FIM MotoGP World Championship
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis, Indiana
August 7, 2015
Free Practice Two Results (All on Bridgestone tires):
1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:32.860
2. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:32.863
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:33.155
4. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:33.166
5. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:33.186
6. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:33.362, crash
7. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:33.377
8. Scott REDDING, UK (HONDA), 1:33.443
9. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:33.474
10. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:33.532
11. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:33.763
12. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:33.934
13. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:33.973
14. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:34.083
15. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:34.139
16. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (HONDA), 1:34.397
17. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (DUCATI), 1:34.459
18. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 1:34.731
19. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (HONDA), 1:34.923
20. Stefan BRADL, Germany (APRILIA), 1:34.935
21. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (ART-APRILIA), 1:35.185
22. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 1:35.284
23. Toni ELIAS, Spain (HONDA), 1:36.336
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
Lorenzo Leads as Indianapolis Begins
Indianapolis (USA), 7th August 2015
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were on track today for the first time since the start of the Summer break for the first free practice sessions ahead of this weekend‘s Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Having returned from their holiday this was the first opportunity for both riders to re-familiarize themselves with their YZR-M1 and get back into a riding rhythm. Lorenzo needed little time to reclaim his form, finishing the first day in first place with Rossi ending the day in tenth.
Lorenzo quickly got a feel for the American track on his first laps in the morning session and needed only seven minutes to take over the top spot from his teammate. He held this position as he began to work on his setting and improve his time until the times dropped at the end of FP1. He answered the challenge and pulled a 1‘33.654 out of the hat to lead the morning standings.
As the conditions heated up in the afternoon so did the action on track with all riders increasing their pace. Lorenzo kept working on perfecting his set-up and decided it was time to give another push at the end of FP2. He took over the provisional lead before a last minute shoot out moved him back to second, but again Lorenzo saved the best for last and finished at the top of the time sheets with a 1‘32.860.
Teammate Rossi also set an impressive pace early on during the morning practice session, riding the YZR-M1 to first in the rankings on the first lap. He continued to reclaim the provisional top spot multiple times as the pace of the field quickened. He then moved on to testing solutions to improve tyre life, a common problem at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway due to its lay-out with mainly left corners, ending the first session as fifth quickest with a best lap of 1’34.374.
The Doctor worked tirelessly in the afternoon to further improve his setting. Though he didn‘t make up any ground in terms of the ranking, he was able to better his time to a 1’33.532, thereby reducing the gap to the front. He ended the session in tenth place.
With nearly all MotoGP riders having improved their times in the second practice, today‘s results see Lorenzo hold first in the combined session times, with Rossi 0,672s behind in tenth position.
JORGE LORENZO
I‘m very happy, because with every change we made we were able to improve the bike a bit. I‘m riding very well and had a good feeling with the bike so I was able to ride close to the limit for the moment. We had the same sensation with the harder tyre, while other riders had used a new soft tyre they couldn‘t even get close to our time, so that was a very good sign in the morning and we confirmed it in the afternoon. Let‘s see if we continue working this way and we‘ll concentrate on improving the bike even more.
VALENTINO ROSSI
It was a difficult Friday, because I wasn‘t strong or fast enough, already starting from this morning. We have a lot of problems and I don‘t feel good with the bike and was not able to ride at the limit. The main problem is that I didn‘t have enough feeling with the front so I had trouble under braking, turning, and also in changing direction I‘m very slow. The bike is too lazy and heavy so this means we don‘t have the right balance. Like I said, it was a difficult day. We tried the soft tyre at the end and it was a little bit faster, but not enough. For tomorrow it’s very important that we try to understand the problem, do good work with all the data during this night and try to be more competitive, already starting from tomorrow morning, which will be important for the grid. The problem became bigger because Jorge and Marquez are very fast and consistent so we need to improve.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
Today we had a very good start to the race weekend. Jorge has been extremely fast and consistent since the beginning on both tyre choices, so that gives us a lot of confidence. He will focus tomorrow on fine-tuning the setting to improve the bike in the areas where that‘s still possible. Valentino wasn’t as quick to find a good confidence, the team made a few changes on the bike, but there was still something lacking with the feeling. They will work tonight to find a different solution, which will be tested tomorrow morning. There is still time enough, so we are confident he will make a step tomorrow and his bike will be ready for Sunday‘s race.
