Jorge Lorenzo continued his domination in the MotoGP with another win at the Laguna Seca track. It is his first win at the California track, and his 6th win of the 2010 MotoGP season. Lorenzo beat out Casey Stoner and Fiat Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi, who earned his first podium finish since his return to the MotoGP circuit.

Lorenzo finished more than three seconds ahead of Stoner, and 13 seconds ahead of Rossi. Rossi, who returned to the MotoGP last weekend after a month of recovery, is still not at full strength, but his podium finish proves that Rossi is still among the best on the track.

Lorenzo extended his lead on the overall leader board over his closest competitor, Dani Pedrosa. Pedrosa was in positin to take his second win in a row, but crashed out on lap 12, and will take no points away from Laguna Seca.

Andrea Dovizioso took fourth place, just a second behind Rossi, followed by Nicky Hayden. The two American's were next across the finish line, with Ben Spies coming in 6th and Colin Edwards finishing 7th.

MotoGP - Laguna Seca - Race Results

1. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 43m 54.873s
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 43m 58.39s
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 44m 8.293s
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 44m 9.061s
5. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 44m 9.474s
6. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 44m 13.91s
7. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 44m 35.594s
8. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 44m 42.092s
9. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 44m 47.686s
10. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 44m 47.687s
11. Roger Lee Hayden USA LCR Honda MotoGP 45m 8.962s
12. Alex de Angelis RSM Interwetten Honda MotoGP 45m 9.539s

DNF:
Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing
Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini
Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 998m 0s
Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar
Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Riders for Health always brings their best for the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca round of the FIM MotoGP World Championship series – also known as the USGP. The race itself has been held annually outside of Salinas, California, since 2005; the Riders for Health “Day of Stars” started to take part in the festivities in 2007 making this year’s event the fourth annual. Every year they offer a US$500 (tax-deductable if you are in the right tax bracket) ticket which includes an entire day of activities hosted by he great people of Riders and stalwart supporter and co-founder Randy Mamola, a dedicated man if ever there were one. The award-winning charity only makes a limited number of tickets available, though, so always pick one up early.

The Day of Stars consists of several riding-based activities and an auction. Everything starts on the Thursday before the MotoGP weekend, which fell on 22 July in 2010, at 8:00 AM sharp – in fact, you should be there early! It begins with a very delicious breakfast buffet set up at your HQ for the day inside the Turn 4 VIP Suite dining area. About 45 minutes later you are finally briefed on the exact details of the day’s schedule. After some time to get to the bathroom, brush your teeth, and get your gear sorted, you depart the Pit parking area and begin your ride through the Carmel Valley wine country. Mamola rides along with you as you tackle some of the most scenic and flowing roads in the state at a relaxing but fun pace. Everyone should make it safely back to the circuit at around 1:00 PM.

At 1:30 PM the fun really begins as you sit down to have lunch with past and present Grand Prix racers and other celebrities. Lunch is over around an hour later and the group heads over to Laguna Seca’s MotoGP paddock and pit lane for a special up-close tour – not something accorded to many other race fans. After you see the high-end million-plus dollar prototype machines which will be racing on the circuit come Sunday, you get to take your slightly tamer street bike out on the track for some parade laps. Even people without motorcycles get to take to the black ribbon of asphalt – and the Corkscrew - in a van to experience it first hand. After the turn at the track, the group will return to the Turn 4 VIP Suites for the Riders for Health auction.

The auction is actually open to anyone – the free drinks stop before it starts, though – and there are some rather coveted items on offer here. Among the items available, there were race-worn boots from Nicky Hayden, Casey Stoner and Randy de Puniet, photos from Mick Walker and others, and work from several talented artists – all of it autographed by the subject and up for sale. Various MotoGP stars stopped by during the auction and helped out by giving short interviews and then signing shirts or personal items for the auction – along with signing plenty of free autographs for the serious fans in attendance. This year saw the Pramac Ducati team pair of Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargaro – for both of them this is the first race at Laguna Seca - stop by at the beginning and both were full of character and anecdotes which brought much laughter from the crowd. They signed shirts and those were quickly and successfully auctioned for large sums - a very good thing for Riders and their work. Next up was Alvaro Bautista from the Rizla Suzuki team. He came by with a special set of (autographed) gloves from his fifth place finish at the Catalan Grand Prix held at Catalunya in Spain during the first weekend in July 2010. It was a mark of great generosity for him to offer such an item – racers can be very superstitious, so you know they meant something to him. And, given the final price, they were quite dear to many people with money in their wallets as well.

