Flawless Lorenzo romps to victory as Rossi makes triumphant return to podium

Jorge Lorenzo took a brilliant sixth victory of the season at Laguna Seca today, romping home to win by over three seconds from Casey Stoner. His team-mate Valentino Rossi made a triumphant return to the podium just seven weeks after breaking his right leg, overhauling Andrea Dovizioso during a thrilling last ten laps to finish third.

Starting from pole for the fifth time in a row, Lorenzo lost ground to his rivals at the fearsome downhill turn one and was relegated to third first time around. For the first few laps there was little he could do except hang on behind Pedrosa and Stoner but on the sixth lap Stoner ran wide and Lorenzo stormed through to take second. By now Pedrosa was nearly a second clear but Lorenzo's pace had begun to improve and he started to push as hard as he could and exert some pressure on his fellow Spaniard. On lap twelve, with the gap now narrowed to half a second, Pedrosa crashed out and left Lorenzo in the lead and from then on it was plain sailing for the 23-year-old as he expertly controlled his advantage over Stoner to bring it home and take his second win on US soil. Today's victory was his 11th in MotoGP, his 32nd in all classes and his 10th successive podium.

Rossi had suffered all weekend with pain in both his leg and his shoulder and today looked like it was going to be a tough day for the reigning champion, unable as he was to make any further headway after passing Nicky Hayden for fifth position. Once Pedrosa had crashed out however and with Ben Spies exerting pressure on him from behind Rossi's fighting instinct kicked in as he spied a podium possibility, gradually closing down a two second gap to Dovizioso to come within striking distance with six laps remaining. On the 27th lap he made his move and passed his countryman, managing to hold him off over the last couple of laps to make a popular return to the podium.

With exactly half of the season gone Lorenzo heads the championship with an impressive 72-point lead over Pedrosa, whilst Rossi is 120 points adrift of his team-mate in fifth position. Both riders will enjoy a two and a half week holiday now and the Italian will be more glad than anyone for the time off, during which he will be working on his fitness in an effort to be back to his best next time out in Brno.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1stTime: 43.54.873
"I am so happy to win here at Laguna Seca, it's something I've always dreamed of. I rode so well today, right on the limit and I had to push very hard to stay in touch with Dani. He is always so strong on race day but I knew if I kept the pressure on him then there was a chance he would make a mistake and I would be able to catch him. I'm sorry he crashed but from then on it was very easy for me because I had a big gap from Casey. I really enjoyed riding my M1! I have a big lead in the championship but there is half of the season left and it wouldn't be the first time a rider has lost the title with such a big lead, so we can't take anything for granted. I am really looking forward to some time to relax now after two very busy months. Thanks to everyone in my team for doing a brilliant job."

Valentino Rossi - Position: 3rdTime: +13.420
"The start of the race was very hard for me because I had a lot of pain and I was far from the podium. But then I saw Pedrosa on the gravel and I just had to try to catch Dovizioso! I just pushed as hard as I could for a few laps and that brought me closer to him and then I couldn't give up, somehow I caught him and it was a great feeling to pass him to take third. It's a great result after my injury and it felt so good to be back on the podium in front of the fans. There are so many people I have to thank who have helped me to get back to this position. I am very happy that we have some time off now because I have a lot of work to do on my body to try to be back to my best for Brno, which I love.

Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager
"This was a fantastic ride from Jorge. It was clever to push Dani to the limit but not easy as well because Jorge is the championship leader and he had the most to lose, he really had to ride at the maximum to do this. We're happy Dani isn't hurt and now we have an amazing 72-point lead as we break for the half-way point of the championship. Six victories and three seconds is brilliant, thanks to Jorge for doing such a great job but also to all of the team, everyone deserves their holidays!

Davide Brivio - Team Manager
"This was a great race and the result is so much more than we expected today. These were supposed to be the two 'rehabilitation' races for Valentino after his big injury while he just got used to being back on the bike, but he's come fourth and then third which has amazed us all. This track was very demanding on his body and he had a hard time all weekend but he was still able to battle for the podium. It was brilliant and we're so happy now. Everyone is looking forward to a break but also to coming back strongly in the second half of the season."


Super sixth for Spies, seventh for Edwards at Laguna Seca

Ben Spies had a big home crowd on the edge of their seats at the spectacular Laguna Seca track today after the Texan produced a brilliant podium challenge in the American MotoGP race. The 26-year-old made a fantastic start from the second row and instantly gained three places by the first corner. Spies lost a few places as the frantic pace increased in the early laps, but gradually building his confidence with his rear Bridgestone tyre, he started a rousing fightback in front of a passionate home crowd of 51,436 fans in California. Spies was over half-a-second adrift of an intense battle involving compatriot Nicky Hayden and fellow Yamaha YZR-M1 rider Valentino Rossi shortly before the halfway stage.

Reeling off a series of impressive fast laps, Spies was able to hunt down Hayden and expertly pass the 2006 world champion on lap 21. Next in Spies' sights was reigning world champion Rossi, who was himself honing in on Italian Andrea Dovizioso in an exciting battle for the podium. But just as Spies was preparing to make a decisive move on Rossi, he made a small mistake in the braking zone for the final corner on lap 25. Spies lost over three seconds and despite a heroic effort in the closing stages he was unable to regain the fifth place lost to Hayden. Spies though was still satisfied with his performance, his pace as the race reached its climax undoubtedly good enough to have put him in podium contention.

