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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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