- Round: 8 - Laguna Seca MotoGP
- Circuit: Laguna Seca
- Date: 10 July 2005
- Crowd: 59,000
- Temp: 23ºC
- Weather: Sunny
- Circuit Length: 3610
- Lap Record: 1' 23.915 (Colin Edwards, 2005)
- Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 22.670 (Nicky Hayden, 2005)
Yamaha Motor Company celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a double podium finish at Laguna Seca today, as Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi took second and third place respectively in the United States Grand Prix. Both riders played a starring role in the eighth round of the MotoGP World Championship and enjoyed a thrilling battle for the final two rostrum positions that went to the last lap of a race won by Nicky Hayden (Honda). Whilst Hayden got an electric start from pole position, both Rossi and Edwards were baulked in their attempts to give chase on the opening lap. Having started from second on the grid, Rossi made it back to the same position by the end of the first lap after a battle with Troy Bayliss (Honda), whilst Edwards was forced to fight his way through the pack after being forced back to seventh in a combative first-corner clash.
With Hayden clear at the front, Rossi rode alone in second place until he was caught by his American team-mate on the sixteenth lap, when Edwards lined up an inch-perfect pass into the famous Corkscrew corner. After briefly closing down the gap to Hayden, Edwards suffered from tyre wear in the closing stages and was happy to settle for a second consecutive podium finish. Third place for Rossi extends his advantage at the top of the championship to 79 points over Marco Melandri (Honda), who crashed out on the first lap.
Both Fortuna Yamaha riders at least scored some points. When Ruben Xaus recovered from a bad start he settled into his normal rhythm and finished in 11th position. Toni Elias was unable to show his full potential at the famous but physically hard track due to the pain in his injured left wrist. Still the young Spaniard was satisfied with the three points he scored finishing his first race in almost two months in 13th position.
Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 2nd "I made another bad start and ended up with two riders making a sandwich of me into turn one. They had my handlebars on each side and just carried me into the corner so I thought it was going to end in a big mess. Once I got clear of the group I got my head down and pushed as hard as I could to pass Valentino. At that point I still had something left to try and catch Nicky but every time I closed the gap he responded, so hats off to him. When the tyres went off I was just hanging on to finish the race. I knew I had an advantage of around two seconds over Valentino but on the last lap I looked at my board and it said 0.6. I guessed it must be a mistake but I then looked over my shoulder in turn two and he was right there! I thought "oh no, not on the last lap!" I gave everything I had left to hold him off and came close to crashing a few times so second place is really pleasing."
Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 3rd;
"I lost some time during practice trying to learn the circuit so the bike was not at 100% today, and also our tyre choice was not perfect. Anyway, Nicky rode very hard and it was impossible to catch him today. I knew Colin was coming but I didn't realise how close he was and he caught me by surprise in the Corkscrew. I lost some time there but at the end he lost some of his rhythm and I tried to catch him. He turned around to look at me and I said: "Hello, I am here!" I thought maybe to attack on the last lap but then I had a vision of both Yamahas in the dirt so decided third place was okay, especially for the championship! Anyway, I am very happy because I expected this to be the hardest race of the season but I am the fastest European rider here and I fought with the Americans. I have learnt a lot to try and beat them next year! "
Davide Brivio, Gauloises Yamaha Team Director "It has been a very good weekend for us and to have both riders together on the podium for the third time this year is a nice way to celebrate Yamaha's 50th Anniversary. It is great to see the yellow, white and black colours on the podium after so many years, but most importantly we have seen Valentino extend his advantage at the top of the championship and Colin get much closer to the top. It has been a positive Grand Prix in every aspect for us. We have also enjoyed the experience of being in California, and we look forward to coming back next year."
Max Biaggi - 4th;
"It was a good race. Surely, we could have stepped on the podium this time, but it took me too long to pass Bayliss, who was slowing me down. So I lost the touch with the head of the race. I'm sorry, because I did a good start, from seventh to fourth place.
"I also liked the duel with Gibernau, tough but always fair. Well, I had fun. Today I really want to congratulate with my team-mate Nicky and with his guys. He was simply perfect all over the weekend. Bravo Nicky!
Nicky Hayden - 1st;
"This is like a fairy tale. To come to your home GP and be fastest in nearly all the sessions and get pole and then win is just a dream come true. It s been a while since I won anything - except the dating game TV thing - and this feels amazing.
"For the race I put my head down and just rode my heart out the whole race. In the middle of the race I saw the time gap come down and I thought 'oh no', but I kept focussed. Getting Earl on the back at the end is a real dirt track thing. I owe my family everything. My Mum and Dad have given up so much for us all as a family. I remember the roof leaking as a kid when it rained as all the money we had went into racing. This win is for everyone in my team - for Honda in believing in me and for all the great fans around this track today who helped me so much . Every dog has its day and today it all just came together. I'm going to enjoy this moment for sure."
