2008 United States motorcycle Grand Prix

  2008 United States Grand Prix

Race details
Race 11 of 18 races in the 2008 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date	July 20, 2008
Official name	Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix
Location	Laguna Seca
Course	Permanent racing facility 3.610 km (2.243 mi)
MotoGP
Pole position
Rider	Casey Stoner
Time	1:20.700
Fastest lap
Rider	Casey Stoner
Time	1:21.488
Podium
First	Valentino Rossi
Second	Casey Stoner
Third	Chris Vermeulen

The 2008 United States motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 2008 MotoGP championship. It took place on the weekend of July 18–20, 2008, at the Laguna Seca circuit. It was an eventful race between Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner where the lead was hotly contested between the two. On lap 23, with Rossi leading after an ingenious but controversial pass down the corkscrew, Stoner entered into the last corner too deep and ended up in the gravel trap. Rossi retained his lead for the remainder of the race while Stoner managed to finish in second place despite his mistake. Rossi won for the first time at Laguna Seca and Stoner set a new lap record with a time of 1:21.488. Tom Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes made an appearance at the race.

As usual, only the MotoGP class was permitted to race at Laguna Seca due to the Californian air pollution law prohibiting two-stroke engines in the state.

MotoGP classification

Pos	No	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Grid	Points
1	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	32	44:04.311	2	25
2	1	Casey Stoner	Ducati	32	+13.001	1	20
3	7	Chris Vermeulen	Suzuki	32	+26.609	8	16
4	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Honda	32	+34.901	9	13
5	69	Nicky Hayden	Honda	32	+35.663	3	11
6	14	Randy de Puniet	Honda	32	+37.668	6	10
7	24	Toni Elias	Ducati	32	+41.629	10	9
8	11	Ben Spies	Suzuki	32	+41.927	13	8
9	52	James Toseland	Yamaha	32	+43.019	5	7
10	56	Shinya Nakano	Honda	32	+44.391	12	6
11	12	Jamie Hacking	Kawasaki	32	+46.258	17	5
12	50	Sylvain Guintoli	Ducati	32	+55.273	14	4
13	15	Alex de Angelis	Honda	32	+55.521	16	3
14	5	Colin Edwards	Yamaha	32	+1:02.380	7	2
15	65	Loris Capirossi	Suzuki	32	+1:08.207	11	1
16	33	Marco Melandri	Ducati	32	+1:10.962	15
17	13	Anthony West	Kawasaki	31	+1 Lap	18
Ret	48	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	0	Accident	4

References

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