Rossi stops Stoner at Laguna

From motogp.com

Valentino Rossi added Laguna Seca to his list of conquered tracks on the MotoGP calendar in a breathtaking Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday, ending Casey Stoner´s run of wins and garnering an important addition to his points tally heading into the summer break.

In contrast to his comments after Saturday´s qualifying session, Rossi needed neither a gun nor a 30-second headstart to stop the man so dominant in practice. Instead he relied on a storming start and his best pace of the weekend to stifle Stoner´s breakaway attempt, presenting himself as the only object between the Australian and a fourth consecutive victory.

A speedy start, some shaky moments and two top caliber riders separated from the rest of the field made for a thrilling race, and the end result of a 33rd victory for Rossi for the factory Yamaha team – equaling his total for previous manufacturer Honda.

"For me it has been fantastic," Rossi said. "It´s the first time that I´ve been able to win here, and it was an unbelievable race. The crew made some modifications and I was able to take a much better pace. I had a good start, then a great battle with Casey, which was a lot of fun. It´s an important victory – very emotional - and now in the summer break we will relax, because the championship is so long."

The deciding moment of the race came on lap 24, as Stoner and Rossi prepared to enter the home straight. Having battled back-and-forth amongst themselves at every corner, Stoner ran wide onto the gravel. An attempt to dig his left foot in order to push himself back on-track led to a fall for the 22-year-old, although he nonetheless picked the Ducati Desmosedici GP8 back up with a cushion on the timesheet significant enough to allow him to finish second and move up in the overall classification.

"The mistake I made past halfway was mine; I ran a little wide and lost the front on the turn as I tried to get back on track," Stoner admitted. "It was race over after that. I enjoyed a lot of the race, but I felt that some of the passes a bit too much for me. I´ve been racing for a lot of years and have come through a lot of different ranks, and for me just a couple of passes were a little too much. I would have liked to have had a little bit of a cleaner battle, but anyway we are happy with the result. We´re still at the front of the championship and not too far off."

Last year's Laguna Seca runner-up Chris Vermeulen rounded off the podium. Having started from eighth on the grid, a better result in qualifying could have seen the Rizla Suzuki rider at the very least take advantage of Stoner´s late fall. He took his second rostrum in succession in a positive race for the Australian.

"It was difficult starting from the third row, and these guys got away early," Vermeuen said. "I had a bit of a battle with [Nicky] Hayden and [Andrea] Dovizioso for a few laps, and once we got past them then we had more pace than everyone else. These two were too quick for us today. To be back on the podium in the dry proves that Suzuki are improving, and I´m looking forward to Brno now."

Some 34 seconds down on Rossi as they crossed the line for the final time, Dovizioso and Hayden were tussling for the honour of fourth place and the highest position for Honda and Michelin. The JiR Team Scot rookie eventually did enough to deny twice Laguna Seca MotoGP race winner Hayden in the Repsol Honda rider´s home race, concluding a great maiden appearance at the track.

Randy de Puniet repeated his sixth position from 2007, this time onboard the LCR Honda RC212V, while Toni Elias, Ben Spies, James Toseland and Shinya Nakano wrapped up the top 10. Wildcard Spies – on pole for the AMA Superbike race running concurrently with the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix -- had believed that he still had one lap remaining as he fought with the established premier class riders.

A first visit to Laguna Seca did not end well for second Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, who highsided his M1 on the opening lap. He picked up a fractured third metatarsal in his left big toe, an injury that will not endanger his participation in Brno when the World Championship returns in August.

Rossi now leads the standings by 25 points, while Stoner´s latest podium finish moves him up to second. Laguna Seca absentee Dani Pedrosa drops down to third place.

Results
1. V. ROSSI ITA (Fiat Yamaha Team) 44:04.311
2. C. STONER AUS (Ducati Team) +13.001
3. C. VERMEULEN AUS (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +26.609
4. A. DOVIZIOSO ITA (JiR Team Scot MotoGP) +34.901
5. N. HAYDEN USA (Repsol Honda Team) +35.663
6. R. DE PUNIET FRA (LCR Honda MotoGP) +37.668
7. T. ELIAS SPA (Alice Team) +41.629
8. B. SPIES USA (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +41.927
9. J. TOSELAND GBR (Tech 3 Yamaha) +43.019
10. S. NAKANO JPN (San Carlo Honda Gresini) +44.391
11. J. HACKING USA (Kawasaki Racing Team) +46.258
12. S. GUINTOLI FRA (Alice Team) +55.273
13. A. DE ANGELIS RSM (San Carlo Honda Gresini) +55.521
14. C. EDWARDS USA (Tech 3 Yamaha) +1:02.380
15. L. CAPIROSSI ITA (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +1:08.207
16. M. MELANDRI ITA (Ducati Team) +1:10.962
17. A. WEST AUS (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1 Lap
Not finished 1st lap
J. LORENZO SPA (Fiat Yamaha Team)

Point Standings
1. Valentino ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team) 212
2. Casey STONER (Ducati Team) 187
3. Dani PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team) 171
4. Jorge LORENZO (Fiat Yamaha Team) 114
5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (JiR Team Scot MotoGP) 103
6. Colin EDWARDS (Tech 3 Yamaha) 100
7. Chris VERMEULEN (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 89
8. Nicky HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team) 84
9. James TOSELAND (Tech 3 Yamaha) 72
10. Shinya NAKANO (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 70
11. Loris CAPIROSSI (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 61
12. Toni ELIAS (Alice Team) 46
13. Alex DE ANGELIS (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 41
14. Randy DE PUNIET (LCR Honda MotoGP) 40
15. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Alice Team) 38
16. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki Racing Team) 32
17. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati Team) 32
18. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki Racing Team) 22
19. Ben SPIES (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 10
20. Jamie HACKING (Kawasaki Racing Team) 5
21. Tadayuki OKADA (Repsol Honda Team) 2