More, from a press release issued by Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Racing:
Encouraging start to Indianapolis weekend for Redding
Indianapolis, United States – 7 August 2015: The summer break has helped rejuvenate Scott Redding, with the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider returning to MotoGP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and finishing the opening day of practice in eighth position.
Redding has had a difficult year so far but improvements made during the German Grand Prix have given the team a new direction to follow with setup, allowing the 22-year-old Briton to build his confidence in the bike.
Conditions were perfect today with clear skies and warm temperatures. The track condition, however, was far from perfect with the 4.2km circuit still dusty and grip levels changing throughout the course of the day. This will continue into tomorrow’s qualifying session with riders forced to constantly make adjustments to compensate for the changes.
The opening day however gave plenty of reasons for Redding to be optimistic ahead of this weekend and offered confirmation of the progress made throughout the German Grand Prix.
Scott Redding: 8th – 1’33.443
“I felt pretty good on the bike today. The track conditions are quite tricky but the feeling on the bike wasn’t so bad. We just need to work on a few different areas in the second half of the season. I’m working to improve my corner speed, so we have to try a few small changes on the bike to help that. Overall, though, I’m quite happy with today, because I did most of my laps alone. Of course, we need to see what happens over the rest of the weekend but I’m happy to start with this rhythm.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“This was a good day and we started this process in the Sachsenring. I think that we’re basically where we should be and now we need to build on that. We’re within a tenth of a second of the top five, so I must say that as of now everything is going according to plan. However, we must continue working tomorrow if we are to secure a place in Q2.”
More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:
Battle intensifies in Indianapolis at the Red Bull GP
It’s been a positive first day for the Repsol Honda Team in Indianapolis with the track steadily improving throughout the day as more rubber was laid down, cleaning the circuit and increasing the grip.
This afternoon, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez was involved in a final exit time trial against Jorge Lorenzo, with the riders recording identical times. Then in the final minutes, Lorenzo was able to squeeze in one extra fast lap, to pip Marc to the post by just 0.003 seconds. Marc finished the day in second position in the combined times with his lap of 1’32.863 (lap 16/19). Teammate Dani Pedrosa also had a positive first day, finishing seventh in the combined times with his time of 1’33.377 (lap 18/10). It’s an incredibly close field in Indianapolis with just 0.377 seconds separating third position to tenth.
FP3 will commence tomorrow morning at 09h55 local time.
Marc Marquez
2ND 1’32.863
“It was the first day back after the break and I think it went pretty well overall. I felt comfortable on the bike and that is the most important thing. The track is gaining grip but we must continue working in the same way in order to continue improving. Currently Jorge is the rider that seems to be strongest, but tomorrow we will try to get a little closer to him.”
Dani Pedrosa
7TH 1’33.377
“Today we tried the softer tyres in the morning and in the afternoon the harder compound. The track conditions were a little difficult, although they improved as the laps went by. In the afternoon it was quite hot and the tyres stepped out a lot. I’m sure we will have better grip in FP3 and we will go faster. Tomorrow we will try to improve the setup of the bike in the heat and set a good lap in qualifying.”
More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:
Espargaro commences Indianapolis challenge in 6th place
Pol Espargaro kicked off the second half of the 2015 MotoGP season with a firm run to 6th on the opening day of practice at the Indianapolis Grand Prix aboard the Yamaha YZR-M1. The MotoGP field initially had to deal with a lack of grip on the Indiana asphalt, yet despite this, Espargaro jumped straight into gear and pushed hard to conclude the opening practice in 8th position with a time of 1’34.669. When the afternoon session commenced, the young Spaniard, who has recently re-signed with Yamaha to ride for the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team for the 2016 season, continued his shake down in preparation for the 27 lap race on Sunday. He set his personal best of 1’33.362 on the 18th lap, yet unfortunately fell as he tried to improve this time on the following lap. Nevertheless, the 2013 Moto2 World Champion was not injured and his performance saw him claim 6th as he finished merely 0.207 back from third place. He now looks onwards to tomorrow, where he will aim to clinch a strong qualifying position for the race on Sunday.
