There were no surprises at the front of the MotoGP race at Laguna Seca as the top three riders on the grid filled the podium positions, Casey Stoner taking the win ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa. Lorenzo pushed hard to break the pair from pole position but after eleven laps he finally relented to intense pressure from the Australian, who went on to open up a 3.4 second advantage at the flag.
The last race before the summer break proved to be one to remember for the Power Electronics Aspar Team, capping off an impressive first half of the season. Between them Aleix Espargaró and Randy De Puniet have taken CRT honours in eight of the opening ten races, five of them going the Spaniard's way after today's ninth place. Aleix spent all 32 laps of today's race as the leading CRT on track although he would surely have come under more threat from Randy if it weren't for the Frenchman getting run off track by another rider in turn one. An impressive fightback to eleventh place means the pair are now tied on 33 points in the championship with eight races remaining.
9th Aleix Espargaró: “I am really happy with the result although I didn't actually enjoy the race as much as some others. I have struggled for front feel all weekend and not been able to get the bike turning as well as at other tracks. We improved it a little bit for today and after a good start I was able to push hard for the first three laps behind Valentino, which allowed me to open a gap and hold it to the end. I didn't know that Randy had run off but I did think it was strange that he wasn't running with me in the race because our pace was so similar. I would prefer to beat him fair and square but the important thing is to finish as the top CRT. This season has been fantastic so far, the team are giving me a lot of support and putting everything into every race so I want to thank them all for the results we have achieved together up to now.”
11th Randy De Puniet: “I am really annoyed to have been pushed off track in turn one because it cost me my chance to finish as the top CRT here in America. I almost crashed but luckily I was able to stay on and finish the race. My pace after that was fast and consistent so I am happy with that. I had to stay focused and pass a few riders and managed to finish eleventh so we have to be pleased. I would have liked to have caught Karel and Aleix and I gave everything I had but the time we lost at the start was too much to make up. At the end of the day we could have come away from here with nothing but we have picked up some important points for the championship. Once again it was a great team effort and we just need to continue in the same way at the next race.”
Aspar Power Electronics Press Release
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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/UA9TaDvL-OR/Aleix+Espargar+repeats+feat+team+mate+Randy
Silvio Habat Larbi Habbiche Ron Hackett Gerhard Haeberle Bernard Haenggeli Philipp Hafeneger
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