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July 1stSTATISTICS 2009#08 Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Laguna SecaMotoGP facts & fi gures Grand Prix racing at Laguna Secahe fi rst two Grand Prix events to be held in the USA were at Daytona in 1964 and ■ Valentino Rossi’s victory last year at T1965. Following these two events there was a 22-year gap before Grand Prix racing Laguna Seca was his fi rst ever win at the returned to America – at the Laguna Seca circuit in 1988. This will be the eleventh time American circuit. His only other podium that a Grand Prix racing has taken place at the Laguna Seca circuit and below is a brief at the USA Grand Prix was 3rd in the fi rst summary of the previous ten events:visit to Laguna Seca in 2005. He retired from the race with technical problems in 1988 – This included races for the 500cc and 250cc classes with American riders fi nishing on the top of the 2006, and in 2007 was the fi rst Michelin podium in both races – Eddie Lawson (Yamaha) in the 500cc race and Jim Filice in the 250cc race riding as a rider home in 4th place in a race domi-replacement for Masahiro Shimizu on the factory Honda.nated by riders using Bridgestone tyres.1989 – Once again American riders took the honours with Wayne Rainey (Yamaha) taking the victory in the 500cc race in front of Kevin Schwantz (Suzuki) and Eddie Lawson (Honda). John Kocinski (Yamaha) won the 250cc race as a wild-card entry.1990 – Both Wayne Rainey and John Kocinski repeated their success of the previous year; both ...

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STATISTICS2009 #08 Red Bull U.S. GraNd PrIx

MOTOGP FacTs & figures ■ ValeNTINO ROssI’s victorylast year at Laguna Seca was his first ever win at the American circuit.His only other podium at the USA Grand Prix was 3rd in the first visit to Laguna Seca in 2005.He retired from the race with technical problems in 2006, and in 2007 was the first Michelin rider home in 4th place in a race domi- nated by riders using Bridgestone tyres.

JOrge LOreNzOqualified 4th last year ■ on his debut at Laguna Seca but crashed out on the first lap of the race and suf- fered fractures in his right foot.

■ Casey STONerdominated completely the US Grand Prix 2007; he qualified on pole, won the race by almost ten seconds after leading from start to finish and set a new lap record in the process.Last year Stoner was fastest in all practice and qualifying sessions and set a new lap record in the race, but finished 2nd after running off the track while battling with Rossi.

July 1st

Laguna Seca

GraNd PrIx racINg aT LaguNa Seca he first two Grand Prix events to be held in the USA were at Daytona in 1964 and T 1965. Followingthese two events there was a 22-year gap before Grand Prix racing returned to America – at the Laguna Seca circuit in 1988.This will be the eleventh time that a Grand Prix racing has taken place at the Laguna Seca circuit and below is a brief summary of the previous ten events:

Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines

1988 –This included races for the 500cc and 250cc classes with American riders finishing on the top of the podium in both races – Eddie Lawson (Yamaha) in the 500cc race and Jim Filice in the 250cc race riding as a replacement for Masahiro Shimizu on the factory Honda. 1989 –Once again American riders took the honours with Wayne Rainey (Yamaha) taking the victory in the 500cc race in front of Kevin Schwantz (Suzuki) and Eddie Lawson (Honda).John Kocinski (Yamaha) won the 250cc race as a wild-card entry. 1990 –Both Wayne Rainey and John Kocinski repeated their success of the previous year; both riders went on to take the respective world titles. 1991 –Wayne Rainey won the 500cc race for the third year in succession while in the 250cc race Luca Cadalo- ra (Honda) became the first European rider to win a Grand Prix race at the Laguna Seca circuit. 1993 –The Grand Prix returned to Laguna Seca after a year’s absence.John Kocinski took the first ever dry weather Grand Prix victory for Cagiva in the 500cc race.Loris Capirossi (Honda) won the 250cc race and Dirk Raudies (Honda) won in the 125cc class which was run for the first time at the Laguna circuit. 1994 -Luca Cadalora (Yamaha) became the first non-American to win the premier-class Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. Thiswas the last time that the event included 250cc and 125cc classes, won by Doriano Romboni and Takeshi Tsujimura respectively both riding Honda machinery. 2005 –After an absence of ten years the Grand Prix returned to the US and the home riders dominated once again with Nicky Hayden taking his first Grand Prix victory in front of Colin Edwards.This was also the first victory in the premier-class for Honda at the Laguna Seca circuit. 2006 –Nicky Hayden repeated his victory of the previous year on his way to becoming the first American rider to win a Grand Prix world championship on a four-stroke machine. 2007 –The event was dominated by Casey Stoner who started from pole and led the race from start to finish. This was the first GP victory for both Ducati and Bridgestone tyres at the Laguna Seca circuit.Chris Vermeulen finished second - the first podium finish for the Suzuki four-stroke MotoGP machine at Laguna Seca. 2008 –Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) won for the first time in the USA and made it three different winning manufac- turers in three successive years.

