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American Honda rider Nicky Hayden takes us on a virtual lap of his home MotoGP at Laguna Seca in California.

Main straight

"This is called the right-hand straight because it is not really straight, in fact it has a slight curve that takes you what is probably the most frightening zone in MotoGP. It is definitely the strangest..."

Turn one

"This curve is a drop that you take in fifth gear. The bike almost wants to fly and there is a moment when both tyres lose contact with the ground, so you only have to wait for it to regain stability during the drop to accelerate again."

Turn two and three

"Here you have to drop down to 2nd gear. You have to try and take it with a lot of power - almost giving it too much throttle - and then you take the bike to the inside, control it and drop the power level as much as possible."

Turn four

"You have to be careful here, above all on the first lap, amd make sure that the front tyre is hot. This is a a very flat corner and you cannot gain a lot of time here; you just have to take it well so that you are ready for the next one."

Turn five

"This is a really fast one, faster than it looks, and it is quite important because it brings you into a straight."

Turn six

"Braking just before taking this corner is where you can overtake, it is one that goes up which means that you can take it quite fast. It is very important to do it well since it prepares you for the next one which is a blind climb."

Turn seven

"When you brake to enter this one the bikes displaces the weight and it gets a bit unstable. There is a small slope in the centre and you have to wait for the bike to settle down, go down the slope and then you accelerate to take the climb. It is an important climb with a drop that takes you to the best corner in the world: the "Corkscrew".

Turns eight and nine ("The Corkscrew ")

"There is nothing elsde in the world like this and from here on to the finishing line things happen very fasst. The ground really disappears in front of you and you have to hope that you reach it right by keeping a good eye on your speed. You use a lot of strength here as the bike wants to go to the left and you have to use all your strength to make it go towards the right."

Rainey Corner (10)

"I enjoy the challenge of the Corkscrew a lot but this is probably my favourite at this circuit. It is downhill but it is a bit snakey, so you have to get a good line that allows you to take advantage of the power and make the most of the curves."

Turn 11

"This is a very important one because it take you to the final corner, the best place to overtake, so you have to take it well so that you can get to the fork in the right way."

Turn 12

"Here all you have to do is brake, brake, brake and try to keep the back tyre on the ground. It is probably the corner where it is most likely to see falls, because it is also bumpy and you take it when you have been braking hard for a long time. Some riders are caught out by this corner - I have been quite a few times. Then all you do is get the bike straight trying to keep the front tyre on the ground while accelerating all you can up the slope towards corner 1."

Technical data

Length: 3.61km.

Pole position: Left hand side

Right handers: 4

Left handers: 7

Longest straight: 0.966km.

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Repsol Honda / Eurosport