Rossi leads way at Laguna Seca

Eurosport - Sat, 04 Jul 20:58:00 2009

Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi, looking for a third consecutive victory at Laguna Seca this weekend, set the fastest lap of the American GP opening practice session.

valentino rossi - 0

The Italian was the only rider to go under the one minute, 22-second barrier, setting a fastest lap of 1:21.981.

His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was second quickest in 1:22.093, while Ducati Marlboro's Stoner ended third after leading the way for most of the session.

The trio were in a class of their own, relegating Dani Pedrosa to fourth place a whole six-tenths of a second behind.

Having received a chassis update this weekend, San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Toni Elias set the fifth-fastest lap of the session.

Andrea Dovizioso was sixth ahead of Marco Melandri, while there was disappointment for Chris Vermeulen and Colin Edwards, eighth and ninth fastest respectively.

Britain's James Toseland, team-mate of Edwards at Yamaha Tech 3, was down in 13th.

Those top three riders - Rossi, Lorenzo and Casey Stoner - are also covered by just nine points in the world championship standings and the only riders to win races this season, setting up the prospect of an exciting weekend.

"I am happy with the session today, it was a good performance and at the end, with the harder tyre, we did an especially good job and I was able to make the best time, said reigning six time MotoGP champion Rossi.

"We got a lot of data about the track, which we will use tomorrow in order to improve things further.

"We need to work a bit to improve the front feeling because we can still make the bike a bit easier to ride in one or two corners and then we will also look at the electronics in order to control the wheelie, because there are a lot of bumps and jumps on this circuit.

"Once again me, Lorenzo and Stoner are very close so we can expect another big fight this weekend, but we are confident that our M1 is working well," added Rossi, who claimed one his greatest victories by beating Stoner in last year's event.

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Moto-Live.com / Eurosport

Comment 19 - 38 of 58

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  1. If you lose your cool then you have lost already, that­ must be 2-0 to me now then :-)

    From D R, on Sat 4 Jul 6:32PM

  2. Yes you do because you wont let it go

    From D R, on Sat 4 Jul 6:31PM

  3. D_ R you are a prejudiced, arrogant, self-opinionated­ b&stard! But hey, you'll think of that as a­ compliment! But hey, just a wuss like Stoner! 'Oh­ mummy, that bad boy & girl called me names!' Do­ I give a sh..

    From tracyhindmarsh, on Sat 4 Jul 6:27PM

  4. Wow Tracey thats fantastic, never relaised you were a­ professional motorcycle racer hanging on to a 200mph­ motorbike and forcing it to do things that the rest of­ us could never dream of, you must be superwoman to be­ able to do that after 8 weeks. How did you break yours­ then, stress fracture from holding the tv remote too­ long?

    From D R, on Sat 4 Jul 6:25PM

  5. Sorry D - R! Cant put dr, regards you! You are so out­ of order! You sooooooooo belong in the Moaner garage! ­ Perhaps you can get a job working out his excuses! Just­ a thought..............

    From tracyhindmarsh, on Sat 4 Jul 6:23PM

  6. You are slagging someone off because of where they come­ from? Hmm! Are u a Stoner fan or are u a Rossi fan?­ Very bewildering! I am sick of people always sticking­ up for Stoner and his 'injured scaphoid'. I­ broke my thumb, wrist and scaphoid, but hey I'm ok­ now! Broke all that in one go, and I was OK after 8­ weeks! Excuses, excuses! But now we got tummy issues!­ Give it a rest!

    From tracyhindmarsh, on Sat 4 Jul 6:18PM

  7. Thanks martin, that pretty much somes up people from­ clacton pretty well

    From D R, on Sat 4 Jul 6:16PM

  8. You had better be quick D R and get your sisters dress­ and knickers off because she could be home shortly.

    From martininclacton, on Sat 4 Jul 6:14PM

  9. So if yr interested in the racing why were you posting­ comments about stoner whinging and his missus being­ annoying? Relevant?

    From D R, on Sat 4 Jul 6:12PM

  10. Hmm, Now its getting petty! Aww nothing to stick up for­ Stoner with????? Oh such a shame!

    From tracyhindmarsh, on Sat 4 Jul 6:11PM

  11. Oh D R! You are a disgrace! Why slag someone off­ because they come from somewhere in the country, that­ you may not! As far as I know, you may come from there­ as well! Whats your problem? Dont like people having­ opinions? Obviously don't like opinions that­ don't match yours! Tough! Wake up, smell the fuel!­ We're interested in the racing!

    From tracyhindmarsh, on Sat 4 Jul 6:09PM

  12. Sorry TracEy, definitely losing the plot if you have to­ resort to picking up on people spelling yr name wrong.­ Given post 25 yr point about Stoner fans is what?

    From D R, on Sat 4 Jul 6:03PM

  13. Actually DR, I can see your mentallity, as you­ can't even spell my name correctly, even though its­ under your face????? Hmm, Stoner Fans?????????????

    From tracyhindmarsh, on Sat 4 Jul 5:59PM

  14. Actually it stands for Doctor Rossi, i like him and im­ not espescially a Stoner fan. But i do enjoy close­ racing and Stoner is one of the few who can compete­ with him. So Brian S, what wonders of the english­ language can you find to respond now? I wasnt calling­ anybody nutsack, you are taking the sots at people,­ that would be you jumping down my throat because i have­ dared say something against your rider. Same goes for­ Martininclacton , although why anyone would admit to­ being from clacton is beyond me

    From D R, on Sat 4 Jul 5:56PM

  15. Lets see how long it takes Stoner, or his PR crew to­ say he was not well during qualifying!!!!

    From tracyhindmarsh, on Sat 4 Jul 5:51PM

  16. Ermm! I do not think I have a shallow arguement! I do­ not give a @#$% about Stoners wife, though she is a­ little annoying! Never read HELLO! Obviously you do!­
    At the end of the day Stoner always has an excuse up­ his sleeve! Do you hear the likes of Hayden, making­ excuses for their performance! Hayden takes it like a­ MAN! Thanks Brian! x

    From tracyhindmarsh, on Sat 4 Jul 5:44PM

  17. Interesting points D R, tell me does your initials­ stand for dumb @#$%?

    From martininclacton, on Sat 4 Jul 5:37PM

  18. D R,
    Face it, mate. If there was an award for­ whining, moaning and making excuses, your boy Casey­ would win it hands down every time. Please get a­ nutsack and stop making excuses for him.

    From ride_strong_1, on Sat 4 Jul 5:15PM

  19. D R,
    Mind your own business and stop taking shots at­ other people whose opinions are different than yours.

    From ride_strong_1, on Sat 4 Jul 5:07PM

  20. Bit of a shallow arguement you got going here Tracey -­ the point you were making was that Rossi doesnt­ complain, but he does, all racers do, it's in their­ mentality to never be happy, that is what strives them­ to always do better. Perhaps you can keep your comments­ about the racing from now on and if you want to whinge­ about peoples wives go ang log on to Hello magazines­ blog.

    From D R, on Sat 4 Jul 4:56PM
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