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Ben Spies, Colin Edwards, Nicky Hayden, Jorge Lorenzo, and Hiroshi Aoyama

Aug. 26, 2010, Indianapolis Motor Speedway

MODERATOR: Warm welcome, everybody, the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. It’s round 11 in the MotoGP World Championship; the third time we’ve been to Indianapolis in the premier press conference.
Obviously in the center, Jorge Lorenzo, the World Championship leader; 77 points he leads the championship this season. Seven wins and three second places. The Indy winner last year, and, of course, Jorge also won on the Fiat Yamaha at Laguna Seca this year. He comes here in very good shape.
To his right, no introduction needed, of course. Nicky Hayden, the former World Champion. Two podium finishes here on the Ducati at Indianapolis. Nicky riding with a damaged wrist, a nasty accident in Brno, but finished the race well.
To his left, Jorge’s left, of course, Ben Spies riding the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha. Ben, his first full season in the MotoGP World Championship. He’s seventh in the World Championship. He’s had a third at Silverstone, a front-row start at the Czech Republic and, of course, rode here a couple years ago for Suzuki, 2008 as a wild card entry.
To Nicky’s right, a warm welcome to Colin Edwards. It will be his 130th Grand Prix appearance. That’s amazing. You remember Colin coming up from World Superbikes. He’s 10th in the World Championship and he was fifth at Indianapolis last year, again, of course, riding for the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha Team.
And a warm welcome back to Hiroshi Aoyama, the current 250cc champion, of course, riding the Interwetten Honda. He’s been out of action for over two months with a back injury following a crash in the morning warmup at Silverstone.
Obviously we’ll start the press conference with Jorge. We said all the things, Jorge, 77 points, wins at Laguna, Indianapolis. You come here in very, very good shape.

JORGE LORENZO: Yes, I come here in very good shape. You know, all the things are going so well this year. There was sort of — I got second position, so I couldn’t ask for anything more. And we come here in a track that I love. In 2008 with a lot of rain and very hard conditions, I made my first podium in rain in my career, and last year I won. So it’s always very positive that MotoGP comes here in America, and I’m happy for that.

MODERATOR: And just walking into the Motor Speedway is a special place, an iconic place, isn’t it?

LORENZO: Yeah, very special with a lot of history and a lot of races here in the past. And obviously we are — we want that this continues for long years, but I don’t know whether it’s going to happen for the next years.

MODERATOR: We sat here two weeks ago, not here but in the press conference in Brno in the Czech Republic, you said: “Now I think very hard about the championship. I have to be careful. Wins not so important but podiums. We just want to win the race again.” Is it the same philosophy here, the same theory?

LORENZO: Obviously, I want to win. Nobody in this world want to lose and to make bad results. You know, but we have the possibility to lose a race and to get zero points. But anybody knows what can happen if you crash. Maybe can happen nothing and you are OK physically or you can hurt yourself. So it’s better not to take so many risks and to be on the bike.

MODERATOR: Off the track at Brno, many things happened. Valentino Rossi will not be your teammate next season. It does appear that Ben will, although that has to be confirmed yet. How do you feel about Valentino going and Ben joining you?

LORENZO: Well, Valentino is going to Ducati, it is official. It’s very big news and very interesting news. Very hard challenge for him, for Ducati. We all hope next year the championship could be more interesting, this for sure. For my side, I still haven’t signed with Yamaha, but we all hope that it comes very soon.

MODERATOR: Jorge, many thanks.
We come to Nicky Hayden, of course to Jorge’s right. Nicky currently sixth in the World Championship. As I say, two podium finishes on the Ducati here. Nicky, I know we always say it’s a special place but I think for anybody coming here, we always think, wow, this is a bit different.

NICKY HAYDEN: Yeah, absolutely. Been a lot of history here, a lot of racing, period, went on here, especially in this whole area, Indianapolis. You can race about anything within, you know, 30 miles of here. So it’s, I think special for anybody but for me it’s double because it’s so close to my house. And to drive to a MotoGP race for me is still the third year kind of seems strange because my first couple years in GP was no American rounds, so I definitely enjoy it and happy to be here and looking forward to the weekend.

MODERATOR: And the wrist obviously you crashed in qualifying, wasn’t it, at Brno, you rode in the race very bravely, you had a couple of weeks to at least make some sort of repair.