Meanwhile on the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team garage, Bradley Smith concluded the first day of action after the three week MotoGP summer break with a run to 9th position as the Indianapolis Grand Prix got underway. The British star, who fully intends to reignite his strong form from the opening nine rounds, endured a tricky start in the morning practice as he finished in 16th after suffering with the lack of track grip. Despite this, he jumped straight back onto his MotoGP bike when the afternoon session began and continued taking the necessary steps forward with his Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team by adjusting the base setting of his YZR-M1. After completing 24 laps around the 4.2 kilometre circuit, which was more than any other MotoGP rider, Smith met the chequered flag with a time of 1’33.474, which was merely one tenth of a second behind his teammate. Tomorrow, he will carry on his assault as he aims to finish the weekend once again as the leading satellite rider.
Pol Espargaro
Position : 6th Time : 1’33.362 Laps : 39
“Overall I’m pleased with how today went and it has been nice to be back on my Yamaha YZR-M1 here in Indy. This morning the track was really dirty and the bike was sliding a lot, so I think that neither me nor most of the other riders really felt comfortable at all as the grip level was so low. However, later on in the afternoon, the track conditions improved after the previous Moto2 and Moto3 sessions and the grip had notably increased which allowed us to have a good practice. The session went really well, aside from the crash at the end, which was my mistake, but fortunately there weren’t any consequences for me and there was just a bit of damage to the bike. I felt strong and although there is a margin of improvement to make, I am looking forward to getting back on my bike tomorrow morning.”
Bradley Smith
Position : 9th Time : 1’33.474 Laps : 46
“It’s been a good start to the weekend and obviously, it’s great to be back on the M1 again. I have to admit that it does feel a bit strange after riding the R1 so much during the summer break, but I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do this weekend. We began quite well and I felt good today but unfortunately on my best lap in the afternoon session, I was slowed down by a couple of riders. After the result this morning, we did not panic, because we knew that the track would improve and this afternoon I felt much better on the bike. I was able to ride a really strong and consistent pace on the hard tyre as well as on the soft compound when we tried it at the end of the session. The good thing is the consistency is there already, so now we just need to find the next step in order to go forward, but overall I am quite pleased with the performance. We are just inside the top ten which is where we need to be tomorrow morning, but I am confident that we can have a strong qualifying session, plus the track conditions will improve also. However, we will need to use tomorrow for the race setup because we probably can’t take too much information from today due to the lack of grip. Having said that, we are starting from a good base and that’s what counts for today.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
Positive start for Ducati Team in Indianapolis GP: Dovizioso third and Iannone fourth after first day of free practice.
Both Ducati Team riders got their Indianapolis Grand Prix weekend off to a positive start at the iconic Speedway circuit in the USA. After Friday’s first two free practice sessions, Andrea Dovizioso ended the day in third place, with his teammate Andrea Iannone right behind in fourth.
The MotoGP riders went out in the morning for their first free practice run in perfect sunny weather conditions and at the end of the 45 minute session Dovizioso was third quickest with Iannone in sixth.
Both riders improved in FP2 in the afternoon after fitting a soft rear tyre towards the end of the session to set their quickest times of the day. Dovizioso recorded a 1m33.155s lap, while Iannone was a fraction off his teammate’s pace in 1m33.166s.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’33.155 (3rd)
“I am quite pleased with the feeling today with my Desmosedici GP15. The base setting is good, but we still have a few limits and above all an annoying vibration at the front. There are various points of the track where I am unable to push as hard as I would like and on my fastest lap I also risked crashing by almost losing the front. We will have to work hard to improve our pace, especially because the top two are still some way ahead.”
