Laguna Seca | MotoGP 2010 | (*NO* Spoilers)

critter · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 5318 Location: Extra Vaganza

MotoGP FP-1 Laguna Seca

01 Casey STONER............1'21.699

02 Jorge LORENZO...........1'21.932.....0.233 / 0.233

03 Andrea DOVIZIOSO.....1'22.225.....0.526 / 0.293

04 Dani PEDROSA............1'22.559.....0.860 / 0.334

05 Ben SPIES..................1'22.640.....0.941 / 0.081

06 Valentino ROSSI.........1'22.660.....0.961 / 0.020

07 Nicky HAYDEN..............1'22.902.....1.203 / 0.242

08 Colin EDWARDS...........1'22.971.....1.272 / 0.069

09 Marco MELANDRI..........1'23.021.....1.322 / 0.050

10 Aleix ESPARGARO.........1'23.693.....1.994 / 0.672

11 Mika KALLIO................1'23.825.....2.126 / 0.132

12 Marco SIMONCELLI......1'24.002.....2.303 / 0.177

13 Hector BARBERA..........1'24.326.....2.627 / 0.324

14 Alex DE ANGELIS.........1'24.615.....2.916 / 0.289

15 Loris CAPIROSSI.........1'24.710.....3.011 / 0.095

16 Alvaro BAUTISTA.........1'25.031.....3.332 / 0.321

17 Roger Lee HAYDEN......1'25.432.....3.733 / 0.401

RG500IU · Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 427 Location: 50 k's from Assen

Ben Spies made a blistering start to his home race at Laguna Seca this afternoon, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider ending an opening practice session run in sunny conditions with the fifth quickest time.
Aided by an upgraded YZR-M1 engine specification delivered by Yamaha for his all-important home race at the breathtaking California circuit, which features the incomparable and famous Corkscrew section, Spies was less than one-tenth-of-a-second away from fourth position.

Laguna Seca is the first race 2010 where Spies has previously raced in MotoGP and he put his vast track knowledge to good use immediately, the 26-year-old quickly establishing himself in the top ten.

Spies, who is running a special livery for his home race featuring the Texas state flag, led home a strong American contingent while also finishing fastest non-factory rider as he edged out reigning world champion Valentino Rossi by 0.020s.

Spies is confident that planned overnight set-up changes to improve the stability of his YZR-M1 machine to cope with Laguna Seca's bumpy surface will allow him to challenge for a top grid position in tomorrow's qualifying session ahead of the ninth round of the 2010 MotoGP world championship.

It was a fruitful session for Colin Edwards too, the 36-year-old instantly taking advantage of the upgraded engine specification to put himself in the top five for much of the session.

Edwards ran several laps on both soft and hard front and rear Bridgestone options in preparation for Sunday's 32-lap race. And he was immediately able to lap much quicker using the hard front option, the significantly improved stability helping Edwards secure eighth position with a best time of 1.22.971.

Ben Spies 5th 1.22.640 – 33 laps
“It is funny but I know this track so well, yet having not been here for a while it took me a bit of time to remember it. I'm pretty happy to be in the top five after the first session and I'm also pleased with the lap times by the end. Coming home and being in front of my home crowd, I can't be disappointed with my position after the first day. I'm sure we can make the bike a lot better because I had a couple of small issues that are easy to fix. I want the bike to absorb the bumps a little better but it is nothing that is really holding me back too much. We got an upgrade and I'm grateful to Yamaha for that and I'm definitely in the ballpark for the rest of the weekend. I need a few tenths per lap but I think I can be much closer to the front tomorrow. At the end I put in a string of laps that weren't super-fast, but I was really consistent and I'm happy with that.”

Colin Edwards 8th 1.22.971 – 29 laps
“I'm really happy to be back on home soil and racing in front of the American fans and I'm also happy because the practice session went pretty good. The track felt the cleanest it has ever done on the first day and I was happy with the bike to show more of my true potential. I started on the soft front and rear tyres and I wasn't able to turn as good as I wanted but right at the end we switched to the hard options and I went almost half-a-second faster. I've already made my mind up to use the hard front for the race and I'm sure with some more changes we'll be able to get some more feeling. But the hard tyre gives me more confidence. I'm happier with the performance of the bike too and I want to say a big thanks to Yamaha for giving me their support as always. The improved specification just makes it feel easier and more comfortable to do the lap time and I'm confident of a strong weekend.”