HAYDEN: Yeah, absolutely. I crashed there and was an easy crash, but I was telling Colin I always hold on to the bike too long think I’m going to save it, save it, and the bike landed on it and it definitely wasn’t real fun there in Brno for the race. After the warm-up, I was praying for rain for the race and didn’t get it. But managed to do even better than we thought in the race. But I’ve had about 10 days, and bones don’t heal up 100 percent in 10 days, so us riders we think they can sometimes and they should. But it’s certainly a lot better than it was last week, and this track doesn’t have the hard braking it had in Brno. So, you know, I really don’t expect big, big problems with it. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow. But left wrist is a lot better than the right wrist. So, you know, we’ll see. But I’m hoping for no big problems. We ain’t got time to be messing around with sore wrists this weekend; we’ve got to go for it.

MODERATOR: So typically it didn’t rain in the race at Brno, you had the test on Monday and the rain came in the afternoon. You did get some laps in, didn’t you?

HAYDEN: Actually the rain, I was done anyway, I had a couple things to try, but I couldn’t ride, so it didn’t hurt my feelings that the rain came. Every man for himself. If I couldn’t ride, actually probably just as soon nobody ride. But I think everybody got to do a few laps in the morning which I think everybody needed because it had been since Jerez that we got to try anything.

MODERATOR: Your brother in Moto2, that’s going to be interesting, isn’t it? We’ve had him in MotoGP, but Moto2, a lot of riders for him to contend with to start with.

HAYDEN: Yeah, MotoGP this year and World Superbike, Moto2 this weekend. We joke around the house: “Why if there’s any race somewhere, what he’s done at home. Surely he can find something, British Superbike or go-kart race, get involved in BMX.” But, yeah, he’s definitely looking forward to a good weekend. I think it’s a great opportunity for the American fans, too, because the whole Moto2, they didn’t come to Laguna. The championship, I’ve said before, seems a little unknown to fans around here. The whole concept of single-engine deal is not really something that’s been used a lot in the American championships in any kind of racing. So I think it will be great racing for the fans, we’ve seen 40 bikes within two seconds is good racing. And put in a good effort for the team. So it won’t be easy, as anybody knows it’s a World Championship level, so to just show up here and jump it in, it will be tough. But I think he can see how it goes.
Qualifying will be really important for him, just like everybody in Moto2. But hopefully have a good result, be fun. We certainly got the support, a lot of friends and family and stuff making the trip this year, probably more than ever. So we need to bring our A game.

MODERATOR: Just finally, 2011, there was rumors or we felt that you may make an announcement this weekend about 2011.

HAYDEN: Yeah, certainly we’re really close, and a announcement is coming soon. So officially I can’t say a whole lot more than that, but everything is looking good and soon we’ll know something.

MODERATOR: No great surprises we don’t think.

HAYDEN: No, not at this moment. So I don’t expect anybody to be shocked when they hear what’s happening. It won’t be nothing too overwhelming.

MODERATOR: Nicky, thank you very much indeed.
We come to Jorge’s left, of course Ben Spies. Ben, first season in MotoGP. Ben, at least you arrive at a circuit that you’ve actually ridden on before. That’s a start for you, isn’t it?

BEN SPIES: Yeah, I look forward to it. We were here a couple years ago and it was, I think we kind of raced in the hurricane then, but it was — I like the track, it’s definitely a different track for us. But for Indy, they put on a great event for being inside a speedway. It’s as good as it can get. I like the track. So it should be fun. A lot of, like Nicky said, he’s got a lot of friends and family, same for me. It makes it fun. It’s serious, you’ve got to perform on Sunday, but it’s kind of like a little vacation. You get to hang out with all the people that you used to like when I was in AMA and stuff like that. So I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully we can continue with the momentum from the last few weekends and just keep going. It’s tough but hope to have some fun.

MODERATOR: And I think for us Europeans, we find the place is so, so different, Indianapolis and Laguna Seca. They’re almost different countries to us. Do you feel like that in some ways?

SPIES: I grew up riding, and it’s a little bit different coming back after being at Brno and places like that. But no, it’s still nice. It’s riding at some tracks coming up that are a little bit worse than this. So it’s good. Like I said, I like the track. For what they’ve done inside a speedway, I think it’s awesome.

MODERATOR: In 2011, we all think we know where you’re going, but is there anything actually confirmed yet?

SPIES: I think you know with a few riders there’s been the worst-kept secrets of all, but like I said, I don’t think a whole lot of people will be shocked. But we have an announcement coming this weekend, and that’s pretty much all I can say right now.

MODERATOR: And Brno you did get to test in the morning anyway before the rain came?

SPIES: Yeah. We got in some laps. We did what we needed to do. We didn’t set the world on fire but we got some data and, you know, got an early look at some stuff. And hopefully found some things, too, for this weekend and the future of this year. And then, you know, started some development for next year and, yeah, it was a good test for us.

