American Beauty: Honda and GP’s Return to the U.S.
It took more than a decade to get it back, but the United States Grand Prix
is finally here – and race fans everywhere are ticking off the minutes as
this long-awaited event that goes off in grand, international style July
8-10 at the legendary Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca circuit just outside
Monterey, CA. As if that weren't enough, this round of the USGP will also
feature a round of the AMA Superbike Series, featuring Red Riders Miguel
DuHamel, Jake Zemke, and Kurtis Roberts. The MotoGP World Championship
series, then called the FIM 500cc Grand Prix World Championship, arrives
here after an eleven-year absence.
More than two million dollars were invested in bringing the 2.238-mile,
11-turn Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca course up to FIM homologation spec, with
run-off areas increased and improved in all turns and more
motorcycle-friendly curbing installed in areas like the Andretti Hairpin
(Turn 2), the world-famous Corkscrew and Rainey Curve (Turn 9).
Honda's legacy in World Grand Prix racing is the stuff of legend itself,
with some of the greatest names in the history of motorcycle racing – Mike
Hailwood, Jim Redman, Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner, Eddie Lawson, Mick
Doohan – helping to amass more than 500 Grand Prix victories since the
series debuted in 1949. Fittingly, that historic 500th win came at the
Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, the "home" track Honda built in 1962, on
April 8, 2001, nearly 40 years to the day after victory number one on April
23, 1961.
It's one of the greatest success stories in motorsports history, far
surpassing that of every other motorcycle manufacturer in the world, and
better still, it's far from over.
The Laguna Seca circuit itself has also been the stage for numerous Team
Honda wins and racing success at the G.P., World Superbike and AMA Superbike
levels. From its brief seven-year run from 1988-1994, the Red Riders posted
six Grad Prix victories (four in 250cc, two in 125cc), highlighted by
American AMA 250 G.P. superstar Jimmy Filice's triumph as a fill-in entry
for an injured rider against the world's best in 1988's inaugural 250 G.P.
event. From there, the list of Honda racers to have captured the checkered
flag at this storied venue reads like a who's who of AMA and international
road racing: Freddie Spencer, Fred Merkel, Wayne Rainey, Mike Baldwin, Bubba
Shobert, Miguel DuHamel and Ben Bostrom, to name just a few.
And so it is with great anticipation – and not just a little excitement –
that Honda will look to continue its winning (not to mention history-making)
ways come July 8 when the world comes to Monterey. The Red Riders will be at
the forefront, led by home-grown hopeful and former AMA Superbike Champion
Nicky Hayden and his #69 Repsol Honda RC211V MotoGP machine. Repsol Honda's
Max Biaggi, Team Movistar Honda's Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri, Camel
Honda's Alex Barros and Troy Bayliss, and Konica Minolta Honda's Makoto
Tamada and Jurgen van den Goorbergh will join Hayden as riders from more
than 18 countries all vie for that highly coveted spot atop the podium.
Honda's G.P. season through seven rounds has seen
its fair share of success, including one win and eight podium finishes in
the MotoGP class, and a win on the technical Laguna Seca circuit would be
the perfect way to close out the first half of the 2005 calendar. Heading
into Laguna Seca and round eight, the championship standings find Melandri
sitting second 107 points, followed by Biaggi (87), Gibernau (84), Barros
(74) and Hayden (60) in third, fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively. In
other G.P. series, Telefonica Movistar Honda's Daniel Pedrosa leads the
250cc championship, with Team Scot Honda's Andrea Dovizioso in third, while
Thomas Luthi of the Elit Grand Prix Honda squad sits just one point out of
first in the 125cc title hunt. (The MotoGP class, however, will be the only
class run in the U.S.G.P./Laguna Seca round).
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