Valentino Rossi was the only thing that stood in front of Casey Stoner and his winning sequence and at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, the Italian finally had the last word.
In his first victory ever on the track, Rossi ended Stoner’s winning run in a breathtaking race that was marred with controversy over the Italian’s overtaking maneuvers. Rossi was unmoved and will be, happily, counting the new addition to his points tally as he goes into the championship lead, going into the summer break.
Stoner’s domination in practice and in Saturday’s qualifying prompted Rossi to state that he would need either a 30-second head start, or a gun, to beat Stoner. But in the end, the Italian decided that a storming start and the quickest race-pace for the weekend is what he need to stop the Aussie from winning his fourth race in a row.
After a strong and quick start, Rossi and Stoner separated themselves from the rest of the field and although separate, each pack gave its own set of thrills for the watching fans. Rossi thrust himself into Stoner and according to the Australian, Rossi’s dangerous overtaking move at the ‘cork-screw’ made him ‘sit-up’ and thus, Rossi went on to take the lead. Rossi had run onto the gravel after braking late and luckily, didn’t lose grip. As he re-entered the track, he passed ahead of Stoner who had no choice but to give way.
However, the battle continued and Stoner was on Rossi’s tail until the 24th lap when Stoner ran wide as they prepared to enter the home straight. Stoner tried to dig his left foot in and swivel the bike back on track but the move back-fired as the Ducati Desmosedici GP8 decided to keel over and fall. The 22-year old defending champion hurried back up and got back into the race but the race was already over and Rossi had taken an untouchable lead.
Chris Vermeulen, the runner-up here last year, came in at third with the same pace as his Friday practice sessions. He started the race at 8th place and moved up the grid. Despite Stoner’s fall at the dying moments, the Rizla Suzuki rider was unable to take advantage due to the huge lead that the leading duo had taken.
Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden were battling it out for fourth place and the highest position for Honda and Michelin. The JiR Team Scot rookie was eventually successful in denying the two-time Laguna Seca MotoGP racewinner, Nicky Hayden, in the Repsol Honda rider’s home race track.
Randy de Puniet came sixth in a repeat of his performance from last season although this time ‘round he was riding an LCR Honda RC212V. Toni Elias, Ben Spies, James Toseland and Shinya Nakano wrapped up the top-ten for the weekend. For wild-card entry, Ben Spies, was on pole position for the AMA SuperBike race running simultaneously with the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.
For Rossi’s Spanish team mate, Jorge Lorenzo, things didn’t go so well as he high-ended his M1 on the first lap, fracturing his third metatarsal in his left big toe. The injury left the Spaniard in much pain although it will not hamper his participation in Brno, when the championship resumes after the summer break.
Valentino Rossi now leads the riders’ standings by 25 points with Stoner coming up second after Dani Pedrosa was a no-show at the Laguna Seca race. Dani is now in third place.