2013/7/22

Marc Marquez has won Sunday¢s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, becoming the youngest ever back-to-back race winner in MotoGP™. The Repsol Honda Team rider extended his championship lead while LCR Honda MotoGP¢s Stefan Bradl celebrated a first premier-class podium finish from pole position. Valentino Rossi held off Alvaro Bautista for the final rostrum spot. 



On Saturday, Bradl had stormed to a maiden pole position while Marquez suffered a crash in qualifying. On Sunday, the Spaniard patiently followed the German before pulling off a clean manoeuvre at the end of the 19th lap. Five riders failed to make the distance at the notoriously difficult anti-clockwise circuit, the shortest on the calendar. Marquez¢s third victory of the year equals the sum of reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. The Repsol Honda rider sank as low as fourth after a poor start, but stayed ahead of Bautista in the early stages and crucially pulled off a confident pass on Rossi at the world-famous Corkscrew corner. He soon homed in on Bradl, overtaking the German and winning by 2.2 seconds. In doing so, Marquez wins for the second time within the space of a week and steals former double champion Freddie Spencer¢s record of being the youngest MotoGP™ rider to triumph in consecutive Grand Prix. Furthermore, he makes history by becoming the first rookie rider to win at Laguna Seca. Bradl¢s ride to second was one of calm and composure. 



A clean getaway allowed the LCR Honda MotoGP rider to head the field from his first ever pole in the top class. The 2011 Moto2™ World Champion was assisted by the fact that those behind him were battling early in the race, but by the 17th tour had the recovering Marquez only two tenths of a second behind. Once the overtake had occurred two laps later, Bradl comfortably managed a two-second gap back to Rossi to clinch his maiden premier class podium, improving on his previous best of fourth – achieved on three occasions.
 


Yamaha Factory Racing¢s Rossi has now taken the chequered flag inside the top three for as many races in a row. The Italian, who had famously overtaken Casey Stoner at the Corkscrew five years ago, was this time passed in the same place by Marquez before holding off a significant attack from Bautista over the closing laps; the Spaniard briefly edged ahead before the final corner, but was kept behind. Another third place for Rossi sees him jump ahead of Cal Crutchlow for fourth in the standings. 
Laguna Seca had always promised to be a weekend of damage limitation for both Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) and Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team). Both men continue to suffer with left collarbone injuries as they finished fifth and sixth, with Pedrosa having moved ahead of his rival in an overtake at the Andretti Hairpin. The duo both finished in front of Monster Yamaha Tech 3¢s Crutchlow, who on Saturday had been left confused by a crash before taking part in Q2 with his second bike. The top ten was completed by Ducati Team¢s Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso – who during the race made side-to-side contact on the start/finish straight – and Avintia Blusens¢ Hector Barbera, who became the first rider other than Aleix Espargaro to lead the CRT runners in 2013. 



With the first half of the season now complete, MotoGP™ heads into its summer break before returning at Indianapolis in mid-August. Marquez carries a 16-point advantage over teammate Pedrosa and has finished on the podium in eight of his first nine races since joined the premier class as reigning Moto2™ World Champion.



RED BULL U.S. GRAND PRIX MotoGP Race Classification 2013 Laguna Seca, 
Sunday, July 21, 2013 
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap 
1 25 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 157.4 44'00.695 
2 20 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 157.3 +2.298 
3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 157.2 +4.498 
4 13 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 157.2 +4.557 
5 11 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 156.9 +9.257 
6 10 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 156.7 +12.970 
7 9 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 156.5 +15.304 
8 8 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 155.4 +33.963 
9 7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 155.4 +34.129 
10 6 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Blusens FTR 153.8 +1'02.369

MotoGP World Standing 2013 

 Pos.   Rider  Bike  Nation  Points
 1  Marc MARQUEZ  Honda  SPA 163
 2  Dani  PEDROSA   Honda  SPA 147
 3  Jorge LORENZO  Yamaha  SPA 137
 4  Valentino ROSSI  Yamaha  ITA 117
 5  Cal CRUTCHLOW  Yamaha  GBR 116
 6  Stefan BRADL   Honda  GER  84
 7  Andrea DOVIZIOSO  Ducati   ITA  81
 8  Alvaro BAUTISTA  Honda  SPA  71
 9  Nicky HAYDEN  Ducati  USA  65
 10  Aleix ESPARGARO  ART  SPA  52




Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Report Day 2

Sat, 20 July 2013 
Bradl blasts to first-ever MotoGP™ pole at Laguna Seca
Germany¢s Stefan Bradl has achieved a career first-ever MotoGP™ pole position at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix in Laguna Seca. The LCR Honda MotoGP rider will start alongside Repsol Honda Team¢s Marc Marquez and GO&FUN Honda Gresini¢s Alvaro Bautista. Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa have qualified sixth and seventh, respectively. 

Courtesy of a 1¢21.176 lap time, Bradl becomes the first ever German to clinch pole in the premier-class of the World Championship. Not only is he the second rider to clinch a maiden pole this season, but he has also become the first ever rider to achieve the qualifying top spot at Laguna Seca aboard a satellite machine. Marquez - whose challenge ended with a crash at Turn 6, four minutes before the chequered flag came out - was 17 thousandths of a second slower on his first weekend at the Californian circuit, having topped three or the four practice sessions, while Bautista starts on the front row for the first time since taking pole position at Silverstone last year. 

