Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix
Laguna Seca - Preview
17/07/2013
After another highly eventful weekend, which saw Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo miss the German GP, the Repsol Honda Team now heads stateside with Marc Marquez regaining the Championship lead.
Marc had a perfect weekend in Germany, taking his second win of the season, but now heads to a new track which he has never visited in any class. It will be crucial for him and his team to get to grips with the 3.6km Laguna Seca circuit, famous for it's 'Corkscrew' corner, quickly and find a good set up.
Marc's teammate, Dani Pedrosa, had a less enjoyable weekend in Germany. Dani, who was leading the Championship up until last weekend, had a huge crash in FP3 for the German GP and was ruled out for the race after the medical team declared him unfit. Thankfully after a few days of rest, Dani is feeling well again and will travel to America on Thursday to allow him to have one additional day of physiotherapy treatment to the shoulder on Wednesday in Barcelona.
Dani has a good record at Laguna Seca and has visited the podium four times including a victory in 2009. Honda also have a fantastic record on American soil, having won the last six races held in the U.S.A.
Marc Marquez
Championship Standing: 1st - 138 points
"I am feeling really good at the moment. Even though the victory in Germany didn't feel the same as Austin, because Dani and Jorge were not there, I am still so happy with the result. Now we go to Laguna Seca with no time to rest. Everybody says it's a nice track but very technical. I've never ridden there so we will start to work hard from the first moment we arrive to learn the lines. From what I understand there are many blind points where you cannot see the racing line. Anyway, as always we will try our best and see what we can do"
Championship Standing: 2nd - 136 points
"After a disappointing weekend in Germany, I'm happy to be feeling better again and thankful that my shoulder wasn't completely broken, even if a fracture is still not the best thing to happen! Now I need to get back on track to see what condition I'm in and hope we can have a good weekend"
Rider Statistics - Marc Marquez
Age 20
Racing number 93
Race machine Honda RC213V
Date of birth February 17, 1993
Birthplace Lleida, (Catalonia) - Spain
Height 168cm
Weight 59kg
Hobbies Mountain Biking, Video games
Grand Prix debut 2008, 125cc Portugal GP, Estoril
First GP win 2010, 125cc Italian GP, Mugello
GP wins 28: 10 x 125cc, 16 x Moto2, 2 x MotoGP
GP podiums 46: 14 x 125cc, 25 x Moto2, 7 x MotoGP
GP pole positions 31: 14 x 125cc, 14 x Moto2, 3 x MotoGP
World Championships 2: 1 x 125cc (2010), 1 x Moto2 (2012)
Previous results at Laguna Seca n/a
Rider Statistics - Dani Pedrosa
Age 27
Racing number 26
Race machine Honda RC213V
Date of birth September 29, 1985
Birthplace Sabadell - Spain
Height 160cm
Weight 51kg
Hobbies Cycling, Music
Grand Prix debut 2001, 125cc Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka
First GP win 2002, 125cc Dutch Grand Prix, Assen
GP wins 48: 8 x 125cc, 15 x 250cc, 24 x MotoGP
GP podiums 116: 17 x 125cc, 24 x 250cc, 75 x MotoGP
GP pole positions 44: 9 x 125cc, 9 x 250cc, 26 x MotoGP
World Championships 3: 1 x 125cc (2003); 2 x 250cc (2004, 2005)
Previous results at Laguna Seca 2012 3rd (MotoGP), 2011 3rd (MotoGP), 2010 DNF (MotoGP), 2009 1st (MotoGP), 2008 DNS (MotoGP), 2007 5th (MotoGP), 2006 2nd (MotoGP)
Championship standings
1 Marc Marquez 138 pts SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 Dani Pedrosa 136 pts SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
3 Jorge Lorenzo 127 pts SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
4 Cal Crutchlow 107 pts GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
5 Valentino Rossi 101 pts ITA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
6 Andrea Dovizioso 74 pts ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
7 Stefan Bradl 64 pts GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
8 Alvaro Bautista 58 pts SPA HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini
9 Nicky Hayden 57 pts USA DUCATI Ducati Team
10 Aleix Espargaro 52 pts SPA ART Power Electronics Aspar
11 Bradley Smith 51 pts GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
12 Michele Pirro 36 pts ITA DUCATI Ignite Pramac Racing Team
13 Andrea Iannone 24 pts ITA DUCATI Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team
14 Randy De Puniet 19 pts FRA SUZUKI Suzuki Test Team
15 Hector Barbera 18 pts SPA FTR Avintia Blusens
16 Danilo Petrucci 15 pts ITA IODA-SUTER Came IodaRacing Project
17 Colin Edwards 13 pts USA FTR-KAWASAKI NGM Mobile Forward Racing
18 Ben Spies 9 pts USA DUCATI Ignite Pramac Racing Team
19 Yonny Hernandez 6 pts COL PBM Paul Bird Motorsport
20 Claudio Corti 5 pts ITA FTR-KAWASAKI NGM Mobile Forward Racing
21 Michael Laverty 3 pts GBR PBM Paul Bird Motorsport
22 Karel Abraham 3 pts CZE ART Cardion AB Motoracing
23 Bryan Staring 2 pts AUS FTR-HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini
First race
1988
GPs held
14
Laps
32
Race distance
115.520km / 71.776 miles
Track length
3.610km / 2.243 miles
Track width
15m
Longest straight
0.453km / 0.282 miles
Corners
11 (4 right, 7 left)
Pole position
Right
Monterey
CA 93940
United States
Circuit records
Pole position
1m 20.554s (161.332km/h) Jorge Lorenz (Yamaha, 2012)
Race lap
1m 21.229s (159.992km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2012)
Race time
43m 45.961s (158.369km/h) Casey Stoner (Honda, 2012)
2012 Winner
Casey Stoner (Honda)
