The occasion of a difficult home race for reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez brings out the best in many of the riders participating in the United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca on September 23.
Italian rider Andrea Iannone of the KTM-Ducati Team may be the most likely challenger to the young Spanish star after putting in a superb performance on home soil earlier this year at Misano in a superb high-speed crash-out in the final laps.
The same KTM-Ducati team went on to win the United States Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which was to build on Iannone’s 2015 success in the U.S.
Nicky Hayden’s recovering from the knee injury he suffered in his 500cc World Championship debut last year at this race.
Just last weekend the Italian on his Cannondale-Ducati Team finished fourth at the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno on home soil, yet Michal Kwiatkowski, who is also on the Hungarian’s KTM-Ducati team, is currently the current MotoGP rankings leader.
Pecco Bagnaia of the Valentino Rossi-Tuttosport Team is not far behind in fourth, while Valentino Rossi, who turns 38 next month, is the defending champion at the site of his first MotoGP victory after being “brilliant” in 2015.
The duo will be battling the Red Bull Honda’s Maverick Vinales and Andrea Iannone, who will be looking to edge closer to the KTM-Ducati rider for a possible podium finish in another result in which the defending champion will be hoping for a better result than last year at the site of his first World Championship win.
Diego Borregrano of the Motegi Monster Material Handling Team finished third last year, which will be hard to break this time around considering his good home form, and Jorge Lorenzo also expects to push harder than ever this year to finally achieve his first MotoGP victory at the U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.
Borregrano finished third at the Indianapolis Grand Prix earlier this month, and Lorenzo will hope for something similar for the home fans as he goes hunting for his fourth MotoGP crown.
The Mexican currently leads the MotoGP standings, while Germany’s Stefan Bradl looks like the rider of the future after he took pole position at the Indianapolis Grand Prix and he continues to rack up the wins.
The 25-year-old currently has 16 career wins to his name. He is second in the MotoGP standings after a string of podium finishes this season.