Day one jumped off to a late but quick start with The Doctor on top of what was a very relaxed day at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. In an almost creepy way, nothing happened until 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon, as the GP boys no longer do a Friday morning practice as part of their “cost cutting” measures. But when things did get going, Valentino Rossi was up front right away, followed by his Fiat Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo and Ducati’s Casey Stoner. No surprise there, as these three have been the class of the field this year and come into the weekend nearly tied in points!

Homeboy Hayden donned a new lid for the weekend, featuring a design for the 4th of July. “It’s tradition to light off fireworks here so that is the basis of the design,” the Kentucky kid said. But the new dome didn’t seem to bring him any fireworks or the elusive set-up he’s been looking for as he ended the first session 14th, some two seconds off the pace. The two-time previous winner is still victim of the fabled ‘Ducati syndrome’, as it seems literally no one but Stoner can ride the red machine.

“We’re in the back again so that’s not cool,” added Hayden. “And it’s not what I was hoping for. In some places the bike feels quite good but in other places, coming out of the corners, it feels pretty flat and I don’t have enough acceleration. Usually this is a strong point of the Ducati so this is a little strange. Hopefully we can get in a better direction tomorrow and find some spark.”

Unfortunately, no specially painted bikes have been unveiled thus far this weekend, though we’ll see come Sunday if that changes. But with the credit crunch hitting the racing world in as big a way as any, we’re not expecting it.

In AMA news, we caught up with Corona Honda’s Neil Hodgson, former World Superbike champion and one-time MotoGP rider, who is still healing up from a nasty motocross injury to his left shoulder. While still in pain, Hodgson says things are coming along.

“I’m probably 80% now,” he commented. “It’s tough cause it’s realistically a six- to 12-month recovery time and it’s only been three, but I’ve got a lot of strength back and the movement is improving. This is a physical track but I’ve had a couple weeks since the last round and I’m expecting much better things.”

Hodgson finished the first American Superbike practice session back in 10th spot at 1:26.965, so we've got to think he's still in pain as he's usually very fast here at Laguna Seca. Hodgson’s Corona Superbike teammate Jake Holden shocked everyone and topped the time sheets at a 1:25.525 in front of Rockstar Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden and Mat Mladin.

While seemingly going smoothly from the outside, the running joke in the Grand Prix paddock is that the AMA actually has the balls to run the Daytona Sportbike race as a rolling start in front of the GP world, which all look at this as a NASCAR-derived farce. It’s sad how many of the world’s press and GP teams that we’ve heard comment on how (for the lack of a better word) lame of an idea this is.

As for how the riders in Daytona Sportbike fared, Roger Lee Hayden topped first practice session and seems to finally be back on form. He had recently been off the pace and when we ran into him he revealed that it was front-end problems which have been holding him back. It would appear that the Attack Kawasaki boys have those sorted on his Monster Energy ZX-6R as he’s back on the gas in front of the world today.

In other cool AMA-related news, we rolled through the Jordan Suzuki tent and they showed us the new limited-edition Gatorade bottle which will soon be released featuring Aaron Yates on his Jordan Suzuki. That’s pretty huge news for road racing in the U.S. to be recognized on a Gatorade bottle. Keep an eye out at your local convenience store to pick up a bottle. It’s one of a six-bottle series of “Championship Gold Edition” bottles dedicated to Michael Jordan. Team rider Yates ended the first American Superbike session seventh, while is National Guard-sponsored teammate Geoff May was sixth.

That's all for today folks. But with a full day of qualifying tomorrow be sure to stay tuned for far more inside info!