Well 3 days to the last race before the summer break!
If Dani is in the race I can't see him on the podium with his broken foot, he doesn't have that win it or bin attitude like Jorge.
Come on JB put the electronic on that bike and Go Vale Go!!!!!

Will they use it for this race.. or wait till Brno?

Fiat Yamaha Team lead the way to Laguna Seca

The Fiat Yamaha Team leave behind a two-month road trip across Europe this week as they take flight for America for their final appointment before the midseason break, with Valentino Rossi in fine form and on top of the MotoGP World Championship. After a rain-hit run of six races in eight weeks, culminating in Sunday's Sachsenring splashdown, a trip to the sunshine state of California for the US Grand Prix could not have come at a better time and it represents an opportunity for Rossi to consolidate his series lead before a well-earned holiday.

Second place in Germany, combined with a zero-point score for his closest title rival Dani Pedrosa, has given the Italian a sixteen-point advantage in the chase for the title with eight races remaining, although Sunday's race winner Casey Stoner lurks just four points further back in third place. Having been absent from the US podium since taking third when MotoGP returned to Laguna Seca in 2005, Rossi's target is to recreate Yamaha's success during the track's first spell on the Grand Prix calendar between 1988 and 1994, when the factory won five of the six premier-class races.

After struggling for confidence over the past four rounds following a run of crashes, Jorge Lorenzo is hoping to bounce back from his latest setback, a third lap spill at the Sachsenring, on his first visit to Laguna Seca as a MotoGP rider. The Mallorcan did attend the USGP last season, however, as an expert for Spanish television, having already fallen in love with California during the previous winter when he went to ride dirt-track under the tutelage of Yamaha legend 'King' Kenny Roberts at his Modesto ranch.

That experience could come in handy this weekend at the notoriously capricious circuit, where the intense dry heat, unpredictable asphalt and anti-clockwise layout reward the loose and aggressive riding style perfected in the dust bowls of the west coast. As the rear slides around, the front wheel is often left spinning in thin air through the dramatic elevation changes and fast, sweeping corners - none of them more spectacular than the world-famous 'Corkscrew'. Machine set-up is relatively straightforward, with throttle connection a much more important factor than top-end power and a well balanced chassis the key to those elevation changes and diverse corners.

Valentino Rossi - Hoping for good memories
"Laguna hasn't been one of my favourite tracks in the three years since we've been going there and it's one of the only ones on the calendar where I haven't won. We're aiming to win this week, that's for sure! It's been a hard track for our bike but it's been a very good track for Bridgestone and I am confident that our package will work very well there. The last two years I've had serious disappointments in the race and it's been one of the low points of both seasons, I hope I have had all the bad luck I'm going to have there and that this year I can enjoy myself! We are going there with the same package that we had in Germany and so we're going to have to work very hard to close the gap in performance to Stoner; we can't afford to start from anywhere except the front because, with him in this form, it is then very hard to catch him. California is a great place and this year we will be doing all we can to leave it with good memories, not bad ones!"

Jorge Lorenzo - A famous circuit
"I've never raced at Laguna but last year I went there to commentate for Spanish TV and I had a great time, California is an amazing place! I am so excited to finally get the chance to race there because it's a very special track which everyone always talks about and I am looking forward to riding at a place with such famous corners as the corkscrew. I know it's a difficult place but I am feeling stronger and I will be doing my best to get to know the circuit as quickly as possible and find a good feeling with the bike there. We need to work hard from that start, together with Michelin, to improve the grip issues we've been having. I am still disappointed about Sachsenring but luckily I wasn't hurt and it's good to have the chance to move on quickly and focus on the next race. Now my target is to have a good weekend so that I can enjoy the summer break."

Davide Brivio - A fantastic race
"We're very happy to go to Laguna leading the championship and feeling quite strong. It's never been a very successful track for us so we have to try and improve on our third place from 2005, which is our best result. It's always fantastic to race there because the atmosphere is incredible and it's a pleasure to race in California. Hopefully we will have some Californian sunshine! We need to go there on the attack and our target is to remain on the podium and maintain our championship lead."