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STATISTICS2009 #08 Red Bull U.S. GraNd PrIx

Last year wasANdreaDOvIzIOsO’sfirst ■ race at Laguna Seca and he finished the top Honda and first Michelin rider home in 4th place.Dovizioso’s crash at Assen was only the second time that he has failed to score points in the 25 MotoGP races in which he has competed – the other was in Portugal last year when he crashed out.

DaNIPedrOsa finished2nd and set a ■ new lap record on his first visit to Laguna Seca in 2006.In 2007 he finished fifth af- ter qualifying strongly in second place on the grid.Last year Pedrosa tried to ride in Friday practice but then withdrew from the event suffering from injuries picked up at the previous event in Germany.

■ COlINEdWards’ best GP result at La- guna Seca is second in 2005.His results since are:9th in 2006 suffering from a bout of flu, in 2007 he was 11th having grip problems and last year he finished down in 14th suffering the same prob- lems many of the Michelin riders expe- rienced.

■ LOrIsCapIrOssIthe 250cc Grand won Prix at Laguna Seca back in 1993.His best result from his four MotoGP races at Laguna is an 8th place in 2006.In 2007 he retired early in the race when his bike struck gearbox problems and last year he was 15th still suffering from injuries from his crash at the Dutch TT.

MarcOMelaNdrIfinished third at Lagu- ■ na Seca in 2006 and repeated the result in 2007 despite suffering a high speed crash in practice after colliding withKur- TIsROberTs, which left him with several painful injuries.Last year he qualified 15th but was up to 9th after nine laps before crashing and re-starting to even- tually finish 16th.

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July 1st

Laguna Seca

ValeNTINO ROssI Takes 100TH GraNd PrIx WIN ith his victory at the Dutch TT, Valentino Rossi becomes only the second rider ever W to reach the milestone of 100 Grand Prix victories.Below are some facts and figu- res from his Grand Prix wins:

The 100 victories have come from 217 Grand Prix starts – a win rate over his career of 46.1%. Rossi has won on six different types of motorcycle: 125cc Aprilia (12 wins), 250cc Aprilia (14 wins), 500cc Honda (13 wins), 990cc Honda (20 wins), 990cc Yamaha (25 wins) and 800cc Yamaha (16 wins). His 41 wins riding for Yamaha is more than any other rider.The second most successful Yamaha rider is Phil Read with 39 victories. He has won Grand Prix races at twenty-seven different circuits. The circuits at which he has had most success are Mugello and Catalunya with nine wins at each. The most wins he has had in a single season is eleven, which he has achieved on four occasions: 1997 (125cc), 2001 (500cc), 2002 and 2005 in MotoGP. His eleven wins in 1997 is a record for most wins in a single season in the 125cc class. His 74 race victories in the premier-class is more than any other rider in the 61-year history of Grand Prix racing. With his victory at the Spanish GP this year Valentino Rossi became the first rider to achieve at least one Grand Prix victory for 14 successive seasons. The total length of his winning career from his first win in the 125cc race at the Czech GP in 1996 to his latest victory at the Dutch TT, is 12 years 313 days.Only four riders have had a longer winning career in Grand Prix racing: Loris Reggiani, Phil Read, Angel Nieto and Loris Capirossi.

ValeNTINO ROssI seT FOr aNOTHer recOrd n addition to his great winning record Valentino Rossi, also has a fantastic reliability I record and has never missed a race since making his Grand Prix debut in the 125cc class at the first race of 1996.The USA GP will see Rossi make his 158 successive Grand Prix start in the premier-class without missing a race, which equals the all-time record for most successive starts in the premier-class currently held by Alex Barros as shown in the following list:

RiDERS with LonGESt SEqUEnCE of SUCCESSiVE StARtS in thE PREMiER-CLASS number OF successIve RIder fIrsTrace Is seQueNceLasT race IN seQueNce GP sTarTs 1. Alex Barros158 Brazil/1992/RioDutch TT/2003/Assen 2. Valentino Rossi157 SouthAfrica/2000/Welkom DutchTT/2009/Assen 3. Max Biaggi127 Japan/1998/SuzukaValencia/2005/Ricardo Tormo 4. Shinya Nakano125 Portugal/2001/EstorilValencia/2008/Ricardo Tormo Australia/1995/Eastern 5. Norick Abe119 Malaysia/2002/Sepang Creek

STATISTICS2009 #08 Red Bull U.S. GraNd PrIx

CHrIsVermeuleN hasalways per- ■ formed well at Laguna Seca; in 2006 he scored his first dry weather pole position and eventually finished 5th after leading the race in the early stages before suffer- ing engine problems.In 2007 he finished second after qualifying on the front row – this was his first dry weather podium in MotoGP. Lastyear he finished 3rd, which is the last occasion that he has finished on the podium.Vermeulen’s 5th place finish at the Dutch TT is his best result since the San Marino GP last year.