Loris Capirossi - 7th;
Struck down by gastroenteritis on Friday, Loris Capirossi missed most of
that afternoon's practice session, putting him behind in his efforts to
get his Ducati Team Desmosedici set up for this extraordinarily complex
racetrack. Starting from 14th on the grid, the former Laguna 250 GP
winner completed the first lap in 12th then moved forward steadily,
catching the four-man group battling for sixth place. He ended the 32
laps less than four seconds behind sixth-place finisher Troy Bayliss.
"I'm pretty happy with this race, considering the fact that I've been
sick all weekend," he said. "I was able to chase a good group, although
I wasn't 100 per cent certain about the rear tyre I chose because I
didn't have enough time to test it fully during practice. But the tyre
was good until the last few laps when I felt a little vibration and
eased off a bit. Considering the whole weekend, the race went okay for
me."
Carlos Checa - DNF;
Carlos Checa rode a storming first few laps at Laguna this afternoon,
moving up from eighth place to challenge Bayliss in sixth spot. But on
lap nine the Ducati Team rider slid off as he braked for the downhill
turn-two hairpin, escaping from the tumble without injury.
"My start and my first few laps weren't so bad," said the Spaniard who
rode the seventh quickest lap of the race. "I was catching Bayliss when
I lost the front at turn two. It went away as I flicked into the turn,
though it seemed like I was using the same braking point and the same
line as usual. It's a shame, because I thought we could get some good
points here."
Race classification MotoGP;
- 1. N. Hayden, Honda (USA) - 45' 15.374
- 2. C. Edwards, Yamaha (USA) - +1.941
- 3. V. Rossi, Yamaha (ITA) - +2.312
- 4. M. Biaggi, Honda (ITA) - +4.216
- 5. S. Gibernau, Honda (ESP) - +4.478
- 6. T. Bayliss, Honda (AUS) - +22.381
- 7. M. Tamada, Honda (JPN) - +22.493
- 8. J. Hopkins, Suzuki (USA) - +23.148
- 9. S. Nakano, Kawasaki (JPN) - +23.625
- 10. L. Capirossi, Ducati (ITA) - +26.123
- 11. R. Xaus, Yamaha (ESP) - +43.512
- 12. A. Hofman, Kawasaki (GER) - +50.957
- 13 T. Elias, Yamaha (ESP) - +51.343
- 14 K. Roberts, Suzuki (USA) - +1' 13.749
- 15 S. Byrne Proton, KR (GBR) - +1' 24.256
Fastest Race Lap:
- 1. C. Edwards Yamaha USA 1' 23.915
Championship standings MotoGP;
- 1. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha (ITA) - 186
- 2. Marco Melandri, Honda (ITA) - 107
- 3. Max Biaggi, Honda (ITA) - 100
- 4. Sete Gibernau, Honda (ESP) - 95
- 5. Colin Edwards, Yamaha (USA) - 93
- 6. Nicky Hayden, Honda (USA) - 85
- 7. Alex Barros, Honda (BRA) - 74
- 8. Loris Capirossi, Ducati (ITA) - 55
- 9. Shinya Nakano, Kawasaki (JPN) - 55
- 10. Troy Bayliss, Honda (AUS) - 47
- 11. Carlos Checa, Ducati (ESP) - 40
- 12. Ruben Xaus, Yamaha (ESP) - 33
- 13. Makato Tamada, Honda (JPN) - 27
- 14. John Hopkins, Suzuki (USA) - 27
- 15. Olivier Jacque, Kawasaki (FRA) - 25
- 16. Toni Elias, Yamaha (ESP) - 18
Manufacturers standings MotoGP;
- 1. Yamaha - 190
- 2. Honda - 166
- 3. Kawasaki - 75
- 4. Ducati - 64
- 5. Suzuki - 35
- 6. Blata WCM - 4
- 7. Proton KR - 1
- 8. Moriwaki - 1
Team standings MotoGP;
- 1. Yamaha Racing Team - 279
- 2. Team Movistar Honda MotoGP - 202
- 3. Repsol Honda Team - 185
- 4. Honda Camel - 121
- 5. Ducati Marlboro Team - 95
- 6. Kawasaki Racing Team - 93
- 7. Fortuna Yamaha Team - 55
- 8. Konica Minolta Honda - 39
- 9. Team Suzuki MotoGP - 38
- 10. D'Antin MotoGP - 7
- 11. Blata WCM - 4
- 12. Team Roberts KR - 1