MODERATOR: It was an important test, wasn’t it? I think you’re right, so much to do with so little testing for 2010 before you can even look at 2011, it was important.

SPIES: Yeah, I mean there’s for a lot of the riders and like I said, not just – even not so much for next year but just for the rest of this year, just looking at some stuff, trying some stuff we didn’t get a chance to with Brno. The weather was kind of a little bit iffy through a couple sessions. There are some things we wanted to try and never got to. We tried to. Some things worked and some things different. We’ll just try to put it to the test this weekend and the rest of the year and try to get ready for next year.

MODERATOR: Ben, thanks very much indeed.
Come to the far end, ladies and gentlemen, of course, Ben’s teammate, Colin Edwards. Colin, 130th Grand Prix appearance. It’s been some run some run, hasn’t it?

COLIN EDWARDS: It has. Can I just say something real quick for future reference? Earlier when you said 10th in the championship, that’s like a dagger in the heart. So let’s just leave that shit out next time, OK? If it weren’t for these assholes being so fast, I might be a little bit higher up in the championship. (Laughter)
No, 130 races. Oh, man, I’m getting old, aren’t I?

HAYDEN: He’s a professional. He should be able to put a better spin on it than that. (Laughter)

EDWARDS: Yeah. No, it definitely, 130 races, yeah, it’s been something special. It’s been some of the best times of my life. It’s been awesome.

MODERATOR: Tough year for you this year.

EDWARDS: Oh, you think? Is that just being honest? (Laughter)

MODERATOR: I’m being honest. You’ve had a tough old time out there.

EDWARDS: Yeah, it’s been very difficult. We obviously finished fifth in the championship last year and came here kind of on a high thinking everything would be cool. This dumb-ass six engines per year rule, I don’t know what they have there, but we’ve suffered. We’ve obviously suffered. We got a little bit something extra at Laguna, not necessarily engine or whatever, but we developed a little bit of a faster bike overnight and it seems to be working. Our two best results were Laguna and Brno and we’re just looking to build on that.

MODERATOR: And the future, do you want to stay in MotoGP?

EDWARDS: I’m going fishing. Screw this shit.

MODERATOR: You’re beginning to sound more like Kenny Roberts every day. (Laughter)

EDWARDS: No, I would love to stay with Herve. I’d love to stay with Yamaha. That’s my No. 1 goal at the moment. We just need to try and make it happen.

MODERATOR: So an important second part of the season for both of you.

EDWARDS: Yeah, I think there are a couple chips that need to fall in the right place and I think it can happen, it’s just a matter of — is it a full moon yet? I don’t know. Anyways, we just need to see what happens.

MODERATOR: I think I speak for everybody, we hope it happens. We don’t want to lose you from the MotoGP.
Finally, I remember a couple years ago when you first came to Indy, you said what a special place to come and actually race here, just so fantastic.

EDWARDS: I have so many memories here. You all probably heard the story, it was ’85 or ’86 when Danny Sullivan did the 360 and still won the race. My dad was drunk on the bed, and I was a little kid. I just remember my dad being drunk, “God damn, did you see that?” I’m like, “Dad, that’s the 10th time you said that. I saw it already.” (Laughter)
But I have some memories of this place, most of them televised that I was watching. And to be here and to be parked in the same Paddock in the motor homes and just being in this area, it’s something special. They’ve done a great job with it, you know, to build a motorcycle track here, it’s a good job.

MODERATOR: Colin, many thanks. Congratulations on 130. Thank you.
We come to the far end, ladies and gentlemen, Hiroshi Aoyama. Of course, the current 250cc World Champion. He finished second here in the 250cc race last year. Been out of action for over two months. Welcome back, Hiro. It’s been a long, hard road for you.

HIROSHI AOYAMA: Thank you very much. It was two months ago, and I crashed in the warming up. It was not really hard crash, a simple crash. But when I crashed I had so much pain and they brought me to the hospital, and doctor said my back is broken and it takes three months. I was very sure at the beginning, I didn’t want it to be that, but after that I stay in my bed for one month. Sometime I had any hand and my leg numbness, so I was really scared. But now I can come back to here and it was really hard time to be, being at home for two months. But I did testing last week — two weeks ago in Brno and feeling was OK. So I think now it’s time to come back to racetrack.

MODERATOR: Will you have some special protection or some strengthening for the back?

AOYAMA: Yes, we made a special corset for riding the bike because my back is not 100 percent yet, so I need some support. With this I can ride normal. I hope I don’t have so much pain during this weekend. Last time in test I did 10 laps continued, it was OK, but after that I had to lay down on the floor. Now it’s two weeks later, so I hope it’s going to be better.

