Toseland fights hard for ninth, disappointment for Edwards
Tech 3 Yamaha rider James Toseland made a welcome return
to the top ten this afternoon with a determined ride to ninth
place in the American GP.
In sunny but cool conditions, the British rider made a fantastic
start from the second row and found himself fourth at the
first corner. But while cautiously waiting for his Michelin
tyres to reach optimum working temperature, he slipped down
to eighth at the end of the first lap.
Toseland moved back into sixth by lap six to engage in a
long battle with Frenchman Randy de Puniet. He slipped back
to seventh on lap 12 but reeled off a consistent pace in the
1.23 bracket to maintain constant pressure on de Puniet. His
pace saw him get tantalisingly close to the battle for fourth
place, but in the final stages of the 32-lap encounter, he
lost two more places and finished ninth.
It was a disappointing race for Colin Edwards in front of
his home crowd as he ended down in 14th. Sporting a special
oneoff livery for his home race, the Texan briefly threatened
to break into the top ten, but front-end issues prevented
him from running his usual consistent pace.
The Tech 3 team now starts a deserved summer break before
the world championship resumes in Brno on August 17.
James Toseland - Position: 9th Time: +0'43.019
"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."
Colin Edwards - Position: 14thTime: +1'02.380
"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 tyre 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."
Herve Poncharal - Team Manager
"It was a tough weekend for us. We would have liked to
go into the summer break with a better result, but having
seen what happened in practice James did a really good race.
We didn't expect him to be up there all race long and I'm
disappointed for him that he lost two places in the last two
laps because he performed to his maximum and as usual he never
give up. It was good that he had that kind of race but it
was a big disappointment for Colin. His crash in Germany didn't
help and he arrived with some neck problems and then had some
problems in practice. And he didn't have confidence in the
race because that was not the Colin out there that we all
know. The only consolation is that he has another race in
America later this year where I'm sure things will be better
for him. We are still fourth in the team championship and
we have to work hard to keep that position. Hopefully the
break will be good for everybody and we will be back strong
in Brno. Finally, congratulations to Yamaha and Valentino
for his first win in Laguna Seca."
Circuit Length: 3610
Temp: 21
Weather: Sunny
2008 MotoGP United States - Laguna Seca 21/07/2008
Race 1 - 32 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 44'4.311
2 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 0'13.001
3 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'26.609
4 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0'34.901
5 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'35.663
6 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 0'37.668
7 Toni Elias Ducati ESP 0'41.629
8 Ben Spies Suzuki USA 0'41.927
9 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'43.019
10 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 0'44.391
11 Jamie Hacking Kawasaki USA 0'46.258
12 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 0'55.273
13 Alex De Angelis Honda SMR 0'55.521
14 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'2.380
15 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 1'8.207
Best Lap
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'21.488
Rider Standings 20/07/2008
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 212
2. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 187
3. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 171
4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 114
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 103
6. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 100
7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 89
8. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 84
9. James Toseland Yamaha GBR 72
10. Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 70
11. Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 61
12. Toni Elias Ducati ESP 46
13. Alex De Angelis Honda SMR 41
14. Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 40
15. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 38
Team Standings 20/07/2008
Pos. Team Points
1. FIAT Yamaha Team 326
2. Repsol Honda Team 255
3. Ducati Marlboro Team 219
4. Tech3 Yamaha 172
5. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 152
6. Honda Gresini 111
7. JIR Scot Team 103
8. Team Alice 84
9. Kawasaki Racing Team 54
10. Honda LCR 40
Manufacturer Standings 20/07/2008
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. Yamaha 241
2. Honda 197
3. Ducati 192
4. Suzuki 112
5. Kawasaki 52
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