MotoGP news
Stoner cruises to Laguna victory
22 July 2007 / PhotosCasey Stoner dominated today's race at Laguna Seca, increasing his lead in the championship to 44 points. His sixth win of 2007 was also the first time since last season's Malaysian Grand Prix that anyone has been able to convert pole position into victory. Chris Vermeulen and Marco Melandri, who was suffering with a foot injury, completed the podium.
Valentino Rossi just missed out on a podium finish in fourth ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Randy de Puniet. Anthony West put in another solid performance to take seventh but Makoto Tamada really impressed to come eighth on his Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3. Alex Barros and Roger Lee Hayden made up the top ten.
At the start, Pedrosa shot off to get ahead of Stoner, with his Repsol Honda team-mate Nicky Hayden also getting off to a good start from fourth. However just a few corners later Hayden and another home favourite John Hopkins collided both taking a wide line. The American pair subsequently fell down the order, with Hopkins worse off and having to pit to have his bike checked. Meanwhile Stoner regained the lead from Pedrosa, who also lost out to another Aussie Chris Vermeulen. The Fiat Yamahas had also got off to a good start with Rossi and Edwards in fourth and fifth. Loris Capirossi parked his Ducati in the pits on lap four with a technical problem.
On lap nine, Melandri was working his way up through the field and found a way past fellow countryman Rossi to take fourth. By the midway point the Honda Gresini rider had got past Pedrosa for third and was chasing down the leading Aussies. Unfortunately lower down in 15th, Chaz Davies was forced to wait around in the pits following a problem on his Pramac d'Antin.
With 12 laps remaining, Rossi had caught Pedrosa for fourth and was only a second behind Melandri. Melandri had failed to make his momentum catch up with Vermeulen, who was trailing Stoner by seven seconds. Nicky Hayden retired with eight laps remaining after never recovering from his earlier collision with Hopkins. Things were not going much better for other home boy Colin Edwards either, who, after withstanding severe pressure from the freight train behind him in sixth, had to yield to De Puniet, Tamada, and West. The Yamaha rider further lost out to Barros and Roger Lee Hayden, who ended up the highest placed American in tenth.
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