Second consecutive race for the MotoGP protagonists who fly overseas to race the eleventh championship appointment on the extremely technical Californian track in Laguna Seca. For both Pramac d’Antin riders will be a very important round where they have to focus on the first positions. The Italo-Spanish Team guys are anxious to verify their good physical conditions, in spite of the accident to the right hand, to be able to exalt the very good performances of the Ducati – Bridgestone binomial, now leader in the championship.
As usual the race week-end will start on Friday 20th with free practice ending on Sunday 22nd with the race that will take place at 2:00 pm local time.
Alex Barros (69 points – 10th place in the championship): “For the Californian GP I hope to be again in good conditions after the two falls I had during the last week-end in Sachsenring. Furthermore I know that I have at my disposal a competitive material and if my hand won’t pain me, the focus should remain the top-five. The track is not particularly fast, but at the same time is very technical so I’m sure I will be able to find immediately a very good bike set-up and to use my experience to be good and fast”.
Alex Hofmann (60 points - 11th place in the championship):“I’m very happy to go to the United States where an interesting track and a really special atmosphere are waiting for me, actually the circuit is one of my favorite ones. Last year, despite the tire gap, I dispu ted one of my best races. For this reason I’m very confident that with the full recovery from the accident to the right hand, I will achieve an excellent result thanks to the support of Bridgestone and Ducati”.
Luis d’Antin – Team manager:
“Considering that the last week-end in Germany was not as expected, because of Barros’s falls and Hofmann’s accident, the next race in Laguna Seca is very important for our championship. I’m waiting for a really good and exciting competition for both my riders. I’m confident because last year Hofmann disputed an excellent race even if our technical conditions were not competitive; furthermore this circuit is very technical and Barros, if he recovers from the crash, will do a good race showing his qualities.”
The CircuitThis circuit, completed in 1957, has permitted the return of the MotoGp championship on the American scenery in 2005, after having suffered important modifications in terms of security.
The track is not particularly fast but very technical and has an average long straight; the famous “corkscrew turn” makes it very spectacular.
Opened: 1996
Modified: 1996
Length: 3610m
Width: 15m
Longest Straight: 966m
Right turns: 4
Left turns: 7
Pole position: right
Final Result 2006 – MotoGP Class:1. Nicky Hayden: 45’04.115;
2. Dani Pedrosa: 45’08.053;
3. Marco Melandri: 45’15.796;
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