MODERATOR: And while you’ve been away, have you been watching the races on television?

AOYAMA: Yeah, these two months I was away watching the MotoGP and it was kind of stressed, but also I felt I love motorcycle and I’m really happy that I can ride a bike again, also I can walk normally.

MODERATOR: All I can say, Hiroshi, I think from everybody, a big welcome back, it’s good to see you back. We’re glad everything is OK. Thank you very much indeed.

AOYAMA: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Questions from the floor, ladies and gentlemen. Put up your hands, the microphones will come.
You silenced them all, Colin.

EDWARDS: We’ve got a question here. Right here.

SPIES: So is your dad the reason you don’t have a filter, is that it? (Laughter)

EDWARDS: He is Australian, so maybe that filter is gone. (Laughter)

Q: Pretty much the talk of the morning has been Ben’s NBA exploits. Can you tell us a little bit about your basketball? I heard you’ve been knocking down three-pointers like they’re going out of style.

SPIES: You didn’t see me dribbling too much, did you? I used to play basketball a long time ago. That was the first time, it was fun going out there and seeing how big the stadium is, how small the court feels in the stadium environment and meeting Rik Smits, that was a pretty cool deal. I got hot for a second, and then I missed everything else. (Laughter)

MODERATOR: Anybody else, ladies and gentlemen?

Q: Nick, have you tried to ride? Have you ridden your dirt bike or anything?

HAYDEN: Yeah, I rode a little bit a couple days going at my house, me and my dad, just a normal deal. Actually, yeah, I felt OK. Like I said, not just great, and I didn’t push it, but, you know, my home race, so it’s not going to get caught up thinking about it too much, just ride. So I don’t really — I’ll see tomorrow, breaking in on one of these things is a little different than riding up your driveway, backyard type thing, but it will be all right.

Q: Nicky, did you seek any kind of medical treatment for the wrist injury?

HAYDEN: Yeah. Well, I mean I went obviously to Costa after it happened and after I got home, I did an X-ray and scan because I have a screw in my left wrist, too, riding in the scaphoid area where they were worried about because at the Clinica, they can’t sometimes see 100 percent on X-ray and so close to that scaphoid bone they say needs a couple days before it can really show up. So went home to my doctor, and another doctor checked it over. Some normal therapy stuff, ultrasounds and things like that. I’ll maybe get another X-ray in a week or two and see if it’s still healing, but I don’t expect no surgery or nothing like that.

Q: Then, also, I understand maybe the new Ohlins forks were made available this weekend, but you’re not going to use them?

HAYDEN: We’re not going to use them tomorrow. I’ve got one set that, you know, I used a bit in Brno and I really didn’t have, you know, anything but — didn’t like better than what I had. I tried, really only changed one or two things on them and we’ve talked this week and it seemed after they got back and checked the data more, maybe we started off with the wrong setting on some of the static compression or whatever was maybe not the ideal place to start. So, you know, not confuse things tomorrow but maybe try them again here, Misano or something. We brought them and we’ve still got them around. So something we might look at but not tomorrow.

MODERATOR: Anybody else?

Q: Nicky, assuming that the announcement is what we all think it’s going to be, what are your thoughts of being teamed back up with Valentino next year?

HAYDEN: You know, if that was to happen — (Laughter)
You know, I think it would be great for our series, great for the championship, obviously for the Italians to have Rossi on the Ducati. I was just doing an interview and told them they better get their tickets for Mugello now because I can only imagine that place with him on it. Even the test at Valencia if he rides that, there will be as many people trying to watch the test. So I think it would be a great opportunity. We’ve been teammates before; we got on well.
You know, sure, put a lot of pressure on me and everybody to do a good job. But he has a lot of experience. Everywhere he’s went, he’s great for engineers because he’s consistent. His feedback from what I’ve been around, you know, is very clear. And I wouldn’t certainly have a problem with it. I could see only for the most part good stuff. So I hope that’s the case. I think it would be a lot of fun.

Q: For the three American riders. Obviously, to compete at the level that you guys are competing at, you have to ride beyond the edge so often anyway. But I know when you come here to race in the States, you want to win so bad and perform so well. What do you do, what do you say to yourself? How do you dig deeper for an even better performance or to try to achieve the goal that you hope for when you’re here? Because mechanically you’re to a point but you try to take it so much further on your own.

EDWARDS: You’ve been doing all the talking. Do you want to talk first?

