Red Bull Suzuki is heading Stateside THIS weekend will see the newly announced Red Bull Suzuki team racing in the first United States motorcycle Grand Prix to be held in the country for 10 years. The Red Bull US Grand Prix will be staged at the spectacular 3.6km Laguna Seca Raceway, situated near Monterey in California. The track has undergone major safety work to comply with MotoGP regulations, but it still features one of the most famous and challenging turns in racing – `The Corkscrew’. Only the MotoGP class will be racing in America. The 125’s and 250’s are not on the card but the premier event will be ably supported by the AMA Superbike Championship featuring Suzuki’s Mat Mladin on his GSX-R1000. Mladin is the reigning Champion and current Championship leader. Kevin Schwantz will also be making his MotoGP comeback – although this time not on two wheels. Suzuki’s 1993 World Champion will be competing in a kart race that will also feature many other ex-racers such as Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson This Grand Prix will be especially significant for Suzuki racers Kenny Roberts Jr and John Hopkins. Both riders are from California and live within close proximity to Laguna, so this weekend is a true homecoming for the two Suzuki stars. Team SUZUKI MotoGP has joined forces with leading energy drinks company Red Bull for a one-off partnership at the USGP. The Suzuki GSV-R will highlight a striking new paint-scheme featuring the distinctive sun and charging bull signature trademark of Red Bull. Both riders will also be sporting brand new Red Bull Suzuki leathers and all crew-members and the pit-box backdrops will have new livery. Team Manager Paul Denning is excited about the prospect of a new sponsor and both riders’ return to America. He said: “This is a great opportunity for Suzuki. It has given the whole team a lift to have Red Bull’s livery on the side of the GSV-R. Red Bull is not only the title sponsor of Team SUZUKI MotoGP but it is also the title sponsor of the event itself – it’s going to be a big weekend for both Red Bull and Suzuki. “John and Kenny are really looking forward to the race. John has been doing practice laps of Laguna in his head ever since the date was announced and now can’t wait to get out there for real. He has a big fan-base coming to cheer him on and will be looking to put on a good show for them. Kenny has been involved in the new safety features for the Laguna circuit and is convinced that the Californian track is one of the safest in MotoGP. He will be racing in the States for the first time since he became World Champion in 2000, look out for a special helmet design which will go down very well at home!” Red Bull Suzuki will begin practice sessions at 10.00hrs (local time, 19.00hrs CET) on Friday 8th July. This session will be two hours long to give riders and crews more chance to find the correct set-ups and lines on a circuit many of them have not visited before. Further hour long practice sessions will be held on Friday afternoon and the following morning before the real business of qualifying gets underway on Saturday afternoon at 14.00hrs (local time, 23.00hrs CET). The Red Bull US Grand Prix begins at 14.00hrs (local time, 23.00hrs CET) on Sunday 10th July with both riders hoping to be charging towards success on their Red Bull Suzukis. More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda: —————————————————————– TRACK FACTS – USA GRAND PRIX – 10/07/05 LAGUNA SECA —————————————————————– LAGUNA SECA -TRACK FACTS Grand Prix motorcycle racing makes a welcome return to the USA at the superbly situated Laguna Seca circuit in California. The MotoGP machines will make their first appearance at the demanding 3.610 kms circuit situated in the hills above the Pacific ocean and the town of Monterey. Laguna staged the US Grand Prix for six years between 1988 – 1994 but financial and safety problems meant the last grand prix to be staged there was in 1994, won by Italian Luca Cadalora, riding the 500cc Yamaha. During the 11 year MotoGP absence, Laguna staged many successful rounds of the World Superbike Championship. A programme of safety changes at the track, which includes the famous Corkscrew bend, have signalled the return of the World Championship to a venue that was built in 1957. The MotoGP race will be part of the race programme which will also include rounds of the AMA Championships, including the Superbike Championship. The Camel Honda team approach the historic weekend with an advantage over a number of the other MotoGP teams, both their riders have competed at Laguna with success. Brazilian Alex Barros rode in that last 500cc race in 1994 and the previous year finished second to American John Kocinski, riding the Suzuki. His team-mate, Australian Troy Bayliss has done even better. He won the first race at the World Superbike Championship meeting in 2002. The US Grand Prix was first held at the famous banked Daytona circuit in Florida in 1964/65. The late Mike Hailwood won both 500cc races on the MV Agusta. There was then a gap of 23 years before Laguna staged the grand prix with Eddie Lawson winning the 500cc race on a Yamaha. It’s an important race for both MotoGP and Laguna Seca. Everybody is looking forward to racing in the USA where the American fans will get their first chance of watching MotoGP. It promises to be a fantastic weekend. FROM THE SADDLE Alex Barros: “I’m honestly delighted to be returning to Laguna Seca because I love it and because I’m eager to get a good race under my belt after Assen. It’s a track with a unique character which has always excited me, with lots of hills; it almost reminds me of a Supercross track! I have ridden there four times and in ’93 stepped onto the podium. Luckily they have improved the run-off areas too, because in the nineties they were basically non-existent. . Now I’m sure that it will be very safe. I don’t know how many of the current riders have raced there before, but I think that everyone will love it straight away, because it has a great layout which is a joy to ride.” Troy Bayliss: “I think that the current lap record will last about fifteen minutes of the first MotoGP practice session! I’m really curious to see what we can do with these bikes at Laguna, a real ‘riders’ track which is beautiful but also a little dangerous, at least in the past it was anyway. The first time I rode there I got pole and obviously I’d love to do as well with the Honda. One thing’s for sure, Sunday’s race will be one of the best events ever to have taken place at the track.” —————————————————————– CIRCUIT – USA GRAND PRIX – 10/07/05 LAGUNA SECA —————————————————————– Track data: Length: 3.610 kms Pole position: Left. Width: 15 m Right corners: Four. Left corners: Seven. Longest straight: 966 m Constructed. 1957. Modified: 2005. Lap record Superbikes. Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia) 1m25.475s – 152.044 km/h (2002). Pole record Superbikes: Colin Edwards (Honda) 1m24.888s – 153.96 km/h (2002). 500cc lap record: John Kocinski (Cagiva) 1m 26.444s – 147.175 km/h (1994) 500cc pole record: Mick Doohan (Honda) 1m26.068 km/h – 147.818 km/h (1994) —————————————————————– TECHNICAL INSIGHT – USA GRAND PRIX – 10/07/05 LAGUNA SECA —————————————————————– Laguna Seca circuit was inaugurated in 1957 on a small plain 250mts above sea level and 12 Km to the east of Monterey in the state of California. This circuit has been modified only very slightly over the years, but more recently several areas have been remodelled to comply with the strict safety regulations laid down by the International Federation of Motorcycling. The track layout has not been altered but the escape routes and the levels of safety have been improved for the MotoGP race. The track configuration is somewhat peculiar with corners that are not found on any other circuits in the World Championship. The most famous part of the circuit is without doubt the “Corkscrew”, a very show chicane taken at approximately 60 Km/h and situated on a sharp down slope which can you a bout of vertigo if you go through it on foot! Another point in the circuit worth mentioning is the start/finish straight which is very short and also made up of two slight changes in direction with the added problem that just before the second small change in direction there is a bump in the track surface where the bikes will literally take off in the air at more than 270 Km/h. This will be one of the key points to watch out for, because it is potentially a dangerous part of the track, but also one which will mark out the differences between the top riders. Just before the “Corkscrew” corner there is another change in the track level where the bikes will almost certainly lose contact with the track, and it comes just before the sharp braking point coming into the “Corkscrew”. The drop just after the “Corkscrew” is also very spectacular with two fast corners taken at 135 km/h leading up to the steep slope which leads to the very slow corner (60 Km/h) which comes onto the main straight. This could be considered a good overtaking point. Regarding the technical set-up of the bike at Laguna Seca, very short gear ratios must be used, possible the shortest in the entire World Championship. With top speeds on the straight being relatively low at around 280 km/h, and with a couple of corners taken at less than 70 Km/h, it is unlikely that the teams will make use of a normal 6-speed gear change. More likely they will only employ 5 gears, and the sixth will be redundant (normally, in situations where not all gears are used, it is the first gear that is redundant). In MotoGP bikes where the power is delivered at low revs, only five gears can be used without losing acceleration and we also save valuable hundredths of a second by eliminating an unnecessary gear change on the straight. Regarding suspensions, a hard front fork will be used to withstand the sharp braking in the “Andretti Hairpin” and “Corkscrew” corners and also the corner leading onto the straight. The rear suspension must also be hard enough to withstand the force exerted in the fast corners and in the rapad change of direction in the “Corkscrew” Th combination of a relatively hard suspensions front and back, with short gear ratios means that teams will experience problems with wheelies in many parts of the circuit. The electronic power delivery control systems will play a significant part in improving the performance of the bikes in this respect at this circuit. The extra hour of practice given to the teams by the race organisers will be valuable in gaining a good set-up for the bike in time for Saturday’s qualification session at a circuit which is so peculiar and where teams have been absent for so many years. More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca 8, 9, 10 July 2005 HONDA MEN TO RIDE WEST COAST ROLLER-COASTER The first United States Grand Prix for 11 years gets underway here at Laguna Seca, south of San Francisco, on Friday. The heavily modified track will be an unknown quantity for many riders, but those who have ridden here before know what a challenge it presents. Alex Barros (Camel Honda RC211V) is the only rider to have ridden at Laguna on a Grand Prix machine (500cc). He finished second to John Kocinski in 1993 and knows first hand what a demanding track it is. But other MotoGP contenders have experienced Laguna’s roller-coaster contours too although on different machinery. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) finished second in an AMA Superbike race here in 2002 and the 23-year-old also attended as a 12-year-old spectator in 1994. Max Biaggi (Repsol Honda RC211V) was second to Doriano Romboni on a 250cc machine in 1994, while Troy Bayliss (Camel Honda RC211V) won one leg of a World Superbike round in 2002 and finished second in the other. These riders will start with something of an advantage over their rivals, although $2m of safety modifications will have changed the nature of this famous circuit to a degree. But without the changes, Laguna would have been unable to meet the safety requirements of Grand Prix racing in the new four-stroke era. The money has been spent on extending the run-off area into turn one, a left-hander at the end of a start/finish straight with a pronounced crest on it a crest that allowed the previous generation of 500cc two-strokes to break traction in the higher gears. The faster four-strokes can be expected to aviate over this rise. The racing promises to be nothing less than spectacular, with the celebrated downhill ‘corkscrew’ sure to excite both riders and fans alike as these 250bhp rocket-ships negotiate the blind downhill left/right twist. The braking area run-off into the corkscrew has also been extended. Run-off at turn nine has been improved and the kerbs have been standardised to MotoGP requirements. The 3.6km track features four right-hand turns and seven left-handers, but the gradients are what make this desert speed-bowl such a challenge. With no 125 or 250 races, these slots will instead be filled with US national series races, the MotoGP race will be the focus for race fans who have long been deprived of racing’s premier series on US soil. Tickets for the event have sold out. Barros, currently fifth in the overall points table said, “I’m honestly delighted to be returning to Laguna Seca because I love it and because I’m eager to get a good race under my belt after Assen. It’s a track with a unique character with lots of hills it almost reminds me of a Supercross track! I have ridden there four times and in ’93 stepped onto the podium. Luckily they have improved the run-off areas too, because in the nineties they were basically non-existent. I think that everyone will love its great layout which is a joy to ride.” His team-mate Troy Bayliss is equally enthusiastic, and said, “I think the current lap record will last about fifteen minutes of the first MotoGP practice session! I’m really curious to see what we can do with these bikes at Laguna, a real ‘riders’ track. It’s beautiful but also a little dangerous, at least in the past it was anyway. The first time I rode there I got pole and obviously I’d love to do as well with the Honda. One thing’s for sure, Sunday’s race will be one of the best events ever to have taken place at the track.” While Bayliss will be looking to shine at a happy hunting ground from his past, current World Championship contenders like Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) will be looking for nothing less than a victory to stay in touch with series leader Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who currently leads second-placed Marco by 63 points. “Laguna Seca is weird because there are lots of ups and downs,” said Marco. “In reality the track is different to how it looks on television. Everything revolves around the corkscrew. You get to it by coming down from a long left-hand corner, followed by a tight choke towards the bottom very tight and in the opposite direction. You really need to be brave because it is a blind corner. I can’t wait to ride here, it’s one of the legendary tracks in motorcycle racing.” His team-mate Sete Gibernau (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) is ready for the challenge too. “I have never ridden at Laguna Seca but I have watched a race as a spectator in 1993,” he said. “I spent a couple of days on Kenny Roberts’ ranch in Modesto and I went with him to Laguna where he was racing as a wild card. I was very taken by the track, different from all the others and with its famous ‘corkscrew’ which makes it unique I can’t wait to race here. Laguna is considered one of the classics to race on and I still haven’t. Considering its location and atmosphere, I am sure it will be an absolutely special Grand Prix.” Max knows it, and said, “I remember the track was pretty small, tight and thus very technical. The new bikes are more powerful than ever so it’s should be fun riding down there. I hope the safety conditions have improved much more, because this was the real weak point of this circuit. Anyhow, racing in California is always magic. I like racing in front of the American public and it would be the perfect scene to come back to a good result.” For his team-mate Nicky Hayden, this Sunday can’t come quick enough. “Ever since I was a kid I dreamt of riding in a Grand Prix at home,” he said. “In fact I remember the last Grand Prix here. Me and my brother did this road trip guess I was about 12. We sneaked in no passes or any of that stuff and had a ball. I’m so pleased that it all came together to get the race here. I know a lot of people have worked real hard to make this happen. I just hope we can put on a good show.” Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V), who had an operation on his right forearm last week in Barcelona, said, “This will be the first time for me on this circuit. My physical condition is good despite last week’s operation. It will be hard but as soon as I step onto my RC211V the pain will go away. I absolutely must be back at last year’s level because my objective is to improve on last year’s final result.”