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’33.166 (4th)
“All things considered today didn’t go bad at all, however I am not entirely satisfied because I feel we still have to work on various aspects if we want to have the right pace to be competitive throughout the weekend. For sure we are in a better position than in the last three races, and this is positive: in the afternoon we succeeded in improving our lap time a lot, but we still have to find a way to give me a better feeling with the bike.”
More, from a press release issued by OCTO Pramac Racing:
A good Friday at the Brickyard: Petrux and Yonny close to the Top 10
Octo Pramac Racing ends up Friday’s free practice went on stage at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a day marked by a hot sun after light but persistent rain fell on Thursday.
Following a difficult morning ended with the 15th place of Yonny Hernandez and the 17th time set by Danilo Petrucci, in FP2 the two OCTO Pramac Racing Team riders have been able to grow significantly feeling with their bikes being able to lower by more than one second their quickest time finishing behind the world championship leader Valentino Rossi, 10th at the end of the second free practices.
Danilo Petrucci recorded the biggest increases in the afternoon lowering by over a second and a half his fastest time in FP1. The rider from Terni was not lucky as he found traffic on the track in his time attack that did not allow him to make the most of the first lap with the soft tire. Petrux finished with a laptime of 1’33.763 (2 tenths of a second behind Valentino Rossi’s 10th position), which earned him the eleventh place provisionally.
Twelfth position for Yonny Hernandez who failed to give his best especially in T1 (18 ° split time) but managed to recover in the rest of the track. Even the rider from Medellin has had to deal with difficult traffic conditions ending up with a laptime of 1’33.934, less than 2 tenths of a second behind his teammate.
A good Friday at the Brickyard: Petrux and Yonny close to the Top 10
11° – Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing #9 – 1’33.763
I’m satisfied with how things went today. In the afternoon we worked well. There is something still missing but the team knew immediately what was the best direction. We still have to fix some problem with the front feeling that is not perfect, and this affects mainly on race pace because it doesn’t allow me to find the right reference points, lap after lap. But I am confident. We are close to the Top 10 and I think that tomorrow we can take another step to try to make up some places.
12° – Yonny Hernandez – OCTO Pramac Racing #68 – 1’33.934
All things considered it was not bad day. We worked a lot with the used tire. And when we put the soft tire for the time attack I found a lot of traffic on track. I hope to improve tomorrow because the feeling is good. Where can I improve? I need more acceleration in Q1, especially on the main straight: we’ll try to work on the setting to find the right solutions.
More, from a press release issued by CWM LCR Honda:
CRUTCHLOW IN TOP FIVE AT INDY
Cal Crutchlow was happy with his work and that of his CWM LCR Honda Team on the opening day of the Indianapolis Grand Prix today as the MotoGP World Championship resumed following a three-week summer break.
Like most of the riders the Brit found the track conditions difficult to deal with as grip proved elusive on the infrequently-used asphalt this morning but he built his pace throughout the day and found 1.4 seconds in the afternoon session.
That was good enough for an encouraging top-five position overnight, with Crutchlow confident of further improvements going into tomorrow afternoon’s qualifying practice.
Cal Crutchlow #35 (5th – 1’33.186)
“Today wasn’t a bad day, we’re quite happy at the moment although we need to improve our pace for tomorrow. The track was really difficult and we had to change the tyre in the end to go a bit quicker, whereas the top three riders didn’t so they seem to have a little advantage over us at the moment.
“Anyway, I am happy and confident with the work we have done so far. The CWM LCR Honda team are doing a great job and I am looking forward to riding tomorrow. I really think we can improve our lap time and overall position.”
More, from another press release issued by CWM LCR Honda:
MILLER GETS TO GRIPS WITH INDY
Jack Miller made a productive return to MotoGP World Championship action today as the series resumed at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the USA following a three-week summer break. After shaking off some rust in the morning’s opening free practice session, when track conditions were not ideal, CWM LCR Honda rookie Miller made progress in the afternoon.
