The 2005 United States motorcycle Grand Prix was the eighth round of the 2005 MotoGP Championship. It took place on the weekend of July 8–10, 2005 at Laguna Seca. Only the MotoGP class raced here because of the Californian law on air pollution, which forbids 2-stroke engines in the state.
This round was the first motorcycle Grand Prix hosted by the United States since 1994.
MotoGP race report
This race was most notable for the dominant win on home soil by American Nicky Hayden, as well as the second place of the other American Colin Edwards, followed by then six-time world champion Valentino Rossi in third place.
Valentino Rossi leads the standings with 170 points, followed by Marco Melandri with 107 and Max Biaggi with 87 points.
On Saturday, American Nicky Hayden scored his first ever pole position on Saturday with a time of 1:22.670. Valentino Rossi was second, +0.354 seconds behind and Brazilian veteran Alex Barros qualified third with a +0.642 deficit. The second row of the grid consists out of Troy Bayliss, and the two other Americans Colin Edwards and John Hopkins.
For this race, two teams chose special liveries for this race - Suzuki and Yamaha. The Factory Yamaha Team chose to race in its original, yellow-white combination to commemorate Yamaha's fiftieth anniversary in the sport. The Factory Suzuki Team chose to display its own one-off livery after a partnership with the Austrian energy drink company Red Bull, having unveiled it two weeks earlier at the Dutch race.
Before the start of the race, one minute of silence was held to remember the victims who had fallen in the recent 7/7 bombings in London.
All riders take off and do their usual warm-up lap before lining up in their respective grid slots. The lights go out and it's Hayden who has a fantastic start and retains the lead on the opening lap. Behind him is the Honda Pons of Bayliss and the Yamaha of Rossi as they pass the fast Turn 1 and enter Turn 2 - the Andretti Hairpin. Half a lap has passed and the top six consists out of Hayden, Rossi - who has just repassed Bayliss between Turn 3 and 4 -, Bayliss, Biaggi, Hopkins and Checa. As they come up to the Corkscrew corner, Hayden already has a significant gap back to Rossi, the American being helped by his earlier experience on this venue from his AMA Superbike days. Behind the top six, Edwards has lost seventh to Sete Gibernau.
As lap two begins, two riders lie in the gravel trap at Turn 11. It is revealed to be Barros and Marco Melandri, who tangled with each other as Melandri tried to pass Barros but failed, touched him and caused both to retire. At Turn 5, Biaggi slides past Bayliss on his Repsol Honda and takes third place. He however runs a bit wide exiting the fast bend, allowing the Australian to get back at him and retain his spot.
Lap three and Rossi has pulled a big gap to Bayliss, who is starting to form a small train of riders behind him. Hayden still leads at the front. Edwards has managed to gain two places from the last lap shunt and also passed Gibernau to position himself behind Hopkins in sixth. He also managed to overtake Hopkins for fifth and was all over the back of Biaggi halfway into the lap.
On lap four, Hayden has pulled a gap of +1.794 seconds to second place Rossi. Behind them, Bayliss is now under pressure from Biaggi, who himself is being hounded by the more experienced Edwards. Biaggi makes his move at Turn 5, diving down the inside of Bayliss but running wide upon exit once again, allowing the Honda Pons rider to come back at him and battle him at the straight. They go side-by-side, but has to give up the position to the Italian before the start of Turn 6. However, Bayliss managed to take a tighter line and repass Biaggi at the Rahal Straight, with Edwards making a daring double-pass by going to the outer left, almost going on the gravel, managing to overtake both riders before they enter the Corkscrew sequence. Gibernau meanwhile managed to catch up due to the fighting and made a late lunge down the inside of Biaggi, shoving him out of the way and taking fifth place by force. Biaggi had lost three positions in one corner.