Row 2 is headed up by Yamaha Factory Racing¢s Valentino Rossi, ahead of Monster Yamaha Tech 3¢s Cal Crutchlow, who had earlier crashed at Turn 3 during final practice. Crutchlow then also had a difficult qualifying, as an issue with the front suspension sensor threw his electronics out of sorts early on. Rossi¢s teammate Lorenzo, still suffering from a broken and very painful left collarbone, who missed last weekend¢s German Grand Prix, will set off from sixth place and the back of the second row. 
Repsol Honda¢s Dani Pedrosa was also absent from the Sachsenring race as well as Free Practices 1 and 3 here; he - similarly suffering with his left collarbone - will head up Row 3, ahead of Ducati Team¢s Andrea Dovizioso who moved ahead of Tech 3¢s Bradley Smith late in Q2. Americans Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards will start tenth and 15th. 

RED BULL U.S. GRAND PRIX MotoGP Qualifying Nr. 2 Classification 
2013 Laguna Seca, Saturday, July 20, 2013 
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev. 
1 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 264.3 1'21.176
2 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 263.1 1'21.193 0.017 / 0.017 
3 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 268.4 1'21.373 0.197 / 0.180 
4 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 269.3 1'21.418 0.242 / 0.045 
5 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 264.2 1'21.420 0.244 / 0.002 
6 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 264.1 1'21.453 0.277 / 0.033 
7 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 264.8 1'21.728 0.552 / 0.275 
8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 262.3 1'22.026 0.850 / 0.298 
9 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 253.6 1'22.075 0.899 / 0.049 
10 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 265.3 1'22.090 0.914 / 0.015

2013/7/20

MotoGP World Standing 2013 

 Pos.   Rider  Bike  Nation  Points
 1  Marc MARQUEZ  Honda  SPA 138
 2  Dani  PEDROSA   Honda  SPA 136
 3  Jorge LORENZO  Yamaha  SPA 127
 4  Cal CRUTCHLOW  Yamaha  GBR 107
 5  Valentino ROSSI  Yamaha  ITA 101
 6  Andrea DOVIZIOSO   Ducati  ITA  74
 7  Stefan BRADL  Honda   GER  64
 8  Alvaro BAUTISTA  Honda  SPA  58
 9  Nicky HAYDEN  Ducati  USA  57
 10  Aleix ESPARGARO  ART  SPA  52

Marc Marquez quickest on Laguna Seca debut
20/7/2013 

Marc Marquez finished atop the timesheets on his first day of practice at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca ahead of this weekend¢s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. The Repsol Honda Team rider and championship leader led Stefan Bradl and Andrea Dovizioso, while the injured Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa finished sixth and eleventh quickest. 
There was a dramatic improvement in conditions between the two Friday sessions. Following a cool and misty start to the day when Cal Crutchlow had finished fastest for Monster Yamaha Tech 3, the sun came out in the afternoon as Marquez registered 1¢22.040 on his first ride at the notoriously tricky Californian circuit. 

Second-placed Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) was two tenths of a second slower than Marquez, with Dovizioso (Ducati Team) just fractions further adrift. The first group of five was rounded out by Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing) and the aforementioned Crutchlow, while leading CRT runner Aleix Espargaro again impressed by ending the day seventh fastest for Power Electronics Aspar. 

Both reigning title holder Lorenzo and erstwhile championship leader Pedrosa, who both missed last weekend¢s German Grand Prix through injury, passed medical check-ups on Friday morning. Lorenzo went on to finish second practice in a creditable sixth spot, while Pedrosa elected to sit out the first session before ending proceedings 11th in the second, but complaining of much pain in his left shoulder. 

There was a stoppage of just under 20 minutes during the afternoon period, as American wildcard entry Blake Young - making his second appearance of the season after Austin, Texas - crashed his Attack Performance Racing bike on the exit of Turn 5. The red flags stayed out while marshals cleaned the track surface of oil, deposited during the accident.
Back on the timesheets, positions eight to ten were filled by Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini), home rider Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), while second American Colin Edwards finished 17th for NGM Mobile Forward Racing.

RED BULL U.S. GRAND PRIX MotoGP 
Free Practice Nr. 2 Classification 2013 Laguna Seca, 
Friday, July 19, 2013 
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev. 
1 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 261.8 1'22.040
2 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 265.8 1'22.269 0.229 / 0.229 
3 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 265.7 1'22.284 0.244 / 0.015 
4 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 268.9 1'22.346 0.306 / 0.062 
5 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 262.2 1'22.457 0.417 / 0.111 
6 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 263.0 1'22.467 0.427 / 0.010 
7 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 257.5 1'22.531 0.491 / 0.064 
8 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 268.5 1'22.539 0.499 / 0.008 
9 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 264.2 1'22.733 0.693 / 0.194 
10 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 257.4 1'22.767 0.727 / 0.034