RR again under race conditions.
Roger Lee set the benchmark at this race last year with an
outstanding tenth place finish, so that's certainly given
me something to aim for. Laguna is one of my best tracks,
but I'm under no illusions about how hard it's going to be.
I'll be up against some of the best riders in the world on
a bike on which I've only had limited testing time. If I come
away from the weekend with a top ten finish, then I'll be
happy."
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