RG500IU · Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 427 Location: 50 k's from Assen

First laps on the Californian circuit of Laguna Seca for the Pramac Racing riders, Aleix Espargarò and Mika Kallio. Both riders have, in fact, made their debut on this track: Mika missed last year race due to an injury while Aleix is a debutant in the top class. The Catalan rider has impressed today concluding the session in tenth position leaving behind riders that already knew the circuit. Tomorrow he will therefore have the possibility to reduce the gap from the fastest riders. Also his teammate, Mika Kallio, has registered a good lap time positioning in eleventh place only one tenth of a second from Aleix.

Marco Rigamonti - Aleix Espargarò Track Engineer
"Today we didn't make any modification on the bike and also for tomorrow final free practice we will keep everything on the bike just like it is. First of all Aleix has to understand the best lines to follow, afterward we will begin to make some changes to the set up of the bike. We can consider ourselves satisfied for what Aleix has done today on track, he is the best of the debutant on the American track and this gives us good hopes for the rest of the weekend."

Aleix Espargarò - Pramac Racing Team - 10th best lap time in 1'23.693
"What a beautiful track! In the first laps it seemed like I was walking around: I was studying which were the best lines to follow and after a few laps I could begin to push more. There are some spectaculars curves, which I really enjoy and you almost have to take them with your eyes closed. The corkscrew leaves you breathless. Tomorrow morning we will use the bike without any modifications: the most important thing for the moment is to increase the trust with the circuit."

Mika Kallio - Pramac Racing Team - 11th best lap time in 1'23.825
"I can't complain with this beginning of the weekend on a totally new circuit for me. There are many blind turns where is hard to understand which are the best lines. Anyway I really had good time on my bike today and the eleventh position is a good starting point. I am trustful that tomorrow we will be able to improve also thanks to the support of my technical staff."

RG500IU · Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 427 Location: 50 k's from Assen

Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista made his very first racing visit to the Laguna Seca Raceway in America today and took on the task of learning this demanding circuit.

Bautista’s (P16, 1’25.031, 26 laps) only previous visit to the 3,610m California circuit was as a spectator and he found out just how difficult this track is on a MotoGP machine when he made his way out onto track for today’s practice session. He made big steps throughout the session – even though he was troubled by braking issues early on – and is positive that he will continue to improve as the weekend continues.

Loris Capirossi (P15, 1’24.710, 30 laps) is sure that the team will be able to identify the problems that have been holding him back today, as they assess the data this evening. He was unable to get the correct feeling for his bike today and is convinced that the direction they will follow tomorrow will see him take steps up the timesheet.

Today’s one-and-only practice session was conducted in very pleasant conditions with air temperatures at 24ºC. Australian Casey Stoner on his factory Ducati set the fastest time.

Rizla Suzuki has one more practice session tomorrow morning, followed by qualifying on Saturday afternoon. Sunday’s 32-lap race gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (21.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi 15th:“It’s been tough today, but we never thought it was going to be easy. We tried to get the right feeling on the bike because we just couldn’t get it turning right, but we now have an idea how to resolve that tomorrow. This year we have tried to go in a different way with the bike, but we have not really understood whether it is the right way or not, because we have tried to get more rear grip and have a shorter bike. For me that is sometimes the right way, but sometimes I struggle as well, and here is a racetrack that I am really struggling on. I am very positive for tomorrow though because I am 100% convinced we will improve and we will keep our fingers crossed that the rest of the weekend will be a lot better for us.”

Álvaro Bautista 16th:“It’s a totally new circuit for me and a very difficult one to learn. It is so different from any other circuit because it is like a row of mountains – always up and down. Some corners are very difficult because you cannot see where they go, so you have to find very clear reference points for where to be and where to brake. It is difficult in one hour to learn all this, especially because I had a braking problem that caused me to lose about half the practice, so I never had the time I wanted out there. At the end I went a bit quicker and found the points I was looking for. After a good sleep tonight I think it will be easier to ride the circuit. The bike is working well, but I do have a bit of a problem exiting the corners as I’m going a bit wide, but we can certainly change that tomorrow. We will take things step-by-step tomorrow and learn the track, then get quicker in qualifying so we are ready for the race on Sunday.”

