Roger Lee Hayden - Positive Laguna experience

The American rode to 11th place in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix for the LCR Honda team, enjoying his battle with fellow substitute rider Alex de Angelis.

Roger Lee Hayden’s weekend at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix was an all-round success for the American, who achieved 11th place on the RC212V of the LCR Honda team as he stood in for the injured Randy de Puniet at Laguna Seca.

The younger of the Hayden brothers improved throughout the round nine weekend, shaving just over 1.6s off his lap times from the first practice to qualifying. Finding the difference in the carbon front brakes used in MotoGP to the metal ones he is accustomed to in World SBK and the Bridgestone tyres two of the main challenges, the 27 year-old rose from 17th on the starting grid to take five Championship points in his second premier class race.

“This was a very good race for me! After the start I got boxed in at the first corner and after that it took me a few laps to find my pace. The rest of the guys had taken a few seconds on me but I started to pull them back in and I did my fastest lap of the whole weekend in doing so. I charged hard and caught De Angelis and with two laps to go I passed him and took 11th place,” said Hayden.

“At the start of the week I really did not think I could have taken 11th place. I really want to thank the LCR Team for this fantastic opportunity. Everybody in the team has bent over backwards to help me in every way. The guys worked really hard on the bike and made it very comfortable for me to ride. They put absolutely no pressure on me this weekend for a result but this is the American GP and all my friends, family and fans are here so I wanted to give them all a good result. I would love a chance to ride for this Team again as they are a fantastic bunch of guys and the machine they gave me was perfect.”

Team owner Lucio Cecchinello stated: “First I want to wish Randy a very quick recovery and want to thank the team for their great work this weekend. Despite the bad luck we have decided to come here and do our best as always. We are pleased with Roger’s result because he improved his feeling on the bike session by session and during the race he was focused and tough especially when he passed De Angelis with two laps to go. Now we aim to have Randy back in Brno but we must wait for the response of the Medical Commission first.”

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/

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Paddock Girls - Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix

The Californian sunshine was enjoyed by the most beautiful girls in the MotoGP paddock at Laguna Seca

See the most beautiful girls from Pit Lane at Laguna Seca, where round nine of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship, the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, took place.

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/

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Marco Melandri battled shoulder to place eighth

Marco Melandri had more than just some determined fellow riders to contend with at Laguna Seca as the Italian fought continuing pain in his left shoulder as well. The San Carlo Honda Gresini rider is still experiencing some discomfort following his dislocation at Assen in Round 6, but regardless of that pushed hard as he finished eighth in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.

“It’s been a very tough race because I didn’t get a good start, but I tried to catch the guys in front of me. I lost the front a few times so I just worked hard to keep my rhythm. Colin (Edwards) was a bit faster than me and I tried to follow him, but after 15 laps I had no power in my left shoulder, so it was very hard for me,” said the Italian.

“The bike was moving when I was braking and I didn’t have enough power to turn, so it was tough. This race for me was like a training race, and now we have two weeks to train some more and be strong for Brno.”

Melandri had a close combat with team-mate Marco Simoncelli before the rookie crashed out two-thirds of the way through the race. Melandri added: “Many times we have been fighting together, and I am sorry for him that he crashed. He is coming along very well.”

Looking ahead to Brno in three weeks Melandri views the summer break as the perfect opportunity for his shoulder to recover further, and is also pleased to be going to a track he believes will aid his physical condition.

“I think it can be better for me, and this will be a very important two weeks off. Also we go back to a clockwise track which for me will be so much better because the left shoulder is giving me a lot of problems,” he concluded.

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/

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Confidence growing for Colin Edwards

Seventh may not be Colin Edwards’ target but it signified a step up after a difficult first portion of the season for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider. The result, at his home GP at Laguna Seca, was the result of a weekend of hard riding from the Texan, who was satisfied with the progress he felt compared to previous rounds.

“I'm really happy with the way I rode all weekend and there was nothing more I could have done. Fighting for seventh is not really where I want to be in my home race, but compared to where I have been recently it is a big improvement and thanks to all my guys at the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew for all their efforts,” said Edwards, who enjoyed himself out on track.

“I had a good early battle with Melandri and Simoncelli and that was fun and I made a couple of good moves on them because I was quite a bit faster. Once I got by Simoncelli I put my head down to see if I could break them and that's what I did. But I couldn't even see the group in front of me and I just slowed my pace up a little bit because it made no sense to crash out of my home race when I was never going to catch them up.”

The weekend marked a shift in where Edwards wants to be as he felt the benefit of some updates from Yamaha on his M1 machine.

