FIAT YAMAHA TEAM LEAD THE WAY TO LAGUNA SECA
The Fiat Yamaha Team leave behind a two-month road trip across
Europe this week as they take flight for America for their
final appointment before the midseason break, with Valentino
Rossi in fine form and on top of the MotoGP World Championship.
After a rain-hit run of six races in eight weeks, culminating
in Sunday’s Sachsenring splashdown, a trip to the sunshine
state of California for the US Grand Prix could not have come
at a better time and it represents an opportunity for Rossi
to consolidate his series lead before a well-earned holiday.
Second place in Germany, combined with a zero-point score
for his closest title rival Dani Pedrosa, has given the Italian
a sixteen-point advantage in the chase for the title with
eight races remaining, although Sunday’s race winner
Casey Stoner lurks just four points further back in third
place. Having been absent from the US podium since taking
third when MotoGP returned to Laguna Seca in 2005, Rossi’s
target is to recreate Yamaha’s success during the track’s
first spell on the Grand Prix calendar between 1988 and 1994,
when the factory won five of the six premier-class races.
After struggling for confidence over the past four rounds
following a run of crashes, Jorge Lorenzo is hoping to bounce
back from his latest setback, a third lap spill at the Sachsenring,
on his first visit to Laguna Seca as a MotoGP rider. The Mallorcan
did attend the USGP last season, however, as an expert for
Spanish television, having already fallen in love with California
during the previous winter when he went to ride dirt-track
under the tutelage of Yamaha legend ‘King’ Kenny
Roberts at his Modesto ranch.
That experience could come in handy this weekend at the notoriously
capricious circuit, where the intense dry heat, unpredictable
asphalt and anti-clockwise layout reward the loose and aggressive
riding style perfected in the dust bowls of the west coast.
As the rear slides around, the front wheel is often left spinning
in thin air through the dramatic elevation changes and fast,
sweeping corners – none of them more spectacular than
the world-famous ‘Corkscrew’. Machine set-up is
relatively straightforward, with throttle connection a much
more important factor than top-end power and a well balanced
chassis the key to those elevation changes and diverse corners.
Valentino Rossi
“HOPING FOR GOOD MEMORIES”
“Laguna hasn’t been one of my favourite tracks
in the three years since we’ve been going there and
it’s one of the only ones on the calendar where I haven’t
won. We’re aiming to win this week, that’s for
sure! It’s been a hard track for our bike but it’s
been a very good track for Bridgestone and I am confident
that our package will work very well there. The last two years
I’ve had serious disappointments in the race and it’s
been one of the low points of both seasons, I hope I have
had all the bad luck I’m going to have there and that
this year I can enjoy myself! We are going there with the
same package that we had in Germany and so we’re going
to have to work very hard to close the gap in performance
to Stoner; we can’t afford to start from anywhere except
the front because, with him in this form, it is then very
hard to catch him. California is a great place and this year
we will be doing all we can to leave it with good memories,
not bad ones!”
Jorge Lorenzo
”A FAMOUS CIRCUIT!”
“I’ve never raced at Laguna but last year I went
there to commentate for Spanish TV and I had a great time,
California is an amazing place! I am so excited to finally
get the chance to race there because it’s a very special
track which everyone always talks about and I am looking forward
to riding at a place with such famous corners as the corkscrew.
I know it’s a difficult place but I am feeling stronger
and I will be doing my best to get to know the circuit as
quickly as possible and find a good feeling with the bike
there. We need to work hard from that start, together with
Michelin, to improve the grip issues we’ve been having.
I am still disappointed about Sachsenring but luckily I wasn’t
hurt and it’s good to have the chance to move on quickly
and focus on the next race. Now my target is to have a good
weekend so that I can enjoy the summer break.”
Davide Brivio
“A FANTASTIC RACE”
“We’re very happy to go to Laguna leading the
championship and feeling quite strong. It’s never been
a very successful track for us so we have to try and improve
on our third place from 2005, which is our best result. It’s
always fantastic to race there because the atmosphere is incredible
and it’s a pleasure to race in California. Hopefully
we will have some Californian sunshine! We need to go there
on the attack and our target is to remain on the podium and
maintain our championship lead.”
Daniele Romagnoli
“LOOKING FOR MORE GRIP”
“Jorge is still very disappointed with the race in Germany
but thankfully he escaped unhurt from the crash. Now we have
to focus on working hard at Laguna Seca on the problems he
had at the Sachsenring. The issue is a lack of rear grip,
which was obviously exacerbated in the wet on Sunday, and
at Laguna it will be important again because we’ve seen
over the past two seasons how hard this circuit is on the
tyres. We won’t be trying anything new with the electronics
– our focus is on working with the geometry of the bike
and the suspension to find a more comfortable base setting
for Jorge. This is a new track for him so he doesn’t
have any experience to fall back on, which will make it an
interesting weekend for sure!”
Valentino Rossi : Information
Age: 29
Lives: Tavullia, Italy
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 91 (65 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)
First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
GP starts: 202 (142 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 50
World Championships: 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1
x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP)
Jorge Lorenzo: Information
Age: 21
Lives: London, UK
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 22 (1 x MotoGP, 17 x 250cc, 4 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Brazil, 2003 (125cc)
First GP: Jerez, Spain, 2002 (125cc)
GP starts: 103 (9 x MotoGP, 48 x 250cc, 46 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 29 (3 x MotoGP, 23 x 250cc, 3 x 125cc)
World Championships: 2 x 250cc
Laguna Seca: Record Lap
C. Stoner (Ducati) 2007, 1'22.542
Laguna Seca: Best Lap
C. Stoner (Ducati) 2007, 1'21.975
Grand Prix Results: Laguna Seca 2007
1. C.Stoner (Ducati) 44'20.325
2. C.Vermeulen (Suzuki) +9.865
3. M.Melandri (Honda) +25.641
4. V. Rossi (ITA) Yamaha +30.664
Jorge Lorenzo Result: Laguna Seca 2007
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