Daniele Romagnoli - Looking for more grip
"Jorge is still very disappointed with the race in Germany but thankfully he escaped unhurt from the crash. Now we have to focus on working hard at Laguna Seca on the problems he had at the Sachsenring. The issue is a lack of rear grip, which was obviously exacerbated in the wet on Sunday, and at Laguna it will be important again because we've seen over the past two seasons how hard this circuit is on the tyres. We won't be trying anything new with the electronics - our focus is on working with the geometry of the bike and the suspension to find a more comfortable base setting for Jorge. This is a new track for him so he doesn't have any experience to fall back on, which will make it an interesting weekend for sure!"

I really hope Vale will be comfortable in Laguna. From what I remember, he had always had some sort of difficulty on this track but with bridgestone, hopefully all that will be in the past. Go Valeeee!!!

Too right, and with michelins finally resembling themselves from last year...

But it's hard to nail down. Rossi was embarking on the worst of his tyre woes this time last year... how much of it was the bike? Tyres that won't grip... last year's result really gives us no indication of how well he can possibly do.

Going on current form... his bike hasn't got the goods to catch KC, but with good tyres that can go the race distance... Rossi, master of tactics, you never know... he might have what is needed to tactically force himself around the track to catch KC.

ANd yeah, VR, a good start wouldn't hurt, either, lol. He's just gotta be in a position where he can put pressure on KC... cause without that pressure, it's FP for KC... and great lap times... he's gotta be f**ked with more in a race, I tell you!

Other thing, having made a total dick of himself last week end... what's Dani gonna be up to? He might be detirmined to top Jorge... you know, "Anything you can do, I can do better!" type mentality...so ride with a broken foot, desperation to keep KC at bay points wise... who thinks he's gonna crash again? ME!!

there is a lot of ifs and definately buts... Leguna has never been Vale's hunting ground... but the king of this particular field is right now in deep S**t (I'm talking of Nicky), we don know how the field will open... we all know FOR SURE Casey will fly like the wind... how much of that wind will Vale be able to cut down is a huge question....

even with the tyres... hopefully the don shred this time... he maybe able to finish... but finishing ahead of flying KC is another ball game altogether... lets hope JB has decided to put electronics in that M1...

and as far as Dani goes... we can never be too sure about him... he cant be too sure about himself at times... and never rule out Jorge... he may pull a suprise... one can never say....

and lets not forget the other Americans... Especially Colin... home track feeling may give Colin the motivation to go for the top spot...

but the main factor here as Vale said... would be to STOP Casey... can Toni Elias help :-P

Laguna is definately a track where you never know how it will end up. I'm hoping and praying that everything is in line for Vale and don't want to see the same thing that happened last year.

I can't wait and can't wait to get to California to it live!!!!

Rossi emphasises importance of front row for Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Predicting another strong performance from Casey Stoner this weekend, Valentino Rossi wants to start from the front in order to prevent another escape from the Australian.

MotoGP World Championship leader Valentino Rossi has the all-important advantage heading to the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, but knows all-too-well that there is room for improvement at the American circuit. In his three races to date at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Rossi has been on the podium just once (at his first race at the circuit in 2005) and has been cursed by bike and tyre problems over the past two years.
The five-time MotoGP World Champion has not had too much difficulty with either his bike or new Bridgestone rubber since the start of the season –a positive sign as he aims to break his Laguna Seca duck. However, the Italian has been concerned at some of his qualifying performances, having started from the front row at just 50% of the ten races to date in the 2008 season.
`We are going there with the same package that we had in Germany and so we´re going to have to work very hard to close the gap in performance to Stoner; we can´t afford to start from anywhere except the front because, with him in this form, it is then very hard to catch him,´says Rossi in the run-up to this weekend´s Grand Prix, having been unable to catch Stoner at the last three races despite fearsome race pace.
`Laguna hasn´t been one of my favourite tracks in the three years since we´ve been going there and it´s one of the only ones on the calendar where I haven't won. We´re aiming to win this week, that's for sure!
`It´s been a hard track for our bike but it´s been a very good track for Bridgestone and I am confident that our package will work very well there. The last two years I´ve had serious disappointments in the race and it´s been one of the low points of both seasons, I hope I have had all the bad luck I´m going to have there and that this year I can enjoy myself!´ says the Fiat Yamaha rider, the winner of three races already this term.
`California is a great place and this year we will be doing all we can to leave it with good memories, not bad ones!´

boo hoo, i wanted to go to Laguna but can't

I hope Nicky Hayden wins it.

And Rossi 2nd.

I just hope Vale manages to finish the race..
I have a strange feeling and I'm not liking it..