Current leader, Jorge Lorenzo, has ended either first or second in every event so far this year, giving him the title of the first racer since Valentino Rossi to begin his session with eight successive stage appearances. The Fiat Yamaha competitor was second in the previous round at Germany and arrives to California with a 47 point lead over Dani Pedrosa in the rankings.

"I have some painful memories of this track," says Lorenzo, over the pre-event press conference. "In 2008 I crashed on cold tyres in the first corner and injured my feet, which meant no dancing during the holiday! Last year I crashed twice on cold tyres, once on the front and once on the rear, but then went on to get pole and finish on the podium. Laguna is certainly a special place, very different to the rest of the circuits we race at, but I like riding here, especially the Corkscrew. I want to race here in perfect condition, without injury, and I hope I'll have the opportunity this weekend."

When questioned on whether he is concentrating about the Championship and not just race victories, Lorenzo adds, "You have to pay a lot of attention to your limits, know where they are, try and stay within them and finish on the podium whenever it's possible. We hope to have a good race this weekend."

Joining the leader at the press conference were the victors of the round in Sachsenring, Dani Pedrosa, two times victor at Laguna Seca, Nicky Hayden, current World Champion, Valentino Rossi and Silverstone stage finisher, Ben Spies.

Pedrosa was victorious at Laguna this time last season and is seeking his first back-to-back victories in the premier session.

"The last few races have been good for us and I have good memories from this race last year," states Pedrosa. "I hope that, this weekend, we will have more good memories to take away from Laguna Seca with us."

"The Championship still isn't over as the gap to Lorenzo can be closed. We have a lot of races to go, but we can only take things race by race and do the best we can," ends the Repsol Honda racer.

Leading the home power this weekend will be Ducati competitor Nicky Hayden, who is sitting fifth in the Championship rankings. The American claimed two of his three Grand Prix victories at Laguna. No American racer has ended on the podium at Laguna since Hayden's victory in 2006.

"Laguna has always been good to me and to my brothers also," comments Hayden. "I'm looking forward to the weekend ahead and I hope we can get a good result here, because we need one after struggling at the last few races. We're just going to go for it and see what happens."

Only six weeks after breaking his leg at Mugello, Valentino Rossi returned to racing at Sachsenring and arriving fourth after an huge battle with Casey Stoner that allowed the Aussie to steal the final stage spot from the Italian at the final turn. Rossi now arrives to Laguna where he was victorious in 2008 and ended second last year.

"After the race in Germany I didn't have any extra problems, especially with my leg, so I'm in quite good shape," explains Rossi. "It will be important tomorrow to see if Laguna Seca gives me more problems with the leg, but if I can ride like at Sachsenring it's possible to have a good weekend here. Laguna is a great track and one that I like a lot. I had one of the best wins of my career here in 2008, after battling with Casey. There are a lot of left corners, which is not so bad for me, but the Corkscrew could be a bit of a problem. We will see."

Ben Spies is also looking forward to this weekend, as he comes back to one of only three circuits on the calendar where he has competed on a MotoGP bike previously. The Texan ended eighth at Laguna in 2008 as a wildcard racer for Suzuki.

"Laguna has always been a special track for me, even when I used to come here in the AMA series," says Spies.

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Roger Lee Hayden is ready for a strong race this weekend at home at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, he will compete for the LCR Honda squad as a substitute for the injured Randy de Puniet.

Hayden is aware of the tough challenge slotting into the premier class, however the 27 year old says he is prepared for the battle and hopes his talented potential at a circuit he knows well is shown.

“I have an uphill battle I guess in not knowing the bike and never having ridden it against the best riders in the world, but it’s something I knew when I accepted the challenge,” says Hayden. “My season in World Superbike hasn’t been great so I look at this as an opportunity to put on a good show. It’s not every day you get asked to race in your home GP.”

Commenting on his goals for the weekend, he adds, “I want to go there and do a good job, to show that I am a capable rider, and to get a good job for next year, whether that’s in MotoGP, Moto2 or World Superbikes. Everybody comes to Laguna and everybody pays attention to the GP. At the same time I know that I have never ridden the bike before and it’s been a long time since I rode a GP bike, which was just the once (in 2007 as a wildcard at Laguna). I’m not going to prove anything if I go there and crash the bike. I don’t have big expectations but at the same time I want to do a good job and keep it on two wheels!”

Sibling Nicky was also a part in orchestrating the move, with Roger Lee stating that LCR team owner Lucio Cecchinello approached him to ask about his younger brother’s availability. Kevin Schwantz also had a role, which included a phone call from Cecchinello shortly after.