Though the event schedule remains almost identical each year, as usual, this year’s event was special and even unique. It’s the best laid plans…And, that is what makes it worthwhile to attend at least one Riders for Health Day of Stars if not more. Every Dollar/Euro/Pound of the money you spend there goes to help a wonderful, almost miraculous, effort to bring health care to some of the most remote places on Earth. If you have yet to participate, head on over to riders.org and sign up for the newsletter so you have a chance at joining in next year. It is worth much more than the price of admission…and say hello to Randy for me.

BTW: Check out the sweet kicks on Espargaro (green/pink/white) and Bautista (green/pink/white/blue)…very fashionable.

Season leader Jorge Lorenzo earned another pole position today at the Laguna Seca track in an exciting showdown with Casey Stoner. Lorenzo has claimed the last five pole positions, and sets himself up nicely to take his sixth MotoGP win of the season.

Lorenzo was the only rider to finish below the 1'21 barrier, finishing with a 1'21.978 time. Stoner put in consistently fast laps, forcing Lorenzo to push himself to the limits. Lorenzo put his top time in on the penultimate lap, passing up Stoner by .19 seconds.

Andrea Dovizioso finished third during today's qualifying at Laguna Seca, earning his first ever front row start.

Dovizioso's Repsol Honda teammate and last year's race winner, Dani Pedrosa, will head up the second row. Pedrosa will be followed by American Ben Spies, who placed in the top five in both practice sessions, and Valentino Rossi, who has finished 6th throughout the weekend.

MotoGP - Laguna Seca - Qualifying Results

Jorge Lorenzo fired back at Casey Stoner, who claimed the fastest time during FP1, to reestablish his dominance in the MotoGP at Laguna Seca. Lorenzo was fastest during the final free practice session before the qualifying, ahead of Stoner and Dani Pedrosa.

Lorenzo set a 1'21.763 lap time, just .06 seconds faster than Stoner during FP2. Stoner's time during the first free practice session is still the time to beat at Laguna Seca.

Pedrosa finished in third, passing up his teammate, Andrea Dovizioso, who got the better of him in the first free practice session.

Ben Spies put in another solid fifth place finish, and was once again the quickest American around the Laguna Seca track. Spies finished .04 seconds ahead of Valentino Rossi, who said that the Laguna Seca track was hurting his leg more than he had expected.

MotoGP - Laguna Seca - Second Free Practice Session

Casey Stoner topped the timesheets today at the end of the first practice session at Laguna Seca. Stoner was followed by Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso.

After switching bikes at the beginning of the session, Stoner was consistently fast around the Laguna Seca track. He took the lead in front of Lorenzo near the midway point, and continued to better his time throughout the session. Stoner finished with a 1'21.699 time, more than two tenths clear of Lorenzo.

Dovizioso finished in third infront of his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, who won last year's race at Laguna Seca.

Ben Spies put in a solid showing infront of his home based American crowd with a fifth place finish in front of the legendary Valentino Rossi. Rossi came in just under a second behind Stoner.

Behind Rossi was Nicky Hayden on the other Ducati bike, followed by Collin Edwards, Marco Melandri and Alex Esparago.

MotoGP - Laguna Seca - Free Practice Results

The first of two American visits for the MotoGP will take off this weekend in Monterey, California, at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca track. The Red Bull USGP will showcase the best of MotoGP racing, as well as the AMA Pro Racing circuit, to make for one great weekend of racing.

The Americans will do their best to reach the podium in front of their home crowd, but they'll have stiff competition from riders abroad. Jorge Lorenzo is the race favorite, and has been since the start of the season. Lorenzo has yet to finish below second place during the 2010 MotoGP, but has never finished in the top two at Laguna Seca.

Valentino Rossi will also be itching for a podium finish. Rossi returned to the MotoGP last weekend, and had a very competitive round at Sachsenring. Every week Rossi is going to get healthier and faster, and this weekend could be the one where he finally returns to the top.

