MotoGP may be the main attraction but don't forget the AMA boys will be at Laguna Seca as well.
It’s that time of year again; time for the Red Bull USGP at Laguna Seca this coming weekend, July 23-25. Of course, the big news is that Valentino Rossi is back in action much sooner than expected following injury and will race on American soil this weekend. So all you VR46 fans can rejoice, of which we’re sure there’s quite a few (you can count most of us here in the group also).
But while the
MotoGP boys are always the talk of the town at Laguna each year, as they deservedly should be, don’t forget the three
AMA Pro Racing classes which will be showcased alongside the GP this weekend. Not only that,
Motorcycle-USA.com will be taking place in one of them as well!
As part of MotoUSA’s ongoing
Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Project SuperBike I will be throwing a leg over our trusty steed to see how we fare against the best the US has to offer on a fire-breathing 180-hp Suzuki in the National Guard American SuperBike ranks. All this a mere six weeks after major abdominal surgery! But through the help of some amazing doctors and serious hard work in the gym and on the track, I’m almost totally healed up and ready to go, so it’s full steam ahead.
Keep an eye out for MotoUSA racing in American SuperBike this weekend at Laguna Seca! We will be running No. 58 for this event.
This is Stage 3 of the project, the
previous two stages involving building the stock Suzuki from a street bike into a club racer and then finally an AMA-level machine. And it all culminates with a shot at racing Laguna Seca to see how a well-built privateer machine can stack up against the factory giants.
But we will have some serious competition in the American SuperBike ranks at Mazda Raceway. Graves Yamaha’s
Josh Hayes enters the weekend leading the championship. Hayes had a bit of a rough start to the season but has been on a roll as of late, jumping to the top of the charts after winning races at both of the previous two rounds as well as setting pole position at Road America and Mid-Ohio. Can he keep the hot streak alive to stay atop the points chase?
His main championship rival is Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s
Tommy Hayden, who after splitting wins with Hayes at both the previous rounds in Ohio as well as Road America, sits a mere four points back in the championship as they enter the seventh round of the series. Hayden has three wins this season, the first three Superbike victories of his long career in the class, and he will no doubt be aiming to add another tally to that column with his sights firmly set on getting the championship points lead back.
Josh Hayes (4) and Tommy Hayden (22) are locked in a battle at the top of the American SuperBike standings and both will be looking for a win at Laguna Seca.
Third in the standings entering Laguna is National Guard Suzuki’s
Jake Zemke. The Paso Robles, California native comes into Round 7 with a pair of wins under his belt so far this year, both coming at the opening round in Daytona Beach, Florida. Since then Zemke has battled with bike set-up issues on the new-to-him Jordan Motorsports GSX-R1000, keeping him off the top step of the podium. But at what is his home race the Californian will be looking to rectify that this weekend.
Always a fan favorite, fellow NorCal native
Ben Bostrom will be a threat at Laguna, a track which he has won at several times in the past, both in AMA and World Superbike competition. The Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha comes in fresh off a podium finish in Race 1 at Mid-Ohio, Bostrom’s confidence high for a promising homecoming. Ducati’s
Larry Pegram and Ben’s brother
Eric Bostrom on the Attack Suzuki could factor in for possible top-five or even podium finishes at Mazda Raceway as well, while multi-time AMA champion Miguel Duhamel makes his racing return this weekend aboard a privateer Ducati for the Moto Forza squad wearing No. 8.
With a solid 28 pre-entries for Laguna Seca and some big-name riders after California glory, be sure to stay following the MotoGP race to catch the American SuperBike final, which kicks off at 3:45 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
Daytona SportBike has featured some of the closest racing all season long. Josh Herrin (8) leads the championship coming into Laguna, though by only two points over last year's champ Danny Eslick (1).
In the support ranks,
Josh Herrin leads the Daytona SportBike field into Laguna Seca, but only by a mere two points. He has shown impressive speed all season and has three wins as a result, but a couple cases of bad luck has allowed reigning champion and dual-race-winner
Danny Eslick to stay close in the championship. Both will be looking for victory in Northern California to try and cement their place atop the standings.
If there is to be a spoiler in the DSB equation it will undoubtedly come in the form of Colombian
Martin Cardenas, who has won five races so far in 2010, more than any other single rider. But inconsistency and a couple crashes sees him 27 points back in the championship. The DSB final takes place at 10:25 a.m. on Sunday in what will be an action-packed warm-up for the MotoGP final.
In the AMA SuperSport West division DNA Ducati’s Joey Pascarella comes into Mazda Raceway leading the points with three wins so far in 2010. But he will have serious competition on his hands from several other Young Guns at Laguna Seca, namely previous class winners Cameron Beaubier and Elena Myers, as well as Jake Gagne, who is fresh off a pair of wins overseas in the Red Bull Rookies Cup. SuperSport always brings with it close racing so be sure to catch this final Saturday evening at 5:30 p.m.
Note: Be sure watch for No. 58 as we take on the American SuperBike field with the MotoUSA Yoshimura Project Suzuki GSX-R1000! See you at Laguna Seca…