Colin Edwards produced his best result of the season in front of his home crowd to score a thoroughly deserved seventh position. The 36-year-old showed all of his experience to patiently stalk Marco Simoncelli and Marco Melandri in the opening laps as the trio became embroiled in a thrilling fight for seventh. Edwards passed Melandri on lap 10 exiting the spectacular Corkscrew section and he grabbed seventh from Simoncelli on lap 15. Edwards' superior pace saw him immediately pull away from the Italian duo to secure a seventh that puts him on the fringes of the top ten in the overall standings.

Top US Formula Drift professional driver Charles Ng will be making his debut in the upcoming Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race (MMER); partnering Malaysia’s most successful touring car driver Boy Wong in a Honda Integra DC5 to lead the challenge for top honours in the new Touring class.

 Born and raised in Hong Kong, Charles, who also a regular competitor in the Asia Touring Car Series (ATCS), is currently based in California, United States for his racing activities. He is competing in the full season of the Formula Drift USA Pro Championship this year.

 Last year, he came in first in the Formula Drift Pro Am Championship at Irwindale Toyota Speedway. Charles was also the winner of D1 Underground as well as the Drift Life Team Tandem Battle Series at Adams Motorsports Park.

Aged 26, he was also the overall champion in the Skip Barber Mazdaspeed MX-5 Challenge Western Series, where he was crowned as Rookie of the Year. In the last ATCS races in Sepang, Charles took second and first for Rounds 5 and 6 respectively.

“I’ve always had a passion for cars since I was a child. I travel around the globe to compete in high level motorsports such as the Asian Touring Car Series, Skip Barber MX5 Cup Championship, Japan Fuji Champion Race Series, endurance races and time attack series. I also participate in drifting competitions in the US and Southeast Asia, and have won and placed on the podium.

“My natural ability and consistency in understanding a vehicle's limits, as well as my strong determination to win under the most extreme circumstances are the basis of my success. Whether I am behind the wheel in road racing, time attack or drifting, my determination to be the best stays strong till the final lap.

“My energy and enthusiasm will bring positive energy to the race team I work with, thus my team will always be a strong representative for sponsors on the professional circuit,” Charles said at his website www.charlesngracing.com.

When contacted for his comments on his participation in 2010 MMER, Charles said: “This will be my first time driving in this prestigious race and I am very excited to be part of G Harry Racing Team. I have experienced driving in other endurance races like the 25 Hours Thunderhill in the USA and a few others; but I know the MMER will be another great challenge.

“We have a strong team and we are definitely fighting for the class win. With the right race strategy and some luck, I believe that we stand a good chance on getting on the podium; and hopefully all the way to the top,” Charles added.

Meanwhile, his partner, Boy Wong, who have been  competing with Type R Racing Team had made an 11^th hour switch to G Harry Racing for the  MMER this year after his team could not have their race car ready for the race. Boy had previously won various classes at the 12-hour endurance race series in 2009, 2007 and 2004 with Type R Racing.

“We could not secure some parts for the car so we had to disband plans to compete this year. Anyway, I am happy to be partnering Charles and Harry (Chai) for this year’s race in the Touring class,” said Boy, who declared that his new team would be even stronger that the one which won the Class A2 title last year.

“Charles is a world class driver and Harry is a very experienced driver, especially in the MMER. He had won Class C twice,” said Boy, who is a four-time Supersixteen champion in the MSS and also the winner for Supersaloon Championship in 2008.

Last year, Type R Racing, with Soh Kee Koon and Lai Wee Sing took full advantage from the braking problems encountered by Honda Malaysia Racing Team at the tail-end of the 12-hour race while competing in the A2 Class (production cars above 1900cc).

Though they were leading by two laps, Honda Malaysia Racing Team - Eddie Lew, Aaron Lim and Rueben Wong- had to pit in for repairs and relinquished their control of the race. They had eventually finished second behind Type R Racing Team.

“It was a very difficult race last year. This year is going to be equally difficult and we expect the Honda Malaysia Racing Team to be our closest rival again, along with Ultra Racing,” said Boy Wong, who was informed that the Honda Malaysia Racing Team will be featuring the same partnership of Eddie, Aaron and Rueben this year.

To be held at Sepang Circuit from August 5 to 8, the 11^th edition of the MMER is set to be the most competitive ever; having attracted plenty of big names in motor racing including winners of the prestigious 24 Hours LeMans Race with the likes of Frank Biela, Marco Werner, Peter Kox, Christopher Haase, Daryl O’Young, Matthew Marsh, Dominik Farnbacher and Alex Yoong.

The list also includes top Super Taikyu drivers of Tatsuya Kataoka, Nobuteru Taniguchi and Masataka Managida from the PETRONAS Syntium Racing Team.

This year’s newly revamped MMER race structure introduces two additional competition classes -the GT Class and the Sports Production Class - which would feature Lotus F1 Racing test driver Fairuz Fauzy in an Aston Martin with brother Farriz and former German F3 driver Rizal Ashram Ramli.