After shaving 1.2 seconds off his best lap and moving up two positions to finish the opening day in eighteenth, the Australian is confident of finding some extra front-end confidence tomorrow morning’s third free practice as he looks to step up his pace ahead of qualifying in the afternoon.
Jack Miller #43 (18th – 1’34.731)
“I’m pretty happy with today, we made a big improvement in the afternoon session although we are still not where I really want to be. In general I am happy with how the bike is feeling but we do need to get the front end working better. We have some ideas and I am looking forward to testing them tomorrow in FP3. Hopefully they work and help us to close that gap to the positions where I think we should be running.”
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:
AT INDY STEFAN BRADL DEBUTS ASTRIDE THE APRILIA RS-GP. THE GERMAN RIDER’S FIRST COMMENTS ARE POSITIVE
ALVARO BAUTISTA WAS SLOWED BY TRAFFIC ON HIS FLYING LAP BUT HAS CLEAR IDEAS FOR TOMORROW
Indianapolis (USA), 7 August 2015 – The first day of practice at Indianapolis for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini had Stefan Bradl making his debut astride the RS-GP, which the German rider will ride in the remaining races of the season. The first laps, straight away on a race weekend, allowed Bradl to gain familiarity with the bike and the team, limiting himself to making small changes in the setup. A lot of attention was focused on ergonomics, the position of the footpegs amd the handlebar as well as the conformation of the saddle in order to find a comfortable triangulation. The opinion at the end of the first day is definitely positive: Stefan found a serious bike with predictable reactions, particularly liking the electronics amd the seamless gearbox. His twentieth final time, two seconds behind the top time, is as encouraging as his improvement of about 1.5 seconds between the two sessions.
Alvaro Bautista is continuing his development work, bringing to the track his usual professional determination. After an initial session to size up the situation, testing the new asphalt and identifying a base setup, in the afternoon session Alvaro and his team began searching for better traction and solutions to improve performance in turns. The last lap on new tyres should have provided an idea as to the level the Aprilia RS-GP had reached but his efforts went up in smoke due to the traffic that characterises the end of every session. There is a lot of data to be analysed and Alvaro’s path towards improvement will pick up from here tomorrow.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“It was a good start for Bradl. He found a good pace straight away. Making a debut directly on a race weekend is really quite a complicated thing but he did a great job. He is very analytical in the way he describes the way the bike performs. Alvaro was unfortunately slowed by traffic on his lap with a new tyre and that keeps us from making an accurate assessment of his performance. In any case I expect that it is up to the same standards as recent races.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“We can be satisfied with this first day because Stefan performed bery well straight away in his debut on the RS-GP, providing some positive feedback. Alvaro also did a good job and the fact that he was unable to improve in the afternoon session was basically because he was slowed down in his final attempts at a flying lap. We have strengthened the team without a doubt and today was certainly a good start. Now we just need to stay focused and work on the bike with a view to the future.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“This morning we began our work which was supposed to continue in the afternoon, in particular looking for more grip on the rear and a way to make the RS-GP perform better all around . We tried a few solutions that helped, whereas a new swingarm didn’t give us the results we had expected . I went back to the setting I was most comfortable with and I went out with just a few minutes left in the second session , but in the two laps I took I ran into a lot of traffic and was unable to take advantage of my tyres. Tomorrow we’ll keep going in this direction as we need to improve the setup .”
STEFAN BRADL
“I’m very happy with the work we did today. This morning I took on an entirely new situation: I was able to see how very professional the team is and that gave me a lot of confidence. Obviously it’s still early to make any kind of real assessment with just two sessions under our belts but the work done today was definitely positive and the bike’s basic performance is good so I’m pleased. . We still have a lot of work ahead of us: tomorrow we’ll have to try and stay focused because we’ll need to continue working on a lot of aspects but I think we will be able to improve going forward step by step. I will also need to be careful because I am still feeling a bit of pain in my right wrist which in any case is not bothering my riding at the moment. I hope it doesn’t get worse but it won’t be easy anyway because I’ve been out of the saddle for six weeks.”
