STORY - www.motogp.com

USA 25th July 2010 - The Fiat Yamaha rider won his sixth race of the 2010 campaign at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix after Dani Pedrosa crashed out when leading.

Second place for Casey Stoner marked his best result of the season so far, whilst Valentino Rossi finished an admirable third.

Jorge Lorenzo’s Championship lead was stretched to 72 points at Laguna Seca as the Fiat Yamaha rider won the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix ahead of Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi, in a round nine race that saw Dani Pedrosa crash out when leading.

A trademark lightning start from Pedrosa saw him lead into turn one of the first lap and the Spaniard appeared to be making a similar break for victory as he had done in the previous round, as he led for the early part of the race whilst setting a fierce pace.

However, on Lap 11 and with Lorenzo pressuring him for the lead the Repsol Honda rider crashed out at turn five, leaving his fellow Spaniard to take his M1 to a sixth win of the season as he tasted victory on the Californian circuit for the first time.

In second place at 3.517s behind Ducati Team rider Casey Stoner scored his best result of the season so far – his fourth podium in a row – and a comfortable finish with a distance of almost ten seconds back to third place. That was taken by Valentino Rossi, the reigning World Champion achieving a superb podium finish in only his second race back from injury and one which he worked hard for throughout the race.

There were early ends to the race for rookies Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) and Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar), the former of whom crashed whilst the latter retired, neither making it past lap four. By that stage Pedrosa was already rapid at the front with Stoner matching him for pace, but on lap five Lorenzo – who had dropped to fourth at the start – managed to pass the Australian who ran wide at turn three.

Then the drama really kicked in as Pedrosa crashed, leaving Lorenzo first with Stoner not far behind, and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) in third with an almost two-second margin over those following. However, that gap was quite admirably shredded away by Rossi as he managed to make up the difference, eventually passing his fellow Italian with five laps to go to slot into third.

As the tyres started to go off towards the end there were changes further down the order, as Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) fought for the honour of highest placing American, a duel that presented plenty of enthralling moments of its own.

Lorenzo eventually crossed the line comfortably ahead of Stoner, with Rossi managing to hold off Dovizioso for the final podium spot. Hayden edged out Spies for fifth place, with the latter’s team-mate Colin Edwards seventh. The top ten was completed by Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki). The remaining two riders to finish the race in 11th and 12th were Roger Lee Hayden (LCR Honda) and Alex de Angelis (Interwetten Honda MotoGP).

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) suffered the disappointment of crashing out two-thirds of the way through the race when battling with team-mate Melandri for eighth, whilst Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing) fell three laps from the end when in a top-ten position.

Lorenzo now has 210 points, with Pedrosa remaining second in the standings on 138 and Dovizioso third on 115.

Rider Quotes - Podium

Jorge Lorenzo: "I am so happy to win here at Laguna Seca, it's something I've always dreamed of. I rode so well today, right on the limit and I had to push very hard to stay in touch with Dani. He is always so strong on race day but I knew if I kept the pressure on him then there was a chance he would make a mistake and I would be able to catch him. I'm sorry he crashed but from then on it was very easy for me because I had a big gap from Casey. I really enjoyed riding my M1! I have a big lead in the championship but there is half of the season left and it wouldn't be the first time a rider has lost the title with such a big lead, so we can't take anything for granted. I am really looking forward to some time to relax now after two very busy months. Thanks to everyone in my team for doing a brilliant job."

Casey Stoner: “The bike felt good at the start of the race but at this circuit you always have to wait for a lap, a lap and a half for the tyres to warm up. As soon as everything felt alright I thought I’d try to push and make a pass on Dani for the lead but I immediately lost the front. I pulled myself back together and tried to hunt him down again but made another little mistake. Another lap or two later I closed the front again and ran well wide, I was almost off the track. At that point I decided just to gather myself, ride smooth and consistent and try not to lose too much time to the two guys in front of me. I started to pull them in but lost the front again. It was a shame because the bike felt good around most of the circuit, we just struggled with the front in a couple of corners. Having said that I’m happy and thankful to my guys because we were able to put up more of a fight this weekend.”

Valentino Rossi: "The start of the race was very hard for me because I had a lot of pain and I was far from the podium. But then I saw Pedrosa on the gravel and I just had to try to catch Dovizioso! I just pushed as hard as I could for a few laps and that brought me closer to him and then I couldn't give up, somehow I caught him and it was a great feeling to pass him to take third. It's a great result after my injury and it felt so good to be back on the podium in front of the fans. There are so many people I have to thank who have helped me to get back to this position. I am very happy that we have some time off now because I have a lot of work to do on my body to try to be back to my best for Brno, which I love.

RACE RESULTS:

 Pos  Rider                               Team                                    Time/Gap
1.  Jorge Lorenzo              Yamaha                       43m54.873s
2.  Casey Stoner               Ducati                          + 3.517s
3.  Valentino Rossi            Yamaha                       + 13.420s
4.  Andrea Dovizioso          Honda                         + 14.188s
5.  Nicky Hayden               Ducati                          + 14.601s
6.  Ben Spies                    Tech 3 Yamaha             + 19.037s
7.  Colin Edwards              Tech 3 Yamaha             + 40.721s
8.  Marco Melandri             Gresini Honda               + 47.219s
9.  Loris Capirossi             Suzuki                          + 52.812s
10.  Mika Kallio                 Pramac Ducati               + 52.814s
11.  Roger Lee Hayden      LCR Honda                   + 1m14.089s
12.  Alex de Angelis          Interwetten Honda         + 1m14.666s

EDITOR - Mark Cox