Associated Press
Marc Marquez, a Repsol Honda rider, won the United States Grand Prix MotoGP event Sunday at the Laguna Seca raceway near Monterey, Calif. Marquez fell to fourth at the start, but eventually passed Valentino Rossi in the track's diabolical corkscrew. Then Marquez caught and passed Stefan Bradl, the pole position starter, for the lead. Marquez had built a 2.2-second lead by the checkered flag.
Marquez, in his rookie season in the series, now leads Dani Pedrosa, his teammate, who finished sixth, by 16 points in the season points battle. The next race is at Indianapolis on Aug. 18.
In other racing action during the weekend:
* Andrea Antonelli, 25, an Italian rider, died Sunday in a crash during a rain-drenched round of the World Supersport motorcycle racing series in Moscow. The remainder of the event was canceled, as was the second event in the World Superbike doubleheader.
When the race started, the leaders tore off from the starting line at full speed. Riders farther back in the pack were blinded by spray. Antonelli fell and was run over by Lorenzo Zanetti. Antonelli was pronounced dead at the hospital from massive head trauma. Zanetti was absolved of blame, officials said.
The rain had begun during the first race of the event. A number of riders fell, but Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies, his BMW teammate, seemed to thrive in the worsening conditions. Davies led early, but was caught and finally passed in the late going by Melandri. Ayrton Badovini took third on a Ducati.
* Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr won the American Le Mans Series race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park near Bowmanville, Ontario, on Sunday. Marino Franchitti and Scott Tucker topped the P2 prototype class.
It was the 45th A.L.M.S. series victory for Luhr, who was sharing a HPD ARX-03c prototype in the 2 hour and 45 minute race. It was the fifth consecutive win at the track for Luhr and Graf, who led every lap Sunday en route to their fourth victory of the season.
Franchitti, the younger brother of Dario Franchitti, the three-time Indianapolis 500 champion, teamed with Tucker in an HPD ARX-03b. They edged out Scott Sharp and Guy Cosmo, who drove the No. 01 Tequila Patron HPD ARX-03b.
* Spencer Massey beat Bob Vandergriff Jr. in Sunday's Top Fuel final at the Mile High N.H.R.A. Nationals drag races near Denver. Massey, whose run topped out at 309.27 m.p.h., beat Vandergriff, at 304.67 m.p.h. on the clock by 0.055 of a second.
Even closer finals were staged in Pro Stock, where Allen Johnson edged V. Gaines by 0.026 of a second and in Pro Stock Motorcycle where Shawn Gann beat Hector Arana Jr. by 0.025 of a second. Cruz Pedregon defeated Bob Tasca III in the Funny Car final.
David Davies/Press Association, via Associated Press
* Susie Wolff, hoping to become the first woman in four decades to qualify for a Formula One race, had a promising debut Friday at a test session in Silverstone, England. Wolff, whose only previous Formula One experience was with video games and simulators, posted the ninth fastest time in the session, completing 89 laps without incident. Sebastian Vettel, the defending series champion, was fastest; Wolff was a little more than two seconds slower.
Wolff, 30, is married to Toto Wolff, the former Williams F1 executive director.
* Nascar announced on Friday that it was prohibiting further use of aerial camera systems, nearly two months after a Fox Sports cable snapped and injured 10 fans and damaged some cars racing on the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway. A section of the camera's drive rope failed and dropped into the grandstand.
www.yahootrend.com