HAYDEN: I’ll keep going. I’m warmed up. (Laughter) You’ve got to be careful. Like you say, you always try your hardest. You come and think, “Oh, wow, you’re going to try that last bit, but sometimes there’s not any more.” You try too hard and the pressure is too much, and you go slower and make mistakes. I think, if anything, you’ve got to be more careful. Just stick to your routine and do what you normally do. Really, I can’t say I’ve been holding anything back. I’ve been on the ground a lot this year. So not like I got a whole lot left, but I’m going to try to find something on Sunday.

EDWARDS: Go ahead, Ben.

HAYDEN: I’ve never heard Colin turn down the opportunity to do a little talking. (Laughter)

EDWARDS: I’m thinking.

HAYDEN: Do you feel OK, man?

SPIES: I think it’s kind of what Nicky said. You know, every Sunday, no matter what country you’re in, we try hard for 45 minutes. You want your best result to be at home. I mean, that’s what you want. You just hope everything comes together. You get good qualifying, you get a good start, the bike’s working good and try to put it together. But, yeah, I mean a week and a half ago at Brno and before that I’m pretty sure I rode as hard as I could and the same thing here. Just hope it comes together and get a good result for everybody.

EDWARDS: Honestly the same. You don’t really do anything different. Every weekend you go and you ride your balls off. And every weekend after Sunday after 45 minutes of riding you say that’s the hardest race I’ve ever ridden, this is bullshit. And it’s going to be the same this weekend. There’s nothing really different, you just do the same thing. Being on home soil, yeah, maybe a little extra incentive, maybe a little more attuned — I don’t know — kind of focused on bike setting. Maybe a little bit more trying to find that extra little 10th or two, but that’s about it.

MODERATOR: Anybody else?
OK. It’s time for the photograph, gentlemen. Thank you very much indeed.

The MotoGP World Championship enters new level of intensity this weekend as the Grand Prix de France at the historic Bugatti circuit in Le Mans kicks off a run of seven races in a little over two months before the summer break.

The Ducati Marlboro Team, which has proven to be competitive on different tracks with both riders, is looking to make the most of the potential of riders and bike as Casey Stoner aims to recover lost ground in the championship and Nicky Hayden targets a continuation of his positive early season progress.

Le Mans, widely known as a typical “stop and go” circuit, has proven to be a challenge for Ducati in the past although the factory has celebrated podiums there on two occasions, with Stoner in 2007 and Capirossi in 2006. However, the new specification GP10 machine has given the Ducati Marlboro Team plenty of reason for optimism as they look to tackle the unique demands of the French circuit this weekend.

CASEY STONER, Ducati Marlboro Team
“Because of the “stop and go” nature of the circuit at Le Mans you need a bike that is very stable on the brakes but also agile and quick in corner exit, especially in the slow sections. In the past we have usually managed to be fast and run at the front but we’ve never come away with the results that we would have liked. This year I think we can have higher expectations than the past two seasons there and we will certainly give our best to meet them.”

NICKY HAYDEN, Ducati Marlboro Team
“Le Mans is probably the most difficult circuit on the calendar for me because I think it is the only place I’ve never been on the podium or the front row at, so it will be interesting to see how we go this year. As I have said a few times we have made a good start to the season and put two good races together but we have to keep our feet on the ground and keep working because our objective is to consistently perform at a high level and close the gap even further to those front guys. The last couple of tenths are definitely the hardest to find but I feel comfortable with the bike and the team, I’m enjoying myself and I feel confident about the rest of the season.”

VITTORIANO GUARESCHI, Team Manager
“We have never produced amazing results at Le Mans but this year I am expecting a good race from both our riders – partly because for various reasons in the past we probably haven’t capitalised on our potential there and also because we are more competitive in general now. Casey and Nicky are in great shape and the GP10, with its more linear power curve, will put less stress on the tires at this track and should also be easier for the riders to handle around this track.”

With a win and a podium each so far this season, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi will arrive at Le Mans this weekend with high hopes of continuing their victorious start to the season. The Fiat Yamaha pair lie first and second in the championship after two races, with Lorenzo four points ahead of Rossi following his magnificent home victory last time out.

The Spaniard turned 23 two days after Jerez and the memory of his first home MotoGP win was still fresh in his mind as he celebrated his birthday at home in Barcelona, following a successful one-day test. He cannot help but feel confident for another good weekend in Le Mans, where last year he kept his head to win by 17 seconds as the weather wreaked havoc on all around him, and the season before he finished second despite riding with two broken ankles. The Mallorcan has one other win at Le Mans, in 2007 on the way to his second 250cc title.

