The Telefónica Movistar Honda team head home from their first ever Grand Prix at Laguna Seca tonight reflecting on a creditable fifth place finish for Sete Gibernau and an unfortunate crash for Marco Melandri.

The twice World Championship runner-up finally got the better of the notoriously difficult American circuit in a race which saw him finally put his practice problems behind him. 

Sete started the race in confident mood after making vital steps forward in the set-up of his machine during the morning warm-up. His excellent pace from the start of the race allowed him to gather confidence and he was soon setting the same lap times as the riders in the lead group. Only his lowly starting position prevented the Spaniard from picking up a better result after 32 long laps, which required maximum concentration. Sete made up seven positions on the first lap and rode like clockwork from then on, setting an unshakeable pace in the mid-1’24” mark.

Marco Melandri flipped the opposite side of the coin to his team-mate, with his improved hopes after a positive warm-up turning to dust on the first lap. The Italian hit a bump at the end of the straight and could do nothing to avoid the crash, although he remains second in the championship. Sete Gibernau is still two places behind him in fourth place but now lies just five points short of Max Biaggi in third.

SETE GIBERNAU (5^th): “I think that was one of my best races of the season, if not the best, even though the result might not reflect that. We found a better set-up than we had all weekend in the morning warm-up and I went out to give everything, even though I knew it would be tough starting so far back. We were able to maintain a high rhythm, the same as the guys at the front, and stayed consistent throughout the race. It hasn’t been an ideal weekend. When we go well in qualifying we don’t seem able to finish it off in the race and vice versa. I’m confident that when we manage to put three good days together again we’ll be back to winning races.”

MARCO MELANDRI (crashed):  “The lead group were really close together in the final corner of the first lap and they braked really hard in front of me. I also had to shut off but I hit a bump in the tarmac and lost the front. I crashed and I’m sorry for taking Alex Barros down too. It’s a shame it ended that way because in the warm-up I felt much better on the bike and my objective was to finish the weekend off in the best way possible. I hope we can get back on the right track when we return to Europe over the next few races.”

US G.P.

1. N. Hayden (USA/Hon) 45’15”374
2. C.Edwards (USA/Yam) a 1”941
3. V. Rossi (Ita/Yam) a 2”312
4. M. Biaggi (Ita/Hon) a 4”216
5. S. Gibernau (Esp/Hon) a 4”478
6. T. Bayliss (Aus/Hon) a 22”381
7. M. Tamada (Jap/Hon) a 22”493

MUNDIAL DE MOTOGP

1. Valentino Rossi 186 puntos
2. Marco Melandri 107 puntos
3. Max Biaggi  100 puntos
4. Sete Gibernau 95 puntos
5. Colin Edwars 93 puntos
6. Nicky Hayden 85 puntos
7. Alex Barros 74 puntos