Valentino Rossi Will battle Nicky Hayden this weekend on the asphalt of The Brickyard

Hayden’s teammate in the absence of Casey Stoner is MotoGP rookie Mika Kallio, who will ride out onto the pavement of a MotoGP premier competition for the first time this weekend. The lighter bike classes don’t run on the pavement of Laguna Seca and Kallio missed the Californian MotoGP race due to injury earlier in the season, while last year he competed in the 250cc class.

The asphalt of Seca Laguna is going to be challenging for all the racers, but especially for a rider who hasn’t experienced the three different kinds of asphalt that exist on the track. This is going to make the set-up for the bike and each individual racer a little bit different for each. If they get the set-up right and Kallio has a good race, he could finish in the top ten and maybe in the top five. Nicky Hayden is a different story, as expectations are a little higher for him in a personal way and with his fans. He has had many races on the asphalt of the Brickyard and he has an excellent chance of having a very good race and maybe even a podium finish.

Pressure and expectations can be a double-edged sword as many of us have certainly experienced but Hayden is the kind that handles it well. This is his chance to grab the spot light from Casey Stoner, expect him to pull out all the stops and live on the edge in an effort to be the best.

Meanwhile, Hayden’s temporary team-mate in the absence of Casey Stoner, MotoGP rookie Mika Kallio is due to make his U.S. race debut this weekend. The smaller classes do not compete at Laguna Seca and Kallio missed the Californian MotoGP race due to injury earlier in the season, whilst last year he was part of the 250cc field which was unable to compete at Indy due to the bad weather.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

MotoGP Returns to Brickyard This Weekend

Valentino Rossi wins the 2007 Red Bull US Grand Prix

Part of the history of the MotoGP and Laguna Seca are actually written in the events and outcomes of six previous MotoGP World Championship races at Laguna Seca, which all occurred before the return of the MotoGP to Laguna Seca in 2005. Before these six races at Laguna Seca there had been another gap between races of 22 years, before MotoGP returned to Laguna Seca for the six races in 1988. This year’s competition is going to be the eleventh MotoGP race held at this historic circuit, so, to mark the occasion, were going to talk a bit about the history of MotoGP at Laguna Seca.

1988 was a memorable year for Americans at Laguna Seca, as American Eddie Lawson won the 500cc Grand Prix race at this track, while American Jim Filice won the 250cc race as a replacement for Masahiro Shimizu on a factory Honda. The following year American Wayne Rainey once again won the 500cc race for his home town fans, while John Kocinski won the 250cc competition as a wild card entry. In 1990 the trend of American victory continued as both Wayne Rainey and John Kociniski again took the honors, and then both riders continued on to take the World Championship in their classes. The next three years would see American dominance dissipate a bit and ended with total world dominance at the circuit in 1994.

The MotoGP returned again to Laguna Seca in 2005 and American Nicky Hayden would win the first return-race at this unique venue after an extended absence. He would repeat his performance again in 2006 and in the process become the first American rider to win the Grand Prix World Championship on a four stroke motorcycle. In 2007 Australian Casey Stoner would start on the pole and lead from start to finish, the first victory for Ducati and Bridgestone tires on this historic track. Last year, Valentino Rossi took the flag at Laguna Seca on his way to becoming the Grand Prix World Champion.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

MotoGP Returns to Laguna Seca

The MotoGP 2009 season kicks off at Qatar

Casey is probably feeling pretty good heading into the first race of the 2009 MotoGP season, he was the winner in the BMW M Award competition held at Jerez, which has probably given him a little shot of adrenalin as he makes his way to Qatar in search of a second MotoGP World Championship. His Desmosedici GP9 ran pretty fast and nimbly in the Jerez test, and he’s surely feeling confident about his bike, but is taking nothing for granted and is preparing as we speak to go to war.

American Nicky Hayden will be starting his 100^th Grand Prix race as Stoner’s teammate with Ducati, an amazing feat that Nicky should be proud of, and hopefully one of many to come for the American prodigy. Like all the racers, I’m sure he would love some more quality time with his bike, but knows the curtain has to rise sometime on the season, and just wants to do what he loves, race.

The months of hard work for Casey Stoner, and all the racers, and the team of professionals that supports him in his bid for a second world championship is about to be put to the test again. Improvements to the power delivery from the engine, the stability of the bike’s carbon frame, and even a new carbon swingarm have under gone testing and now its time to see how they work under race conditions.

Casey and Nicky will be taking their bikes out to test them against the track and other bikes in two days, you can catch them in their bids for glory and world championships as millions of other fans will on television and even in person, in two days time.

Image: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

MotoGP 2009 Begins at Qatar