■ RaNdyde PuNIeT’s6th place finish last year at Laguna Seca was his best result of 2008. De Puniet has finished every race so far this year and after just seven races has 51 points compared to a sea- son long total of 61 points last year.

■ JamestOselaNdraced at Laguna Seca in the years 2001 to 2004 during his time competing in the Superbike series, scor- ing a couple of podium finishes.Last year was his first ride at the circuit on a Mo- toGP machine and he qualified an excel- lent 5th on the grid but slipped down the field in the race to finish 9th.

■ Last year wasAlexdeANgelIs’ first ap- pearance at the Laguna Seca circuit and he made an instant impact with the 4th fastest time in the first practice session. However he crashed in qualifying and broke his left thumb which slowed him down in the race.

July 1st

Laguna Seca

faNTasTIc year sO Far FOr YamaHa even races into the 2009 season Yamaha are having arguably their best ever start to a S year in the premier-class, as shown with the following facts and figures:

Yamaha riders have finished first and second at the last two races.This is the first time that Yamaha have taken the top two places in successive premier-class GP races since 1993, when Luca Cadalora won his first 500cc race at Donington from team-mate Wayne Rainey and then at the next race at Brno, Rainey won with Cadalora second. Yamaha have taken five wins from the first seven races of the year. Yamaha riders have taken pole position at five of the first seven races of the year. In the two races that Yamaha riders have not won in 2009, a Yamaha rider has finished second. Yamaha lead the constructors’ classification, taking 165 points from a maximum possible 175 points.

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STATISTICS2009 #08 Red Bull U.S. GraNd PrIx

■ nIckyhaydeN wonat Laguna Seca in both 2005 and 2006.He had less fortune in 2007 when he collided withJOHNhOp- kINsthe first corner which effectively at ended his race and last year he finished 5th after qualifying on the front row of the grid.

tONIElIas’ 7th place finish last year at ■ Laguna Seca is his best result at the cir- cuit. Hewas 13th in 2005 still suffering injuries from a crash at a previous race, in 2006 he fell at the Corkscrew but re- joined the race to finish 15th and in 2007 he missed the race as he had not recov- ered from the broken femur sustained in a crash at Assen.

■ nIccOlOCaNepa and GabOrtalmacsI will all be making their first appearance at the Laguna Seca circuit.

■ SeTeGIberNau hastwice raced at La- guna Seca; in 2005 he finished 5th, just four and half seconds behind the winner after qualifying down in 13th place on the grid. In2006 he was 10th on the Ducati after a disappointing qualifying session had him 16th on the grid.

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July 1st

Laguna Seca

MOTOGP racINg Numbers 99 – Colin Edwards’ 4th place finish at the Dutch TT was the 99th time he has finished in the points in his MotoGP career.The next time he finishes in the top fifteen he will become the 14th rider in the 61 year history of Grand Prix racing to reach the milestone of 100 point scoring finishes in the premier-class. 50 – Jorge Lorenzo’s 2nd place finish at the Dutch TT was the 50th time he has stood on a Grand Prix podium.This makes him the 32nd rider to reach the milestone of 50 Grand Prix podium finishes. 49 – Following the Dutch TT there have been 49 MotoGP races without a winner from the USA, since Nicky Hayden won at Laguna Seca three years ago. 45 years ago – Race day at Laguna Seca will be the 45th anniversary of Mike Duff’s victory in the 250cc race at the Belgium Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in 1964 – the first ever GP victory by a Canadian rider.Duff had two more victories in his GP career and is still the only Canadian rider to win a Grand Prix. 27 years ago – Qualifying day at Laguna Seca will be the 27th anniversary of the first Grand Prix victory by Freddie Spencer on 4th July 1982 at the Belgium GP at Spa- Francorchamps. 19 – Valentino Rossi’s win at the Dutch TT was the 19th victory for Yamaha since the 800cc limit was introduced at the start of 2007, the same number of victories achieved by Ducati during the same period.Honda has had four victories in this period and Suzuki one. 6 – Following the Dutch TT there are still six riders who have scored points at all seven MotoGP races held so far in 2009 – Casey Stoner, Colin Edwards, Marco Melandri, Chris Vermeulen, Randy de Puniet and Alex de Angelis. 3 – Laguna Seca is one of just three current circuits where Rossi has not started from pole in the premier-class; the others are Sachsenring and Misano.