“I was pretty much stuck in seventh all weekend and I never really had the pace of the leading group. But I'm closer to where I know I should be and the upgrades from Yamaha were a help, now I can look forward to a good break confident of a strong second half of the season," he concluded.

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/

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Marco Simoncelli - Bad things happen in threes

MotoGP rookie Marco Simoncelli fell three times during the US Grand Prix weekend at Laguna Seca, with his final tumble occurring while holding ninth place on lap 19 of the race.

"Bad things usually come in threes and that proved to be the case for me this weekend," said the Italian. "I crashed again in the race and it was a shame because I was running really well.

"I could have finished seventh but in any case I was struggling more under braking today than yesterday and I couldn't find my pace particularly over the opening few laps. I managed to ride around my problems and put together a decent pace but as soon as I pushed a tiny bit harder under braking I hit a bump and the front folded.

"Now we have to wait and see if we can make up for it at Brno."

Simoncelli had been just behind San Carlo Honda Gresini team-mate Marco Melandri at the time of his fall. The injured Melandri kept eighth to the flag and will be looking to dial-in the latest electronics package as soon as possible.

"That was a really tough race for me. We thought we had found something good in the warm-up this morning but we made a couple more changes for the race and they didn't have the effect we'd hoped," said Melandri, who is still recovering from injuries sustained at Assen.

"We also have a lot to learn about the new electronics package. The bike changed a lot as the race progressed and it was difficult for me to manage. After fifteen laps I was really struggling under braking, especially into the left-handers because I didn't have any strength. It was important for me to get to the finish and gather as much data as possible."

Source: http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/

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Andrea Dovizioso frustrated at proximity of podium

Andrea Dovizioso came within touching distance of a fifth podium of the 2010 season at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday but was denied by the resurgent Valentino Rossi, and the Repsol Honda rider was left disappointed with fourth position.

“I cannot be happy about this result because the podium was so close,” explained the 24 year-old. “I made a good start on the inside, but then got a little bit trapped going through turn one and lost positions. I really wanted to get away with the front riders but in the first three laps I lost time behind Spies, and because of this I lost contact with the leaders.”

Dovizioso said his pace picked up in the middle part of the race but that it was just not enough to be able to hold off Rossi, who passed him with five laps to go.

“I was lapping with a pace of 1’22.5 and the middle of the race was going well, but in the last laps Valentino began to go faster and I couldn’t lap at the low 1’22” pace he was able to achieve. When he came past me I did everything I could to take him back but I was not fast enough - especially in T3 and T4,” he stated.

“I didn’t have the performance on the brakes to make a move - so I couldn’t overtake him again. The result is not what we wanted and so we have to keep working hard so that we can challenge for race wins - that’s the target.”

Dovizioso remains third in the standings and now has 115 points, 23 behind team-mate Dani Pedrosa.

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/

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Roger Lee Hayden beats de Angelis for eleventh

On a day when four MotoGP regulars crashed, and another retired with technical problems, LCR Honda stand-in Roger Lee Hayden brought his RCV home in eleventh after winning a private battle with Alex de Angelis.

Hayden, riding in his first MotoGP race since the 2007 US GP, had qualified 17th and last, but overtook the Interwetten Honda of de Angelis on the penultimate lap.

“This was a very good race for me!" said Hayden, who usually rides a Kawasaki in WSBK. "After the start I got boxed in at the first corner and after that it took me a few laps to find my pace. The rest of the guys had taken a few seconds on me but I started to pull them back in and I did my fastest lap of the whole weekend in doing so.

"I charged hard and caught de Angelis with 2 laps to go. I passed him and took eleventh place.

"At the start of the week I really did not think I could have taken eleventh. I really, really want to thank LCR Team for this fantastic opportunity. Everybody in the Team has bent over backwards to help me in every way. The guys worked really hard on the bike and made it very comfortable for me to ride.

"They put absolutely no pressure on me this weekend for a result but this is the American GP and all my friends, family and fans are here so I wanted to give them all a good result. I would love a chance to ride for this team again as they are a fantastic bunch of guys and the machine they gave me was perfect," he added.

Randy de Puniet, who broke his leg a week ago in Germany, hopes to be back on his bike for the forthcoming Brno round.

“First I want to wish Randy a very quick recovery and want to thank the team for their great work this weekend," said team manager Lucio Cecchinello. "Despite the bad luck we have decided to come here and do our best as always.

"We are pleased with Roger's today result because he improved his feeling on the bike session by session and during the race he was focused and tough, especially when he passed de Angelis with two laps to go.

"Now we aim to have Randy back in Brno but we must wait for the response of the Medical Commission first”.

The Brno round will be held from August 13-15. 

Source: http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/

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