The French Grand Prix in 2009 on the other hand is one that nine-time World Champion Rossi would rather forget, plagued as he was by a catalogue of mishaps and visits to pit lane before limping home in 16th position. His previous record at the famous French track is exemplary however, with two wins for Yamaha in 2008 and 2005, as well as one other win and six podiums in all classes. Another two weeks off has given him time to fully recover from the shoulder injury that hampered him in Jerez and he will be back on top form and shooting for the top this time out.

Le Mans is most famous as home to the iconic 24-Hour race but the MotoGP also draws a huge crowd every year. The first part of the track is the most difficult in what is not a particularly technical circuit, with the high-speed, uphill turn one giving way to several tight chicanes. The remainder of the track is made up of short straights and hairpins calling for a set up that yields both balance and control under hard and repeated braking and a quick transfer from full braking to full acceleration on the exit of the corners.

Jorge Lorenzo – “An amazing and crazy race!”
“Despite our victory in Jerez and taking the lead in the world standings I continue to think that I am not the favourite because the season is very long and it has only just started! I am very proud however because Jerez was my first victory at home in MotoGP. Last year I won in Le Mans in an amazing and crazy race. It was a very complicated because of the rain and drying track, but I think that everybody in our team did an unbelievable job, above all on Sunday. I know that I used everything I had, from the very first laps right to the end. I hope the fans aren’t waiting for a repeat this weekend! Of course the weather is always a risk in Le Mans, but I hope for sun. I’ve been on the podium twice there, last season and when I won my second 250cc title, so I am looking forward to trying again. I’ve had almost three weeks since Jerez and I know that I am ready for this second European race.”

Valentino Rossi – “Back to full strength”
“My shoulder is more or less recovered now so I hope I will be back to full strength in Le Mans. Despite the disaster of last year’s race, Le Mans is a good track for me and the Yamaha always goes well there. The biggest problem is the weather, but after last year I think we deserve a sunny French GP! We’ve made a good start to the season, with the win in Qatar and then another podium, but we have also struggled with the bike in some areas and so we need to try to improve our performance. We had a good test after Jerez so I hope that we will be able to use that information to start strongly here.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – “Looking to carry on our good start”
“After Jorge’s brilliant win in Jerez everyone has had another long rest and now we’re excited to get back to work and carry on our good start to the season. There is a very long way to go and we won’t get too excited, but just try to continue in the same way. Le Mans has been a good track for Yamaha in the past and last year Jorge had a great win there in very difficult circumstances. Hopefully the race will be a little more simple this year, without the rain!”

Davide Brivio – “Something to forget”
“We have something to forget in Le Mans after last year, when it rained, we had some difficulties and took no points! In general however Le Mans is always a very good track for Yamaha and we have had some good results there in the past. We hope for good weather this time. We have started the championship very strongly and our aim now is to continue this trend and remaining close or at the top by taking as many points as possible. We really hope to do well here in order to put us on a good footing for the busy period of June and July, when the championship will really start to take shape.”

Josh Hayes and his Team Graves Yamaha backed up his convincing Saturday win at Infineon Raceway with another display of superiority, as he took his second AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike win in as many days and led all but five laps of Superbike competition at the 2.32-mile natural road course.

Hayes, who started on pole position, had to come from behind after some exceptional front-row starts from his competitors. Over the course of the first few laps, however, Hayes slowly picked off the riders in front and rode away to a 3.677-second victory over former teammate Ben Bostrom.

Ben Bostrom on his Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha and an ever strong Larry Pegram on his Foremost Insurance Ducati both battled off Hayes to repeat their second and third place finishes from yesterday. Pegram led the first five laps of the race before being passed by a charging Hayes, who climbed back from fifth position to take the top spot on lap six, steadily maintaining his lead on the way to his ninth Superbike win.

“I felt like I had an advantage this weekend,” Hayes said. “My bike worked really well and the boys did a fantastic job. I think we learned a few things and it will bode well for the rest of the season. If we keep our nose clean, we can compete for wins any given weekend.”

All three riders commented that it was a different kind of race today, but at the end of the day, the top three matched the conditions perfectly and each rider was delighted with their results for different reasons.

Hayes was relieved that he was able to back up his result from yesterday. He felt that he had such an advantage with Saturday’s clearly dominant performance of his Team Graves Yamaha that he was actually worried that he might not deliver on the advantage he felt that he had over the conditions and competition.

Bostrom was also pleased with his weekend. His new team, Pat Clark Motorsports, has been getting better and better and this is an indication that the team and rider are back up front where they belong and now feel that they can be contenders for the rest of the 2010 AMA Pro Road Racing season.

