United States motorcycle Grand Prix

United States Grand Prix

Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Venue	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (1988–1991, 1993–1994, 2005–2013) Daytona International Speedway (1964–1965)
First race	1964
Last race	2013
Most wins (rider)	Hugh Anderson, John Kocinski, Wayne Rainey, Casey Stoner, (3)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Honda (12)

The United States motorcycle Grand Prix was a round of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship.

History[]

The first United States Grand Prix was held in 1961 as a non-championship race at the Daytona International Speedway on the 2-mile or 3.2 kilometre long motorcycle course.^[1] This continued until 1964 when it acquired an official spot on the World Championship calendar as the season opener. This marked the first time that Grand Prix motorcycle racing raced on the North American continent.^[2][1][3] Spectator attendance for this race was low as there was little interest from the American public, who preferred the championship organized by the American Motorcyclist Association and as a result was not interested in the "European" style of racing.^[1] In 1965 the U.S. Grand Prix returned for the second time at Daytona, but privateers were unable to pay for the trip to the United States and few Americans went to see the race due to the lack of interest in the majority European-styled championship.^[1][3] As a result of the lack of interest from the American public, top teams and riders, the United States Grand Prix was removed from the 1966 season.

After a 23-year absence, the U.S. Grand Prix returned for the 1988 season on the Laguna Seca Raceway.^[3] That year's event was marred with problems as many especially European riders complained about the bumpyness of an old part of the track and the dangerously close barriers and concrete blocs that surrounded the circuit. Some European riders even considered to not participate in the race on Sunday while the American riders had no problems with the circuit as they had more experience. The 1989 season didn't fare much better as the organization was once again poor - there were problems with the prize- and start money, tickets and timekeeping. Against the rules some sold tickets in front of the riders' quarter's, the prize money was unusual, the supply roads were insufficient and kept getting altered and the timekeeping produced useful times only after 18 hours.^[4] On top of that, the American organizers wanted to include a sidecar race in their program but refused to pay the extra travel expenses. While last year's bumpy section had been reprofiled for 1989, riders still complained it was dangerous - especially Turns 11, 1 and 2.^[5] During the race, an ambulance drove on the track in dangerous manner to assist the crashed out Wayne Gardner who had broken his leg after a heavy shunt exiting Turn 5, with no yellow flags being shown to the riders. On the cooldown lap a bizarre incident occurred: American Bubba Shobert hit the back of Kevin Magee's bike at high speed after he failed to see the Australian.^[4] Magee had stopped in the middle of the track behind a blind hill after he ran out of fuel to do a rear-wheel burnout, but Shobert was not looking forward as he was congratulating Eddie Lawson, who himself narrowly missed Magee. As Shobert lay motionless in the sand, a visibly distraught Lawson tried to help him. The American was brought to the hospital with severe head injuries and Magee was also recovered with a broken ankle and lower leg. Shobert would never race again after this incident while Magee was forced to miss both the Spanish and Italian rounds that year.^[4][5] In 1990 the track of the U.S. Grand Prix had undergone various upgrades but riders still complained some points were dangerous.^[6] On lap two, Magee suffered a heavy accident whilst being in the top positions, his second in two years at this circuit. The race had to be red flagged to allow an ambulance to enter the circuit, where the Australian was taken to the hospital with severe head trauma. There he was operated and a blood clot in his brain was surgically removed, after which he was kept in an artificial coma for some time.^[7][8] The accident meant he was out of the 1990 season. In 1992 the United States GP was taken off the calendar in favour of other venues preferred by Bernie Ecclestone, who was increasingly involved in Grand Prix motorcycle racing at the time.^[9] For the 1993 season however the event returned for two more years as Ecclestone focused more on Formula 1 again.^[3] In 1995 the race was scheduled to be held on 6 August, but was eventually scrapped due to financial problems and complaints from riders about the dangerous circuit.^[10][11]

After a ten year hiatus, the event was brought back for the third time in 2005 on the same circuit as before - Laguna Seca. The track had undergone the needed updates and safety requirements and was now considered to be safe enough to host a U.S. Grand Prix again.^[11] Due to a Californian law on air pollution, only the 4-stroke MotoGP bikes were allowed to participate. The race was famously won by home hero Nicky Hayden.^[12][3] In 2006 Hayden once again won his home race.^[13][3] The 2008 United States Grand Prix saw a thrilling battle between Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner, the race being won by the Italian in the end.^[14][15][3] In 2014, the United States could only support two events (the Indianapolis Grand Prix and Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas were also scheduled at this time) and the organizers, as a not-for-profit, could no longer compete with either circuits. As a result, they couldn't keep up with Dorna's ever increasing financial demands and Laguna Seca was taken off the calendar despite having a contract for that year.^[16][17]