Dani Pedrosa took the Laguna Seca win last year, and is coming off of his second MotoGP win of the season at Sachsenring. Pedrosa has the best chance of catching up with Lorenzo, and is just 47 points behind on the overall leader board.

Casey Stoner took a win at Laguna Seca in 2007, and a second place finish in 2008. The Ducati rider has been consistently toward the top during the 2010 MotoGP, but hasn't taken a win yet this season.

For the Americans, Nicky Hayden will have the best chance to break onto the podium. Hayden has two USGP wins, but hasn't won since 2006. Hayden's little brother will also get the chance to top the podium at the USGP.

Ben Spies has had a strong rookie season, and has already found the podium once in the MotoGP. Spies has plenty of success at Laguna, but never at the MotoGP level. However, Spies has had to battle unfamiliar tracks during most of the MotoGP season, a problem he won't be having at Laguna.

MotoGP Overall Standings

Dani Pedrosa had a flawless race that brought him victory at the MotoGP in Germany. Pedrosa won a shortened 21-lap event after a crash inolving Randy de Puniet brought down the red flags. Season leader Jorge Lorenzo took second, followed by Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi.

The originally race was stopped on lap 9 when Puniet, Alvaro Bautistsa, and Alex Espargaro went down at turn four. Bautista and Espargaro were unable to return to the race, but it was Puniet who suffered the worst of the crash. Puniet sustained fractures to his left tibia and fibula after his bike burst into flames.

When the shortened race began, Lorenzo took the lead from Pedrosa, and the two engaged in a fierce battle. But Pedrosa was nearly perfect, setting a new circuit lap record on lap ten, and then again on lap 12.

Pedrosa pulled ahead of Lorenzo, and would eventually finish more than three seconds ahead.

The battle for third was also intense. Rossi and Stoner stayed neck and neck until the final lap. But Stoner was able to get the better of Rossi, and took the final spot on the podium.

MotoGP - Sachsenring - Race Results

Jorge Lorenzo rode to his fourth consecutive pole position of the MotoGP season today at Sachsenring. Lorenzo finished ahead of Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa. Valentino Rossi missed the front row with a fifth place finish.

The qualifying session was halted when oil from Lorenzo's M1 spilled onto the track. Ben Spies and Randy de Puniet both took spills around the track that caused the red flags to come down.  Puniet left the track to get x-rays on his foot, but no breaks were found. After the race started up again, Lorenzo found his way back to the top to claim pole.

Stoner, who has yet to win a race this year, puts himself in a good position to take a run at the top tomorrow. Stoner finished just .024 seconds behind Lorenzo, who finished with a 1'21.817 time. Pedrosa was the third and final rider to finish below 1'22.

Andrea Dovizioso will start from the front of row two, followed by Rossi. Rossi finished just .578 seconds behind Lorenzo, and should be a challenger come tomorrow's race.

Hector Barbera earned his best finish in a premier class race with his sixth place finish.

MotoGP - Sachsenring - Qualifying Results

All eyes were on Valentino Rossi as the MotoGP riders took to the track during the first free practice session at Sachsenring. Rossi would be competitive throughout the day, but would finish .7 seconds behind first place rider Dani Pedrosa, in seventh.

Pedrosa took the top spot on the time sheets by setting a 1'22.521 time on his final lap around the German GP track. Pedrosa passed up Casey Stoner on his last lap, who finished the session in second. Stoner's Ducati teammate Nicky Hayden took third, and was the last rider to finish under the 1'23 mark.

Ben Spies took his time to get comfortable on the Sachsenring track, but managed to put up a fourth place time at the end of the session. He was followed by another rookie, Marco Simoncelli, who finished fifth.

Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo took the sixth place spot, just .02 seconds ahead of Rossi. Rossi completed 29 laps during the free practice session, showing that he can handle the full 30 during Sunday's race.

MotoGP - Sechsenring - Free Practice 1

1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 1m 22.521s
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 22.795s
3. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 22.983s
4. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 23.189s
5. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 23.204s
6. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 1m 23.224s
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1m 23.244s
8. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1m 23.260s
9. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 23.290s
10. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1m 23.400s