RG500IU · Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 427 Location: 50 k's from Assen

Casey Stoner dominated the opening afternoon of the USGP at Laguna Seca today, spending the majority of the first free practice at the top of the time sheets and finishing up 0.233 seconds clear of his closest rival. Stoner’s best effort came on his 24th lap of 26 and at 1’21.699 it was just over two tenths shy of his own circuit record, set on his way to victory here in 2007.
Stoner’s team-mate Nicky Hayden worked hard throughout the session on the set-up of his Desmosedici GP10 machine and nobody completed more laps than the 33 of the American at his home circuit. However, with over a second gap to his pacesetting team-mate Hayden knows he has work to do in tomorrow’s remaining two sessions.
CASEY STONER (Ducati Team) 1st (1’21.699)
“Today we tried a few different things with the setting because we still need to find a better feeling with the front and also we need to adapt the braking because there are a lot more bumps here in the braking zones than there were last year. In general we have to be happy because we’re setting the pace at the moment but we have to continue this tomorrow. In a lot of races this season we’ve been fast on a Friday but not able to improve and lost ground to the others so we want to make sure that doesn’t happen here. I’m not looking to be first in practice, I would like to be first at the end of the race on Sunday.”
NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Team) 7th (1’22.902)
“The session didn’t go quite as well as I’d hoped but we got a good base and learned a few things. Casey going so fast is a good thing for us because it shows the potential of the bike at this track even though we know he is really special around here. From our side we need to work a little on the gearbox tomorrow because the engine is quite different to what we had last year. It’s maybe something we need to look at tonight. This track is really tricky because there are so many second and third gear corners so we need to find something that works in every one of them.”

Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati - 2008), 1’21.488 – 159.483 Km/h
Best Pole: Casey Stoner (Ducati - 2008), 1’20.700 – 161.040 Km/h

chee16 · Joined: 07 Aug 2008 Posts: 476 Location: Chatham ON

Did anyone else see the special paint for the Yamaha's?

To me, it was ugly, just ugly.
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critter · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 5318 Location: Extra Vaganza

one man's black velvet Elvis painting is another man's Toulouse-Lautrec ...
i think it's gorgeous. maybe that's what i get for combining art school with
a love of comic books ... total aesthetic burnout.

Cool

chee16 · Joined: 07 Aug 2008 Posts: 476 Location: Chatham ON

and see, I like the lines of the graphics, but all those black and white faces (iI am guessing they are faces Wink

) just look like a random, shapeless design. this is just me obviously.

http://www.motogp.com/en/photos/2010/Fiat+Yamah...+at+Laguna+Seca+0
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chee16 · Joined: 07 Aug 2008 Posts: 476 Location: Chatham ON

Heck, maybe I am just a stick in the mud, but I don't like the Tech3 graphics either.

http://www.motogp.com/en/photos/2010/Monster+Ya...Team+Texas+livery
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deckard · Joined: 17 Sep 2006 Posts: 491

chee16 · Joined: 07 Aug 2008 Posts: 476 Location: Chatham ON

critter · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 5318 Location: Extra Vaganza

MotoGP FP-2 Laguna Seca

01 Jorge LORENZO.........1'21.763

02 Casey STONER..........1'21.826.....0.063 / 0.063

03 Dani PEDROSA..........1'21.876.....0.113 / 0.050

04 Andrea DOVIZIOSO..1'22.166.....0.403 / 0.290

05 Ben SPIES................1'22.293.....0.530 / 0.127

06 Valentino ROSSI.......1'22.334.....0.571 / 0.041

07 Colin EDWARDS........1'22.642.....0.879 / 0.308

08 Nicky HAYDEN...........1'22.769.....1.006 / 0.127

09 Hector BARBERA........1'22.846.....1.083 / 0.077

10 Aleix ESPARGARO.......1'22.913.....1.150 / 0.067

11 Marco MELANDRI........1'23.077.....1.314 / 0.164

12 Loris CAPIROSSI........1'23.307.....1.544 / 0.230

13 Alvaro BAUTISTA........1'23.310.....1.547 / 0.003

14 Marco SIMONCELLI.....1'23.706.....1.943 / 0.396

15 Mika KALLIO...............1'24.037.....2.274 / 0.331

16 Roger Lee HAYDEN.....1'24.368.....2.605 / 0.331

17 Alex DE ANGELIS........1'24.637.....2.874 / 0.269

Jesus Quintana · Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 7:46 pm Post subject:

Thanks critter.

Stoner looking good -- 5 laps in the 1'21s, Lorenzo with 1 lap and Pedrosa with only 1 also.

critter · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 5318 Location: Extra Vaganza

not much significant change from FP-1 in the top 8.
i'm very interested to see if QP brings more clarity
to the pecking order. i hope so ... i hate having to
actually THINK about my finish predictions; just
give me everything on a clean plate with a
sprig of parsley. please.

i just emailed popmonkey, then
realized he's at the track.
Rolling Eyes

frankenstein · Joined: 10 Mar 2008 Posts: 775 Location: Tunbridge Wells UK

... slow mo footage of Stoner wringing the life out of the Desmo in the last turn at Laguna = priceless!!! Wow! I really hope he isn't blowing it by going to Honda. He is connected spiritually to that desmo.

That said, Jorge will conquer this weekend.