More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:
Lorenzo leads a closely-packed field in Indianapolis Grand Prix Friday practice
Round 10: Indianapolis MotoGP™ – Free Practice 1&2
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Friday August 7 2015
Bridgestone slick options: Front: Soft, Medium & Hard; Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre options: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)
Weather: FP1 – Dry. Ambient 21-22°C; Track 31-37°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP2 – Dry. Ambient 27-28°C; Track 55-56°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo finished on top of the timesheets in Friday practice by a mere 0.003 seconds as the two-time MotoGP™ World Champion aims to break Honda’s recent run of victories at the American circuit.
Lorenzo’s best time of 1’32.860 in Free Practice 2 saw him narrowly beat Marc Marquez to the day’s honours, the Repsol Honda rider also in fine form as he looks to secure a third consecutive premier-class victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Third quickest today was Ducati Team’s Andrea Dozivioso whose best time of 1’33.155 was three-tenths off Lorenzo’s benchmark time.
Weather conditions in Indianapolis were fine and sunny, with a mild start to the day changing to very hot conditions in the afternoon. A peak track temperature of 56°C was recorded towards the end of FP2, one of the highest figures ever recorded at the Indy circuit. With the infield section of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway seeing little use, the grip levels on the opening day of the race weekend were expectedly poor, but improved after each session and for MotoGP FP2, the riders were able to get close to race record pace in the extremely hot temperatures.
In the morning FP1 session, the medium compound rear slick was the most popular option, and while this specification continued to see a lot of use with the Factory Aprilia, Ducati, Suzuki and open class riders in FP2, the factory Honda and Yamaha riders switched to using the hard compound rear slick in the warmer afternoon session. Front tyre choice saw almost every rider use the medium compound front slick in the cooler conditions of FP1 but as temperatures and grip levels increased for FP2, about half of the riders assessed the hard compound front slick and liked its good braking stability and consistency through Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s numerous braking zones. At this stage of the race weekend, the preference for the medium and hard compound front slicks is split quite evenly across the twenty-three riders contesting this weekend’s race, but more track time tomorrow may see one of these options firm as the race favourite.
Even warmer temperatures are forecast for tomorrow, making further evaluation of the different slick tyre options a priority in the remaining practice sessions, the next of which is FP3 which starts at 0955 local time (GMT-4).
Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
“It was a productive first day here at Indianapolis with the fine conditions enabling the riders to test quite a few different tyre combinations. We expected the grip levels on the opening day to be poor and this was the case, although perhaps it was marginally better that what we encountered in Friday practice last year. This circuit has many braking zones which places an emphasis on good front-end stability and as a result we had a very good response to our hard compound front slick, although the medium compound front slick was also popular due to its advantage in cornering performance. All three rear slick options in our tyre allocation were evaluated today, but with warmer temperatures a possibility for tomorrow, race simulations in FP4 will be important in determining which of these options is best for the riders for the race. What is positive for us is that all of our slick options are performing well so far and we could see some record-breaking pace in tomorrow’s sessions.”
More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:
Good start for Avintia Racing at Indy
07/08/15 Avintia Racing MotoGP Grand Prix of Indianapolis – FP1-FP2
After a long summer break the MotoGP bikes came back to action today in Indianapolis with perfect warm and sunny conditions, and the Avintia Racing team riders were one more time leading the Open Class. Hector Barbera finished the day 14th and he is quite satisfied with his performance and the feelings with his Ducati GP14.1 although the usual low grip level at this track. Mike Di Meglio was the surprise in the morning when he finished ninth on the standings, but he drop back in the afternoon after suffering some issues with his Desmosedici GP14 electronic management. The positive note is that the start of the weekend was good and both riders are confident on more improvements in tomorrow’s qualifying session.
