MOTOGP LAGUNA SECA
The U.S. Grand Prix, hosted by the historic Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, welcomes ”those magnificent men in their flying machines” to kick off the second half of the 2012 season. Yamaha CEO for a Day and 2010 world champion Jorge Lorenzo has recently put a little room between himself and the Repsol Hondas of challengers Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner. Over the past three seasons, no less than four riders have failed to finish this race each year, a reminder of how perilous life can be in the hills of the Monterey Peninsula; a single “MotoGP moment” could easily shake up the 2012 standings.
The 2009 race here was fascinating, as Pedrosa disappeared from view at the start, while then-teammates Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi duked it out all day in a great battle for second place. Rossi, that year’s ultimate champion, dispatched Lorenzo late in the day and set his formidable sights on Pedrosa, whose enormous early lead shrank steadily over the final 10 laps. At the finish, Rossi trailed the Spaniard by only a third of a second, with Lorenzo another few seconds farther back. Stoner was wrestling the Ducati and lactose intolerance that year and still managed a respectable fourth. Andrea Dovizioso, Pedrosa’s Repsol Honda teammate, crashed out early, joining three other riders in the gravel that day.
2010 was Lorenzo’s year, as he cruised to victory after Pedrosa crashed out of the lead unassisted. Stoner drove his Desmosedici to a respectable second, while Rossi, still healing after his disastrous crash during practice in Italy, managed third, just in front of Dovizioso’s RC211V. 2010 marked the beginning of what has become a recent trend, namely the appearance of wild card and substitute riders. That year, Nicky Hayden’s little brother Roger Lee took over the LCR Honda for the injured Randy de Puniet and managed 5 championship points, finishing 11th. His somewhat misleading result was a side effect of having five other riders crash out, although Roger Lee did manage to edge Alex de Angelis fair and square.
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