LeoVince previews the Red Bull USGP
By Stephen W Clark
MotoGP and the AMA riders and teams travel west this week to LeoVince USA’s backyard for the Red Bull USGP at Laguna Seca. The USGP weekend is packed full of races and events making it one of the biggest sportbike events of the year in the US. American riders tend to finish well at Laguna and the fans will come in thousands to see if Spies, Edwards or Hayden can win on home soil. AMA rider Ben Bostrom who has a wild card ride on an LCR Honda will join the three American MotoGP regulars on the grid this weekend.
Team Tech 3 Yamaha will show off the beautiful custom LeoVince exhaust on their bikes to the crowd in the MotoGP race with riders Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow. The tight and twisty Laguna Seca track has lots of elevation change and is regarded as one of the toughest tracks on the MotoGP circuits. Riders often comment on how physically demanding Laguna is because the short curved front straight doesn’t give the riders a chance to relax like they can at other tracks. After racing WSBK and MotoGP at Laguna Seca for over a decade Edwards has more experience with this track than anyone in MotoGP and is confident for the weekend. Following a top ten finish at the last race in Germany Edwards said "going to Laguna Seca now to race in front of my home fans, I feel really good and confident". For Crutchlow this will be his first race at Laguna Seca and he will likely be asking his team mate for some pointers but is also hopeful for a good finish "We've learned a few things that will help in the future and now I'm looking forward to getting to Laguna Seca where I'll be aiming to get back inside the top ten."
The AMA will also be racing at Laguna this weekend with a single Supersport, Daytona Sportbike and American Superbike race. With championship points becoming scarce as the season winds down and the added pressure of a huge crowd and riding in front of the worlds top teams it will be an exciting weekend for the three AMA classes racing at Laguna Seca. In American Superbike LeoVince rider JD Beach will once again be racing the Attack Kawasaki ZX-10R, as the young rider continues to improve in his first season on the Superbike. JD will be looking to improve on his best finish of the year in 8th place at the last race in Mid Ohio. LeoVince rider Cameron Beaubier will be one to watch in the uber-competitive Daytona Sportbike class, Cameron has been on the podium three times already this season and just announced he will be racing his R6 on the Jake Holden Racing / RidersDiscount team. With a new sponsor to please and at his hometrack in front of family and friends Cameron is hoping to do well at Laguna. Other LeoVince riders to watch in Daytona Sportbike will be Mellissa Paris, David Sadowski JR, Shaun Summers, Josh Galster and Craig Mason. In Supersport, Championship points will be awarded for both qualifying and race finish positions and as the last currently scheduled round of the West Supersport Championship there will be a lot of pressure on the Supersport riders. LeoVince rider Travis Ohge sits fourth in the championship going to Laguna, which as far as the championship goes is a make-it or break-it weekend.
 Not all the all the action will be on the track at the USGP as there will be tons going on in the vendor area and at night after the track goes cold. On Friday and Saturday evening in the nearby city of Monterey XDL will be host Round 4 of the freestyle championship. In a picturesque location LeoVince riders Nick "Apex" Brocha and Ernie Vigil will show their amazing talent as they compete for points in the championship. Brocha and Vigil have a busy schedule as immediately following the XDL event they will ride again in the ICON Limiter Live event.
For motorcycle racing fans the Red Bull USGP is one of the biggest weekends of the year and with a jam-packed schedule of fantastic motorcycle events rightfully so. Great California summer weather and motorcycle racing is a great combination, for everyone planning on attending have a fun and safe weekend and for everyone else don’t forget to check out the coverage on the SPEED channel.
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