HECTOR BARBERA #8 / 14th (P1 Open) 1’34.093 @HectorBarbera
I’m happy because we did what we were supposed to do; be the best Open bike on track and being close to the factory bikes. The feeling is good with the bike and we can improve more. We tried something in my second bike that can be better and tomorrow we’ll follow that way. The track is better than last year, when it was much more slippery, and although this track has less grip than the rest, it seams more constant. It’s the same for everybody and the only thing we have to be careful is to control the high sides, as it’s quite easy to have a big moment here.
MIKE DI MEGLIO #63 / 17th (P3 Open) 1’34.459 @Mikejpp63
It was a positive day, in the afternoon we suffered some problems with the electronics and I was not able to make a good lap, but overall the base set up is good. The bike is really fast, this morning I was the fastest Open on track and although we step back in the afternoon I still third in Open Class and tomorrow we can improve. The track has not too much grip, and you slide everywhere, but it’s the same for everybody. My main concern is the weather forecast, as it says that the rain will come on Sunday at race time. I hope is wrong.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Lorenzo threatens Honda’s dominance at #IndyGP after opening day
The MotoGP™ World Championship returned from its summer break to provide copious amounts of entertainment on the first day of practice at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.
It was Jorge Lorenzo who took advantage of the blue skies and almost ideal conditions (47ºC Track Temp) to top both Free Practice sessions ahead of Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez. FP2 saw grip levels improved from the morning session as riders bedded in the track, and Lorenzo left it until his very last lap to set a 1’32.860. The double MotoGP™ World Champion topping the timesheets at a track that has traditionally played to the Honda’s strengths, with Lorenzo the last non-Honda rider to taste victory back in 2009.
Marquez was just three thousandths of a second further back in second overall and was the only other rider to break the 1’33 barrier, as he looks to make it 3 MotoGP™ wins in a row at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso (+0.295s) completed the provisional front row ahead of his teammate Andrea Iannone (0.306s) in fourth, as they both seemed to benefit from a private test at Misano during the summer break.
CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow (+0.326s) improved by over a second throughout the day to finish as the leading Satellite rider in fifth, ahead of Pol Espargaro (+502s) on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1 who suffered a nasty looking highside at the end of FP2 at turn 13.
Dani Pedrosa (+0.517s) on the second Repsol Honda ended the day in seventh, while Scott Redding (+0.583s) continued to show signs of improvement on the EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda to finish in eighth. Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) set a time good enough for ninth overall, while the current Championship leader Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) found himself down in tenth on the combined timesheets, 0.672s behind his teammate Lorenzo.
Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera was the leading Open class rider in 14th, ahead of the Factory Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR of Aleix Espargaro in 15th, and local hero Nicky Hayden on the Aspar MotoGP Team Honda.
Hayden’s teammate Eugene Laverty managed to end the day in 19th, with Stefan Bradl making his debut on the Factory Aprilia Racing Team Gresini RS-GP in 20th, 0.131s ahead of his teammate Alvaro Bautista. Tony Elias, who is filling in for the injured Karel Abraham in the AB Motoracing team, finished the day in 23rd.
Check out the combined MotoGP™ Free Practice results, FP3 is due to start at 9:55am local time in Indianapolis on Saturday.
Rabat sets the pace in Moto2™
Reigning Moto2™ World Champion Tito Rabat on the EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex ended the first day of practice at the Red Bull Grand Prix of Indianapolis on top of the combined timesheets.
Rabat, who was third fastest in FP1, manage to up his pace by almost a second in FP2 as he took advantage of ideal conditions and improving grip levels at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Rabat was the only rider to break the 1’37 barrier, and his 1’36.967 was less than a tenth off the Pole Record (1’36.883s) at the circuit set by Mika Kallio last year. Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes was 0.328s further back in second overall, with Takaaki Nakagami (+0.439s) on the Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex completing the provisional front row.
Paginas Amarillas HP40’s Alex Rins (+0.479s) had topped FP1 in the morning but had to settle for fourth overall ahead of the current championship leader Johann Zarco (+0.481s) on the Ajo Motorsport Kalex in fifth.
