Alex De Angelis close to Top Ten finish
A few laps into the race, a determined Alex De Angelis caught up with his fellow Ducati rider Nicky Hayden, but the gap between them was unfortunately too wide to allow him to remain in his slipstream.
The 32 laps of this Californian circuit were a tough endurance test for the San Marino rider, who ran a mainly lonely race, but towards the end he was forced to defend his tenth place and he eventually lost one position on the final lap.
The Ignite Pramac Racing Team sincerely thanks Alex for the professionalism and commitment he demonstrated during this extremely positive weekend.
Alex De Angelis - Ignite Pramac Racing Team
“I am very happy. Our initial goal was not to be last, but already on Friday we saw the opportunity to try to score some points and we did it. I come back home with 5 points in the standings. It was a great race, I really tried hard and I also made contact with another rider a few times towards the end. I am very satisfied with the way it went. I’d like to thank Ducati, the Ignite Pramac Racing Team and my team (NGM Mobile Forward Racing Team) for the opportunity they gave me. I hope to have demonstrated my potential, because, as everyone knows, I would really like to come back to race in MotoGP. "
Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi delivered his third consecutive podium of the 2013 MotoGP season today with third place in the US Grand Prix. The Italian made a strong start from fourth on the grid to take second into turn one, tucking in behind race leader Stefan Bradl. The nine-time world champion fought hard to maintain his pace but was forced to concede second to Marc Marquez on lap four following a dramatic overtake into the Corkscrew turn. With fourth place rider Alvaro Bautista closing Rossi then worked hard to hold off the Spaniard to retain his third place and podium finish.
Jorge Lorenzo successfully completed his weekend of damage limitation with an exhausting ride to sixth place. Still physically compromised following his two surgeries to his collarbone the Laguna race proved to be a big challenge for the world champion. Starting from sixth on the grid he initially made up two places to fourth, diving inside Dani Pedrosa on turn one for position. The race became a war of attrition for Lorenzo, battling to stay focused for the 32lap stint, eventually bringing it home in sixth place after a testing ride.
The podium finish leaves Rossi on 117 points in the standings in fourth position, 20points behind teammate Lorenzo. Lorenzo holds on to third place, now on 137 points, ten behind Pedrosa in second. The teams now take an extended break before returning to the USA for Indianapolis Grand Prix on Sunday 18th August.
“At this track with the Yamaha we suffer a little more than the Hondas, but we worked very well in the practice, we tried everything and I could keep a good pace in the race until the end, not far from Bradl. I fought with Bautista but always stayed in front so I could take the third podium in a row. I am quite competitive and I am happy, it is a good result. Now we take some rest, we go on holiday and we try to take some rest for the second half of the season. Regarding the pass, I tried to resist but today wasn't the right day, Marc was too strong for me. Before the end of the season we will have another battle where I will be faster and I will give back the overtake for sure!”
“This was a difficult race because I am not in shape, one month or more without training and two general anaesthetics. I felt quite dizzy from the middle of the race to the end so my performance was getting worse. The bike was also not working the same as in warm up. Maybe with more temperature the tyres were working differently and I couldn't stop the same in the braking zones so I didn't have the same feeling and I was half a second slower. The important thing is that we saved a very dangerous situation because if I crashed again I might have finished my championship. We have one month to rest and train now to get back in shape which will be important for Indianapolis. I hope to be in almost perfect condition there and have the same performance as before the crash.”
“A very crazy race, to do this with so few days recovery after twice breaking your collarbone is very inhuman. This is one of the most physical race tracks in the world. He clearly struggled in the race but he found a rhythm to not throw away too much energy in the beginning and try to keep a decent pace. It was a little bit up and a little bit down at times. Of course the result is great, we lose some points to Marc and Dani but this race was about damage control. We need to come back very strong for the last nine races.”
“Overall a good weekend. We put a lot of effort in to find a best set up. Laguna is not the most suitable circuit for Yamaha. To get a podium with Vale is an important step for us. We have improved the bike which is very good for the coming races. Jorge I think proved again that he is really tough and determined. He could manage to finish sixth even with a lot of pain after his surgeries. I think we can leave here satisfied that we have done the best job possible in the circumstances.”
Sun, 21 July 2013
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. Espargaro crashed at the last corner, while Power Electronics Aspar teammate Randy de Puniet retired with technical problems. Tech 3’s Bradley Smith also stopped with mechanical gremlins, while the first two retirements were PBM’s Michael Laverty and NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Claudio Corti. In 11th place, Ignite Pramac Racing’s Alex de Angelis scored while covering for the injured Ben Spies, while Colin Edwards finished 12th for Forward Racing. The top 15 was completed by Danilo Petrucci (Came IodaRacing Project), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) and Yonny Hernandez (PBM).
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.
MotoGP™ Race Classification
2- Stefan Bradl GER Honda 1:41.259
3- Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1:41.259
The last seven MotoGP races in the USA have now been won by Honda riders, with Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez rewriting history again today, taking first place in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. Teammate Dani Pedrosa completed an important race, whist still injured, and scored valuable Championship points.
Dani performed one of his trademark starts and advanced a few positions from his 7th spot on the grid. Taking caution not to crash and risk further injury, Dani rode with trepidation and caught Jorge Lorenzo on lap 12, passing him comfortably. This promoted him to 5th where he finished the race taking 11 important points before the Summer break.
No rider has ever won at Laguna Seca in their rookie season in the premier-class of grand prix racing and with this victory, Marc has become the youngest rider to win back-to-back races in the premier class at the age of 20 years 154 days (the previous record-holder was Freddie Spencer, who won the opening two races of the 1983 season in South Africa and then France at the age of 21 years 104 days).
Marc has now extended his lead in the Championship standings to 163 point and Dani is 2nd with 147, 10 points ahead of Lorenzo. The MotoGP paddock will now take a three week break and return for the GP in Indianapolis on the 18th August.
"I am very happy, because we weren't expecting this result from our first visit to Laguna Seca. I didn't think I would adapt so easily to such a tricky circuit, but from the first day of practice I felt very comfortable and quickly found the best lines. Today I was a little cautious at the start, because with a full tank it is easy to make a mistake, but when the tyres got up to temperature I was able to maintain the pace from practice. I overtook Valentino in a similar spot to where he passed Casey in 2008, although the passes were a little different because his was more spectacular! Later I was able to pass Stefan after studying him for a number of laps, and then I tried to build a gap in order to win the race by a comfortable margin"
Championship Standing: 2nd - 147 points
"First of all, I want to thank everyone who has supported me over these past few days. This was a race in which it was very important to take points. I was seriously considering sitting out this race, because the conditions were very difficult, so I am very happy to have taken fifth. We were close to the podium, but on the final laps I found things very hard. I think that I held up well in the race, although I was in a lot of pain the entire weekend. At least I was able to grip the handlebars and control the bike. A lot of times moving the bike makes it tough for you and it is difficult to ride a long race. In the end, the 11 points are very important for the championship"
Text und Fotos: Dorna.com und Teams
