Ever been on a motorcycle going faster than 200 mph, taking turns at such a steep lean angle that your knees and elbows skim just fraction of inches above the ground?
That’s what you’re experiencing in the on-board camera video feed above, coming to you live from the MotoGP World Championship at the challenging Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca course. You can enjoy this amazing second-screen experience further by watching the race on television at the same time. Tune in to SPEED now, and follow along as the best riders in the world compete on high-tech, 800cc prototypes designed and built by the top engineers at the leading motorcycle manufacturers.
In addition, get inside race information from the MotoGP Twitter feed embedded here. It will be updated throughout the competition.
Among the story lines you’re watching as 17 racers compete in the Red Bull United States Grand Prix, the season’s 10th race of a circuit that competes mostly in Europe, is four Americans trying to win on home soil.
Currently in his ninth MotoGP season and his third with the esteemed Ducati Team, Nicky Hayden, 29, is one of a long line of American road racers who graduated from the U.S. dirt-track scene. The racing prodigy from Owensboro, Ky., competed in the professional U.S. road race and flat-track series simultaneously, winning records and titles in both, until 2003 when he joined the MotoGP ranks.
The “Kentucky Kid” landed his first MotoGP win in 2005, in front of American fans at Laguna Seca upon the Championship’s return to the states after an 11-year absence. Hayden dominated, leading every lap of the race. In 2006, he stepped up his game by claiming the checkered flag at Laguna a second time. He won the title of MotoGP World Champion the same year, making him the seventh American in history to take the prestigious honor.
Veteran Colin Edwards, 37, was one of the most dominant U.S. amateur riders. After turning professional in 1992, the colorful Texan set records across the U.S. and racked up two international World Superbike titles. He stepped up to the challenge of MotoGP in 2003, and since has delivered 12 podium finishes, though he's still chasing his first win in the premier class.
With his clean riding style and decades of experience, the “Texas Tornado” is widely considered one of the best test riders and bike developers. Edwards’ consistency and steadfast work ethic — he had not, until this year due to a broken collarbone, missed starting a race since his MotoGP debut eight years ago — has made him a role model for many riders.
Ben Spies is the latest to join his fellow countrymen flying the U.S. flag in MotoGP, and he is widely considered to be one of the most gifted riders of his generation. Since winning his first professional race in 2001, Spies has enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom, dominating his last year in the national AMA series by posting an unrivalled 90 percent podium finish rate, the highest for any AMA rider in the history of the championship.
The young Texan, 27, burst into MotoGP in 2010, shocking the racing scene by quickly learning GP circuits and consistently finishing within the top 10. He landed the MotoGP rookie of the year award, picking up two podium finishes and a pole position along the way. Spies is not only aiming to win races, he has his sights set on conquering the World Championship. With one Grand Prix win already under his belt this season, he is mentally primed for more success on home soil.
Making his MotoGP debut this weekend is Ben Bostrom, who joins the field as a wild-card rider. Bostrom currently competes in the national AMA Superbike class, and while he is a hugely talented rider with multiple victories at Laguna Seca — including three wins there in the World Superbike series — he will climb aboard a MotoGP bike for the first time to face the biggest trial of his career.
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is one of the most technical and physically demanding tracks of the circuit. The track is laid out in the hills surrounding Monterey, offering big elevation changes and possibly the most notorious corner in the racing world, the infamous Corkscrew — a narrow and spectacular left-right chicane on a steep downhill descent.
