Submitted by David Emmett on
Results of the Laguna Seca MotoGP race:
Dani Pedrosa won the 2009 Red Bull US Grand Prix race, his first win in over a year. Pedrosa got a rocket start and looked to have the race in the bag by about half way, with a lead of over 3 seconds. With 2 laps to go, the lead was still nearly 2 seconds, but Rossi closed Pedrosa nearly all the way down, and came within a few yards of a successful last corner lunge to take the win. Jorge Lorenzo braved the pain to take 3rd, and came within a whisker of beating his team mate, while Casey Stoner lost strength once again, dropping away from the leaders after halfway, but finishing 4th.
Excellent news for Nicky Hayden fans, as the Kentucky Kid had a strong race to finish 5th, directly behind his team mate. Fellow American Colin Edwards had a more difficult day, finishing 7th. But the race was a real war of attrition, with 4 crashers (Talmacsi, Capirossi, Dovizioso and Gibernau) and a black flag for James Toseland, who failed to come in for a ride through penalty for a jump start.
Results:
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Manufacturer | Time | Diff |
| 1 | 3 | Dani PEDROSA | HONDA | 44'01.580 | |
| 2 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | YAMAHA | 44'01.924 | 0.344 |
| 3 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | YAMAHA | 44'03.506 | 1.926 |
| 4 | 27 | Casey STONER | DUCATI | 44'14.012 | 12.432 |
| 5 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | DUCATI | 44'23.243 | 21.663 |
| 6 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | HONDA | 44'23.621 | 22.041 |
| 7 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | YAMAHA | 44'31.781 | 30.201 |
| 8 | 7 | Chris VERMEULEN | SUZUKI | 44'34.437 | 32.857 |
| 9 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | HONDA | 44'41.905 | 40.325 |
| 10 | 33 | Marco MELANDRI | KAWASAKI | 44'49.608 | 48.028 |
| 11 | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | HONDA | 44'50.390 | 48.810 |
| 12 | 88 | Niccolo CANEPA | DUCATI | 45'20.111 | 1'18.531 |
| Not Classified | |||||
| 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | HONDA | 8'23.703 | 26 laps | |
| 59 | Sete GIBERNAU | DUCATI | 8'32.190 | 26 laps | |
| 65 | Loris CAPIROSSI | SUZUKI | 4'19.395 | 29 laps | |
| 41 | Gabor TALMACSI | HONDA | 4'22.278 | 29 laps | |
| Excluded | |||||
| 52 | James TOSELAND | YAMAHA | |||
Comments
Toseland
Good race today. I could have done seeing 100% less of Alberto Puig though. What is wrong with Toseland though? The guy is already probably on the hot seat in that team and he decides not to do his ride through for a jumped start so he gets excluded. Edwards must be loving every second of Toseland's misfortune.
Vision
Don't underestimate how hard it is for riders to see their pit boards down the front straight at Laguna. It's a short straight and there's a lot going on down there, and the pit boards are on the far inside of the track. It's an easy mistake to make, though not one that should be made at this level.
For ride through penalties
For ride through penalties do the marshall's or anyone else not alert the riders in anyway though?
Marshalls
I was sitting in the grandstands on the front straight and I was watching every time Toseland went past. On his pitboard it kept saying RIDE THROUGH once he was given the penalty. The marshalls also showed a flag with the rider's number above the flag for multiple laps.
Once he was black flagged his pitboard said something like PIT, but I can't remember correctly. The marshalls also put out a black flag with his number above it.
I must admit though, his pitboard was pretty much about 20 meters from the end of turn 11, so he would have to turn right away to see what his board said, not a good placement. Guys like Rossi, Lorenzo, Stoner, and Hayden had their pitboards up near the starting line. The marshalls are up near the starting line, so it should have been easier for him to see the flag.