Honda Worldwide | Repsol Honda Team | Repsol Honda Team to receive new engine and chassis for Laguna Seca

2012 U.S. Grand Prix - Laguna Seca - Preview - 24/07/2012

Date : 24/07/2012

Repsol Honda Team to receive new engine and chassis for Laguna Seca

The Repsol Honda Team crosses the Atlantic Ocean this week and heads to California to participate in the first race of the season in America. The Red Bull US Grand Prix in Laguna Seca will be the tenth round of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship, the fourth race in five weeks and the last race for the teams and riders before the summer break.

HRC have been very productive since Mugello and have prepared the new parts that both Dani and Casey tested on the Monday test. In Laguna, Dani Pedrosa will have a new engine and chassis as he requested, and Casey will have the new engine in the standard chassis which he feels more comfortable with.

Laguna Seca is a very particular track, the shortest of the Championship, quite bumpy, technical and physically very demanding, not only due to the high temperatures that can easily reach up to 30 degrees but also because of the tiresome 32 lap race.

Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner, second and third respectively after the first half of the Championship, have both won in Laguna Seca in the past. Casey has taken the top step of the podium twice (in 2007 and 2011, the two seasons in which he was MotoGP World Champion) and Dani won in 2009 and crashed the year after while leading the race. Two more podium finishes for each (Casey in 2008 and 2010) and Dani (in 2006 and 2011) make both Honda factory riders confident to fight at front of the field in California.

DANI PEDROSA – World Championship Position: 2nd with 166 points

"I'm really looking forward to racing in Laguna Seca. The atmosphere there is fantastic and it's a very particular track, nothing like what we are used to in Europe. Laguna is very small, bumpy and technical. Last year it was a very hard race for me due to the lack of fitness, so I hope to enjoy riding there again as we did in the past. Honda has made a big effort to bring the new parts to Laguna so we'll have our standard bike but we'll also get the new engine and chassis we tested in Mugello and I hope we can take advantage of these improvements and have another good race".

CASEY STONER – World Championship Position: 3rd with 148 points

"I always look forward to going to Laguna, it's a circuit we've enjoyed quite good results at and the atmosphere there is fantastic. The circuit is a very tight and technical and it's definitely a positive that it goes around to the left, as we have less chatter on the left hand side. However, some of the most critical corners are right handers so it depends how we can get the bike set up before I can say if we'll be competitive. We've had a nice short break since Mugello and we're looking to improve on our results from the last two races. HRC have worked hard in Japan to provide us with the new engine and some parts from the test, hopefully we can have three dry sessions to get some work done and be competitive for Sunday, but we'll have to wait until we get on track".

Championship standings

1	Jorge Lorenzo	185 pts	SPA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Factory Racing Team
2	Dani Pedrosa	166 pts	SPA	HONDA	Repsol Honda Team
3	Casey Stoner	148 pts	AUS	HONDA	Repsol Honda Team
4	Andrea Dovizioso	108 pts	ITA	YAMAHA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3
5	Cal Crutchlow	95 pts	GBR	YAMAHA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3
6	Valentino Rossi	82 pts	ITA	DUCATI	Ducati Team
7	Stefan Bradl	75 pts	GER	HONDA	LCR Honda MotoGP
8	Nicky Hayden	74 pts	USA	DUCATI	Ducati Team
9	Alvaro Bautista	73 pts	SPA	HONDA	San Carlo Honda Gresini
10	Ben Spies	66 pts	USA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Factory Racing Team
11	Hector Barbera	60 pts	SPA	DUCATI	Pramac Racing
12	Randy De Puniet	28 pts	FRA	ART	Aspar Team MotoGP
13	Aleix Espargaro	26 pts	ESP	ART	Aspar Team MotoGP
14	Michelle Pirro	16 pts	ITA	HONDA	San Carlo Honda Gresini
15	Mattia Pasini	13 pts	ITA	ART	Speed Master
16	James Ellison	12 pts	GBR	ART	Paul Bird Racing
17	Danillo Petrucci	9 pts	ITA	IODA	Ioda Racing Project
18	Colin Edwards	8 pts	USA	SUTER	NGM Mobile Forward Racing
19	Yonny Hernandez	6 pts	COL	BQR-FTR	BQR
20	Ivan Silva	5 pts	SPA	BQR-FTR	BQR
21	Karel Abraham	4 pts	CZE	DUCATI	Cardion AB Motoracing
22	Franco Battaini	0 pts	ITA	DUCATI	Ducati Team
23	Chris Vermeulen	0 pts	AUS	SUTER	NGM Mobile Forward Racing

Circuit information

First race	1988 (Modified 1996)
GPs held	13
Laps	32
Race distance	115.520km / 71.776miles
Track length	3.610km / 2.243miles
Track width	15m
Longest straight	0.966km / 0.6miles
Corners	11 (4 right, 7 left)
Pole position	Right

Circuit records

Pole position	1m20.700s (161.040Km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2008)
Race lap	1m21.376s (159.703Km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2010)
Race time	43m52.145s (157.997Km/h) Casey Stoner Honda, 2011)
Premier Class Wins	3 (Wayne Rainey 1989, 1990-01)
2010 Winner	Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
2011 Winner	Casey Stoner (Honda)

RELEASE