MotoGP - Czech Grand Prix Preview

WHERE: Automotodrom Brno, Brno, Czech Republic. Circuit is 3.357 miles (5.403 km), with 14 turns. Race is 22 laps.

WHEN: Sunday, Aug. 14. It is the 11th of 18 events this season.

2010 RACE WINNER: Jorge Lorenzo, by 5.494 seconds over Dani Pedrosa

2010 POLE WINNER: Pedrosa, 1 minute, 56.508 seconds

U.S. TV: MotoGP race, 8-9 a.m. (ET), Sunday, Aug. 14, SPEED (live). Moto2: 1-2 p.m. (ET), Tuesday, Aug. 16, SPEED (delayed). 125cc: Noon-1 p.m. (ET), Tuesday, Aug. 16, SPEED (delayed).

THE AMERICANS: U.S. riders Ben Spies (Longview, Texas, Yamaha Factory Racing), Nicky Hayden (Owensboro, Ky., Ducati Team), Colin Edwards (Houston, Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and John Hopkins (Ramona, Calif., Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Team) will compete in the MotoGP race. Spies is sixth, Hayden seventh, Edwards eighth and Hopkins 18th in the standings after 10 races. Kenny Noyes (Borrego Springs, Calif., Avintia-STX) will compete in the Moto2 race.

FORM BOOK:

Up - Casey Stoner. Stoner scored his fifth victory of the season and expanded his World Championship lead to 20 points over reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo with a victory in the last event, the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on July 24 at Monterey, Calif.

Up - Ben Spies. 2010 Rookie of the Year Spies has finished in the top five in five of the last six races on his Yamaha after failing to finish in two of the first three races of the season. Spies has climbed to sixth in the standings, the best of the three full-time American riders.

Down - Valentino Rossi. Seven-time MotoGP World Champion Rossi continues to struggle with his move to Ducati, as the recalcitrant GP11 and updated GP11.1 bikes haven't provided the front-end feel that Rossi desires. Rossi has just one podium finish this season, third in May at Le Mans, and is fifth in the World Championship standings.

Down - Marco Simoncelli. The colorful Simoncelli is fast on Saturday, with two poles among six front-row starts this season on a Honda. But he's been reckless and inconsistent when it counts on Sunday, with a best finish only of fifth and a string of crashes.

FAST FACTS: This is the last race before the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 26-28 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway … There will be four Americans on a MotoGP grid for the second time this season, as John Hopkins joins Ben Spies, Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden at Brno. Hopkins will be a teammate to Alvaro Bautista at Rizla Suzuki MotoGP. Hopkins finished 10th as an injury replacement for Bautista in April at the Grand Prix of Spain … Yamaha has five premier-class victories at Brno since the four-stroke MotoGP era started in 2002. Ducati and Honda are tied for second with two each … Honda has no victories at Brno since the 800cc MotoGP era started in 2007. Sete Gibernau earned Honda's last MotoGP victory at Brno, in 2004 … Casey Stoner's victory at Laguna Seca was the 66th for Honda in the premier class since the MotoGP era started in 2002. That broke a tie with Yamaha for the most premier-class victories during that span … Brno has played host to 24 World Championship events, more than any current circuit on the calendar except Assen, which has been on the schedule every year since the World Championship started in 1949 … Lucio Cecchinello's 125cc lap record at Brno, set in 2003, still stands. It's the oldest existing lap record among the three professional classes on the current Grand Prix calendar.