Pegram, who rides, manages and works on his family-owned Foremost Insurance Ducati team, felt that his performances at a track where he traditionally doesn’t do well was a bonus. He did have more difficulty with slower traffic today, but overall he is leaving Infineon Raceway with a pair of strong results as he heads into the scene of his popular victory last year at Road America.

Behind the top three, Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammates Tommy Hayden and Blake Young enjoyed battling with each other and more as they also duplicated their fourth and fifth place finishes from yesterday. The duo had a close encounter in the turn nine complex on the final lap, which sent Hayden off course momentarily, but both riders retook their respective positions before crossing the stripe.

Young ran as high as second position early in the race before beginning his seemingly race-long battle with points leader Jake Zemke on his National Guard Jordan Suzuki, who did all he could to take sixth, giving no quarter as he fought all the way to the flag.

Jake Holden had another strong run on his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki with a seventh place run, ahead of his teammate Chris Ulrich on his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki. RidersDiscount.com Suzuki rider Taylor Knapp took another solid finish in ninth and Geoff May returned to fulltime National Guard SuperBike competition with a tenth place finish on his Erik Buell Racing Buell motorcycle.

Michael Jordan Motorsports (MJM) maintains the championship points lead after completing races seven and eight of the 2010 AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike Championship held at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA this weekend. National Guard Jordan Suzuki’s Jake Zemke scored a fourth place finish on Saturday and finished sixth in Sunday’s race. Aaron Yates’ replacement rider, Brett McCormick, was running seventh when he experienced a mechanical issue during Saturday’s race and finished thirteenth on Sunday after a minor get-off in turn ten early in the race.

On Saturday, Zemke maintained second place for a number of laps before slipping into fourth in the final stages of the race. On Sunday, Zemke, slightly off the pace, ran in fourth place throughout most of the race until the late stages when he was passed and ended up with a sixth place finish. Zemke holds onto a four point lead in the championship heading to the next event at Road America.

“On Saturday, my bike was moving around quite a bit,” Zemke said. “It was pretty good early on and we were able to get up to second. I didn’t have a huge gap or anything, but I felt comfortable where I was. We definitely started losing grip from the rear tire. I couldn’t really get off the corners. And knowing that, I was trying to push harder going into the corners to try and make up for it. That was causing the bike to move around quite a bit and it was kind of the end of our deal. We faded back from there and tried to minimize the damage and maximize what we could.”

“Sunday was a long race,” Zemke continued. “The times were a lot quicker in the beginning of the race and we definitely had a better pace at the beginning of it. I just ended up glazing the brakes over and I couldn’t get into the corners the way I needed to. But we held on and we’re still in the championship lead, so that’s an important thing. We’re constantly working and moving forward and pretty soon the 54 will be back up on top. Wisconsin is one of my favorite tracks and I’m definitely looking forward to that – getting to something a little bit faster and flowing. I think that’ll suit our bike real well.”

During the weekend, Jake Zemke’s National Guard Suzuki GSX-R1000 was proudly sporting the state patch of the California National Guard’s largest combat brigade, the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. The corresponding National Guard state patches will be placed on Zemke’s Suzuki for the remainder of the 2010 season.

Danny Eslick finally attained his first AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL win of the 2010 season on Sunday afternoon in the final race of the West Coast Moto Jam at Infineon Raceway’s 2.32-mile natural road course.

In a weekend that saw riders in each class take well deserved wins, no one was happier and more relieved than Eslick. The reigning Daytona SportBike champion showed that consistency is key, once again pushing his GEICO Powersports Richie Morris Racing Suzuki to the maximum to earn a hard-fought victory over the 31-bike field and take control of the point standings with his fifth podium finish in the season’s seven races.

Over the course of the 22-lap sprint race, nine different riders occupied the top five spots. Eslick surged to the front almost immediately and had to battle intensely in a quest for his first 2010 race win. The lead freight train was rarely separated by more than a second and although Eslick led 19 laps, it was never truly clear who was poised to take the top spot.

Josh Herrin on his Team Graves Yamaha, Steve Rapp with his Team Latus Motors Racing Ducati, Martin Cardenas on his Saturday race one winning M4 Monster Energy Suzuki and pole sitter Tommy Aquino on his Team Graves Yamaha all took the fight to Eslick with intentions to take the win.

Cardenas suffered an early mishap in the turn nine left/right complex and wasn’t able to continue after coming together with another rider, but it was Rapp, who took the lead from Eslick on lap 17, that was poised to be the rider to once again deny Eslick of a 2010 win. In a cruel twist, Rapp unfortunately had the bike slide out from under him while leading lap 21. He was able to rejoin the fray to finish a brave 16th.

