MotoGP gears up for Laguna Seca with rookie Marc Marquez leading the series. American Nicky Hayden will not be back with Ducati next season.
Texan Colin Edwards, a veteran MotoGP racer, is riding a Kawasaki-powered bike for a privateer team. "I love poppin' wheelies," he says. (Photo: Ty VanHooydonk for USA TODAY)
MONTEREY, Calif. - Spanish rookie Marc Marquez, with two MotoGP wins already this year, is keeping the pressure on more senior rivals as international motorcycle racing makes its biggest ever effort to gain more fans and attention in the United States.
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, a 2.2-mile track on a Northern California hilltop, was shrouded in a wet, chilly fog Saturday as riders made final practice runs for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix race here Sunday.
It is the second of three U.S. races this year for the international championship that represents the highest level of two-wheeled motorsports in the world and is commonly referred to as the Formula 1 of motorcycling, backed by a similarly muscular marketing machine like the international auto series. Following an April race at the new road course at Austin, Texas, MotoGP goes to the brickyard at Indianapolis next month.
Marquez, 20, won at Austin and earlier this month in Germany. In practice Friday, he smoked the field with the fastest practice lap time of 1.22.040, more than two-tenths of a second faster than the nearest competitor. Marquez will be starting Sunday's race in the second position. Stefan Bradl of Germany won his first pole start with a 1:21.176 lap on a LCR Honda.
Marquez's Repsol Honda teammate and fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, 27, is second to him in the point standings for the series championship, with the top five riders grouped tightly so far in the bid for the world title.
Pedrosa is nursing a cracked collarbone and, wincing during an interview with USA Today, said his goal is not so much victory this weekend as survival: "I just try to take some points ... and be back strong'' at Indianapolis.
"My aim here is to finish the race and get the maximum points possible,'' he said. He appeared still in pain in Saturday's practice laps, turning times more than one second off his junior teammate's pace.
Livio Suppo, a manager as Honda Repsol team principal, said Pedrosa's injury has been difficult to manage: While it wasn't severe enough to require surgery, it is aggravated by a sudden or wrong movement. "It might be better'' had it been completely broken and repaired with metal plates or pins, Suppo said.
"It's a difficult weekend for Dani,'' Suppo said.
Yamaha factory rider Jorge Lorezno, 26, also a Spaniard, is third in points and also is riding through pain after a severe collarbone break in a crash at Assen, Netherlands in late June. He broke it again in a crash one week later in Germany.
While it was in question whether he would even attempt to run here after two surgeries, Yamaha spokesman Bob Starr said Lorenzo was feeling better than expected a day before the Laguna Seca race.
Valentino Rossi, a nine time world champion at 34, is a wildcard here. After a disappointing two years with Ducati, where efforts to develop a groundbreaking new carbon frame fell short, Rossi is back with Yamaha and already has a win, at Assan.
In fourth place in the standings is British rider Cal Crutchlow, also on a Yamaha. Knocking at the door is Monster Yamaha Tech3 teammate Bradley Smith.
The top American running is Nicky Hayden, the 2006 MotoGP champion who learned this week he won't be back with the Ducati team next year. Texas veteran Colin Edwards, a former World Superbike champion, is on a Kawasaki-powered privateer team.
Gaining more U.S. interest is an aim of the MotoGP series, evidenced by its three U.S. races this year, the most ever. MotoGP began in 1949 and was dominated by Americans during the 1980s, but it remains a largely foreign experience with races as far flung as Qatar, Europe, Asia and Australia.
"This is the top of the top,'' Starr said as he stood in Yamaha's trackside garage, surrounded by high-tech equipment and four motorcycles, each hand built with exotic materials at a production cost of $1 million or more apiece - not counting research and development.
The bikes are packed with electronic wizardry - each is equiped with three video cameras, constantly beams telemetry data to technicians in the pits, and provides engine management programming that can be changed on the fly by the rider. The changing weather conditions of Monterey Bay poses a challenge for tire and suspension settings, with final adjustments being made right up to the race start and through the competition.
But the racing has appeal on more basic levels too. As the Texan Edwards explained this week, "I love poppin' wheelies.''
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