US MotoGP, Laguna Seca
Date: 24-25 July
Saturday 24 July Qualifying: 2200-2300, Red Button and BBC Sport website
Sunday 25 July: Race as live: 2200-2300, BBC Two and BBC Sport website

Dani Pedrosa's win in Germany ended a run of four straight victories for championship leader Jorge Lorenzo

By Steve Parrish BBC MotoGP commentator

Dani Pedrosa doesn't smile too much, but he had a big smile on his face after his win in Germany, and I'm not surprised. He had the perfect race.

Like his win in the Italian Grand Prix, it showed that on his day, he's unbeatable - and it was very important for the championship, not just for him.

It proves that after four wins in a row, championship leader Jorge Lorenzo is beatable - it keeps him on his toes and gives everyone else hope that there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Lorenzo is very smart and incredibly methodical - if you ask him a question, he really looks you in the eye and thinks about his answers, and that's how he's going about the championship.

If you had to put money on anyone doing something special, go for Ben Spies

Leading with a large margin, it's very difficult to know what to do. It can be hard to manage and this is the first time he's had to do it - but it's great for the championship, and I think he'll get beaten again.

I felt very sorry for Randy de Puniet after he broke his leg on Sunday, though.

He had a crash in qualifying on Saturday which was nothing to do with him, when Lorenzo's engine blew up and spilled oil on the track, and that probably had a bearing on his second crash on Sunday, as he wasn't as fit.

He's been the top non-factory team rider all season, and hasn't put a foot wrong and just as the summer job roundabout is starting, this happens to him.

The accident stems from the six-engine rule, which is something I'm not a fan of.

The engine which blew up was coming to the end to its life, and Lorenzo was getting the maximum use he could out of it to save the others.

In the past that engine would have been retired earlier and could be salvaged for parts, but now it's blown up it'll be put in the skip, which means it ends up being much more expensive.

As for Valentino Rossi's performance - well I'm lost for words. Under the circumstances of just having come back from a broken leg, his fourth place finish in Germany was as good as a podium place.

All viewers were thinking how great it'd be if he could finish in the top three, but Casey Stoner was having none of it.

Two years ago Rossi put him in the dirt at Laguna Seca so there's no love lost there, and Stoner pulled out all the stops as he didn't want to be beaten by someone with one-and-a-half legs.

Pedrosa wins after crash halts German GP

I spoke to Casey last weekend about his move to Honda next season, and from what he was saying, I think the deal was put together some time ago.

Casey was very upset that at the end of last season, when he was sick, Ducati were looking around so keenly to get someone else in to replace him.

They didn't think he'd come back so strongly, and I think at that point, he put the feelers out. It really riled him.

He's clearly looking forward to riding for Honda next year - he said he really liked it last time he was there, and he believes the bike will be better for him than his Ducati is.

This weekend we're off over the Atlantic to Laguna Seca in California, but the MotoGP paddock is so autonomous you wouldn't know you're in North America, apart from the amazing setting of the circuit.

The crowd might not be quite as big as in Europe, but you'll still get around 60,000 there, and there will be four Americans for them to cheer on - Colin Edwards, Ben Spies, Nicky Hayden and his brother Roger Lee, filling in for the injured Randy de Puniet.

That one's a rather odd choice - Roger Lee's struggling at the back end of World Superbikes, so I think he'll have an extremely tough time in MotoGP.

That's one place prediction there that you can make safely, but I think the one to catch the eye of the home fans will be Spies.

If you had to put money on anyone doing something special, go for him - I don't think he's got quite enough to beat the usual suspects, but if any of them slips up, he's got a very good chance of scraping a podium.

Pedrosa won here last year - it seems the short track suits the short man - and I think he'll do it again. And I think Rossi can end up on the podium too - and if he does, it'll rate up there right alongside any of his race victories.

My Laguna Seca race prediction:

1) Dani Pedrosa 2) Jorge Lorenzo 3) Valentino Rossi

Steve Parrish was talking to BBC Sport's Julian Shea.

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