During the last existence of the U.S. Grand Prix, two other races co-existed with each other for one season in 2013 - the Indianapolis Grand Prix and the Grand Prix of the Americas. The first Grand Prix existed from 2008 until 2015 and the second one still is held today, only being cancelled in 2020 after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Official names and sponsors[]

• 1965: Grand Prix of United States (no official sponsor)^[18]
• 1988: The United States International Grand Prix (no official sponsor)^[19]
• 1989: The Dunlop USGP^[20]
• 1990: The U.S. Budweiser International Grand Prix^[21]
• 1991: The Honda And Yamaha Motorcycles United States International Grand Prix^[22]
• 1993: USGP (no official sponsor)^[23]
• 1994: United States Motorcycle Grand Prix (no official sponsor)^[24]
• 2005-2013: Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix^{[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]}

Spectator attendance[]

2005: 57,932^[33]

Formerly used circuits[]

• 

  Daytona International Speedway, used from 1964 to 1965.

Past winners[]

A pink background indicates an event that was not part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship.

Multiple winners (riders)[]

# Wins	Rider	Wins
		Category	Years won
3	Hugh Anderson	125 cc	1964, 1965
		50 cc	1964
	Wayne Rainey	500 cc	1989, 1990, 1991
	John Kocinski	500 cc	1993
		250 cc	1989, 1990
	Casey Stoner	MotoGP	2007, 2011, 2012
2	Mike Hailwood	500 cc	1964, 1965
	Luca Cadalora	500 cc	1994
		250 cc	1991
	Nicky Hayden	MotoGP	2005, 2006

Multiple winners (manufacturers)[]

# Wins	Manufacturer	Wins
		Category	Years won
12	Honda	MotoGP	2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013
		250 cc	1988, 1991, 1993, 1994
		125 cc	1993, 1994
10	Yamaha	MotoGP	2008, 2010
		500 cc	1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994
		250 cc	1965, 1989, 1990
4	Suzuki	125 cc	1964, 1965
		50 cc	1964, 1965
2	MV Agusta	500 cc	1964, 1965

By year[]

Year	Track	Moto3		Moto2		MotoGP		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
2013	Laguna Seca					Marc Márquez	Honda	Report
2012	Laguna Seca					Casey Stoner	Honda	Report
Year	Track	125 cc		Moto2		MotoGP		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
2011	Laguna Seca					Casey Stoner	Honda	Report
2010	Laguna Seca					Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	Report
Year	Track	125 cc		250 cc		MotoGP		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
2009	Laguna Seca					Dani Pedrosa	Honda	Report
2008	Laguna Seca					Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	Report
2007	Laguna Seca					Casey Stoner	Ducati	Report
2006	Laguna Seca					Nicky Hayden	Honda	Report
2005	Laguna Seca					Nicky Hayden	Honda	Report
Year	Track	125 cc		250 cc		500 cc		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
1994	Laguna Seca	Takeshi Tsujimura	Honda	Doriano Romboni	Honda	Luca Cadalora	Yamaha	Report
1993	Laguna Seca	Dirk Raudies	Honda	Loris Capirossi	Honda	John Kocinski	Cagiva	Report
1991	Laguna Seca			Luca Cadalora	Honda	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha	Report
1990	Laguna Seca			John Kocinski	Yamaha	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha	Report

Year	Track	80 cc		125 cc		250 cc		500 cc		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
1989	Laguna Seca					John Kocinski	Yamaha	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha	Report
1988	Laguna Seca					Jim Filice	Honda	Eddie Lawson	Yamaha	Report

Year	Track	50 cc		125 cc		250 cc		350 cc		500 cc		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
1965	Daytona	Ernst Degner	Suzuki	Hugh Anderson	Suzuki	Phil Read	Yamaha			Mike Hailwood	MV Agusta
1964	Daytona	Hugh Anderson	Suzuki	Hugh Anderson	Suzuki	Alan Shepherd	MZ			Mike Hailwood	MV Agusta
1963[34]	Daytona	Mitsuo Itoh	Suzuki	Ernst Degner	Suzuki	Fumio Ito	Yamaha			Don Vesco	Yamaha
1962[35]	Daytona	Kunimitsu Takahashi	Honda	Kunimitsu Takahashi	Honda		Motobi			Kunimitsu Takahashi	Honda
Year	Track			125 cc		250 cc		350 cc		500 cc		Report
				Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
1961[35]	Daytona						Honda				Matchless

References[]