A number of other riders also had falls today, one of which necessitated a red flag. Russ Wikle went down in turn five and Michael Beck unfortunately made inevitable contact with him. Wikle was airlifted to Santa Rosa Medical Center for further examination. He was awake and alert when he left the track and was undergoing further examination at the hospital. He had spoken to his parents but the full extent of his injuries was still being evaluated.

When the race wound down, Daytona 200 winner Herrin took second and Dane Westby riding his Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha closed out the podium in third place, his third podium this season. Polesitter Tommy Aquino, who led three laps in Saturday’s race and never fell below seventh position this weekend, battled his way to a fourth place finish.

Fifth was Cory West on his Vesrah Suzuki, followed by Bobby Fong in sixth, who ran as high as second position in the early stages of the race aboard his DNA Energy Drink CNR Motorsports Ducati. Seventh was the second Vesrah Suzuki of Chris Fillmore, eighth was P.J. Jacobson riding for Celtic Racing Suzuki. Eli Edwards took ninth with his Edwards Racing Yamaha and rounding out the top ten was Tyler Odom riding a Honda for Erion Racing.

Eslick completed the day with a spectacular wheelie for the television cameras and also a loud, smokey burnout as he pulled into the Infineon Raceway victory lane. Sunday’s first place finish marked Eslick’s eighth career AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL win, but if his consistent finishes so far this year are any indication, expect to see him in victory lane at least once a weekend for the rest of the season.

Since his exciting first AMA Pro SuperSport win by 0.001 of a second at the season opening race at Daytona International Speedway, Cameron Beaubier has endured a series of unfortunate events that prevented him from winning again. In each case, what seemed like a sure win would be dashed by untimely red flags due to incidents not of his own making.

Today at Infineon Raceway, Beaubier again had a red flag displayed while he was leading the race. It was almost a repeat of yesterday’s red flag, but this time Cameron made an excellent restart and pulled away to a dominant win, his second in AMA Pro competition.

It was even more impressive due to the fact that Beaubier wasn’t riding his usual Rockwall Yamaha, but his own motorcycle with support from Mazda Technologies and Intel and crewed by friends and family. Beaubier reflected on his day, “It feels awesome, I had a little bad luck the last few races, but got a strong start on the restart and just took off. I felt really comfortable and the bike was working great all weekend.”

Today’s race again saw some tremendous action and yesterday’s historic winner Elena Myers was featured again along with the other Young Gun riders in the 18-lap race around the 2.32-mile natural road course. A number of riders led the race and it was Myers, among others, who took a turn at the front, but this time she also had Joey Pascarella riding his repaired DNA Energy Drink CNR Motorsports Ducati, Huntley Nash on his LTD Racing Yamaha, Austin DeHaven with his Yamaha, local Top Gun entry Tyler O’Hara on his GP Bike Parts Racing Yamaha and another Top Gun entry, Scott Gilbert on his Team Graves Yamaha all wanting a piece of the action up front.

Beaubier eventually worked his way to the front but in a repeat of yesterday, Pascarella had another unfortunate accident. As he came out of turn eleven on lap nine, his bike twitched and he fell off in front of a group of riders. Pascarella jumped up and a couple of riders just missed his stricken motorcycle. The race was red flagged to move his machine. After an inspection, Pascarella’s Ducati was quickly repaired and he was ready to go on the restart, although now at the back of the pack.

On the restart, Beaubier made a perfect getaway and pulled out a commanding lead over Nash and Myers. The group behind, which was comprised of O’Hara, Gilbert and DeHaven, ran nose-to-tail and as, the race wound down, they began to catch Myers.

With three to go, you could see the group closing in on Myers and as the group once again headed into the turn nine complex, everything got shuffled around. When the dust cleared, Myers was down to fifth and even more heartbreak occurred when Gilbert fell in turn four on the last lap. After starting at the back, Pascarella gamely worked his way back up to eighth at the finish to take some valuable points.

Beaubier crossed the line to take a well deserved victory, his second of the season, but as he was racing out of his division, he didn’t gain any points towards the AMA Pro SuperSport East championship. Nash continued his excellent run of results this year and continues to gain valuable track time and experience.

Local favorite Tyler O’Hara took a popular third place, his second of the weekend to the cheers of his friends and family in victory lane. DeHaven finished fourth, Myers took fifth, and Travis Ohge was sixth on his Yamaha followed by Matthew Sadowski on his Suzuki. Eighth was Pascarella, Robert Tinagero took ninth on his Kawasaki and another Top Gun rider, Michael Corbino finished tenth on his Yamaha.