“I agreed to it pretty much straight away,” said Hayden. “The only problem was that I’m doing the Moto2 race (as a wildcard) at Indianapolis for American Honda, so I kind of had to get their permission. I was already committed to them and I didn’t want them thinking I was taking any opportunity that came up, and they were great about it. It all happened pretty quickly, I was just blown away. In a 15-minute span I had a text (from Nicky) asking me if I was interested in riding at Laguna, and phone calls from Kevin and Lucio… I was like: ‘What’s going on?!’.”

Nicky’s advice was an important factor, Roger Lee continus to explain, “He just told me to think about it at first, because I was riding a superbike the weekend before, two days later I was testing a Moto2 bike for American Honda, and now I’ll be riding a MotoGP bike. He’s been very supportive, and has helped speed things along with getting information to the team and back to me. He played a big part in it. On a race weekend he has a lot of stuff going on himself.”

On the idea of challenging with his brother in the event, he adds, “I haven’t really thought about that! But I’d like it because it would mean I’d be doing a pretty good job if I’m battling that high up the field! I think however that would be setting my expectations on a bit of an unrealistic level. If it happened I would like it, but I know it’s highly unlikely.”

Hayden also discussed that he will be racing a MotoGP bike this weekend, then a Moto2 at Indy only five weeks afterwards.

“I’m just happy to be getting these opportunities in whatever order they come in,” he states.

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Mika Kallio had a consistent progress via the satellite Ducati of the Pramac Racing squad at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland over the weekend, prior to suffering a crash in the event ending his hopes of a strong finish early.

The Finn began well to the original race that was since red flagged following a smash by Randy de Puniet, however Kallio then crashed at turn one after the event was restarted.

“The first start in the race was not too bad and we were able to get into the top ten positions more or less, and we were fighting for that. But then the crash happened,” says Kallio.

“The second start was not too bad but immediately I crashed in the first corner. I think the rear tyre was just cold and as soon as I touched the throttle I lost the rear, and the race was finished for me.”

Adding to the disappointment was that Kallio had a good feeling on his bike and was due for a strong result, after experiencing difficult times.

“We thought it would be a good race for us because everything was going better than in the other races and we were in much better positions, and our lap times were okay.

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Ben Spies was disappointed with his eighth position at Sachsenring on Sunday, a strong outcome for the rookie but one he felt did not receive enough reward after his performance.

“Eighth place does not reflect what happened on track today and it was quite clear that I could have been much higher,” says Spies. “I had the misfortune in qualifying yesterday that was nobody's fault, but starting that far back hurt me today.”

The American used the initial half of the event by making up ground from his qualified spot of 13th, after suffering a crash where he slipped on spilt oil.

“It wasn't easy to pass Melandri because his bike accelerates really well but once I got by and could run my own race, I was really happy with how I performed. Dovizioso, Simoncelli and Nicky were five seconds clear at that point but I got to just over a second away from them.”

Spies adds, “I was pretty much the fifth fastest guy on the track and I definitely had a fifth place result in me today, but I just had bad luck with the qualifying crash. But I leave with a top eight result and I'm not that far away from fourth in the Championship now.”

The American is now eighth in the overall rankings, only 16 points off fourth positioned Casey Stoner as he prepares for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix this weekend where he is anxious to please at his home ground.

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Valentino Rossi’s comeback to competition following injury offered a highly anxious spectacle by fans, as the reigning World Champion placed fourth after being beaten to a stage spot on the last corner of the race at Sachsenring by Casey Stoner.

With a short 21 lap race due to the red flagging of the original event, the Italian of the Fiat Yamaha squad did not take it easy whilst still healing right leg, he challenged throughout the competition, only to be beaten by Stoner by 0.366s.

The "Doctor" surprised himself with his own abilities, and comments, "I didn't expect this! I thought it was maybe possible to make fourth or fifth place but I thought it would be very difficult. In the end I was fourth but I had a great battle with Casey and I was so close to the podium, so this is a fantastic result after missing four races.”

Rossi was very happy even though he just missed out on what would have been an amazing top three end, he adds, “I need some more kilometres to really recover the feeling and feel completely okay with the bike again, but I think I did a great job and this was a very good comeback, better than we could wish for. I felt a bit of pain in my shoulder but more in the leg when changing direction, but at the end the battle with Casey was such fun that I didn't think about it. Unfortunately though he just got the better of me on the last corner!”

The MotoGP session now arrives to Laguna Seca next weekend, where Rossi came second in last season’s event, he outlines his goals for the Red Bull US Grand Prix.

“Thanks to all my team for helping me come back and be competitive like this, we will try to do even better in Laguna,” he ends.

Davide Brivio, Team Manager for Rossi, states, “One week ago we didn't know if we'd be able to ride here at all and then day by day our targets changed. We would have been happy whatever with a top five today but finally we were really competitive and so close to the podium.

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