Italtrans Racing Team’s Mika Kallio (+0553s) followed up his fifth place in FP1 by finishing the day sixth fastest overall ahead of Jonas Folger (+0.593s) on the AGR Team Kalex in seventh.
Franco Morbidelli (Italtrans Racing Team), Thomas Luthi (Derendinger Racing Interwetten) who crashed in FP1 but was unhurt, and Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) completed the top ten.
Race winner at the German GP Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) found himself down in 15th, while Xavi Vierge, who replaced Ricky Cardus in the Tech 3 team, ended the day in 27th.
Check out the combined Moto2™ FP1 and FP2 times, FP3 is due to start at 10:55am local time in Indianapolis on Saturday.
Vazquez ends day on top in Moto3™
Leopard Racing’s Vazquez left it until his last lap of the day to top the combined Moto3™ timesheets after the first day of Free Practice at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.
The Spaniard, like most of the other top riders, spent most of FP2 on the same tyres he had used in the morning to try and bed in the track and improve grip levels. With ten minutes to go in the session, riders pitted for fresh rubber and the times began to tumble. Vazquez set a 1’41.266 in almost ideal conditions, with the sun shining and track temperatures reaching 47 °C.
Vazquez finished 0.168s ahead of Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Fabio Quartararo who impressed on his first visit to the circuit. Leopard Racing’s Danny Kent (+0.171s), who had topped the timesheets in FP1 despite a late crash, was the only rider not to improve in the afternoon as he ended the day in third overall.
Ongetta-Rivacold’s Niccolo Antonelli (+0.238s) incredibly managed to end the day in fourth, despite the Italian crashing twice during FP2. Jorge Navarro, who had fractured the 5th metatarsal in his right foot after crashing in FP1, managed to ended the day in fifth after improving by over two seconds in the afternoon. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira was in sixth place, as he showed no ill effects from the surgery on his fractured hand sustained in practice at the German GP.
Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Team Moto3), Jorge Martin (Mapfre team Mahindra) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completing the top ten.
Husqvarna Factory Laglisse’s debutant Lorenzo Dalla Porta impressed in 15th on his debut, while the man he replaced Isaac Viñales, ended the day in 17th as he fills in for the injured Anna Carrasco in the RBA Racing Team. Scottish rider John McPhee struggled on the SAXOPRINT RTG Honda and could only manage to finish in 31st place, 2.141s behind Vazquez.
Check out the combined Moto3™ FP1 & FP2 results, FP3 kicks off at 9:00am local time in Indianapolis on Saturday.
More, from a press release issued by Aspar Team:
Solid start for POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar pair at Indianapolis
Nicky Hayden and Eugene Laverty, sixteenth and nineteenth respectively, satisfied with early work but keen to press forward tomorrow
The MotoGP World Championship resumed today following a three-week summer break, with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway playing host to an opening day of free practice marked by high temperatures and low grip levels on track. On a weekend in which Marc Márquez will aim to continue his dominance of races on American soil in recent seasons, the fastest time today was set by Jorge Lorenzo, although only by the smallest of margins. Just 0.003 seconds separated the two Spaniards today, with Italy’s Andrea Dovizioso following closely in third place.
Nicky Hayden improved by a second from this morning’s session when he returned to the track in the afternoon, with his team-mate Eugene Laverty finding seven tenths. The POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar pair have come back from their summer break feeling refreshed and motivated for the second half of the season, which they are determined to kick off with a strong showing at Indy. Hayden was sixteenth fastest on the opening day of his home Grand Prix, 1.5 seconds off the top, with Eugene Laverty just over half a second further back in nineteenth place with lots of work still to do on his first visit to this circuit on a MotoGP bike.
16th Nicky Hayden 1.34.397 (36 laps): “The grip levels improved as the day wore on today and I like the changes to the track that I didn’t get to try out last year. It flows better and some of the corners are a big improvement, I like them. We made some big improvements today from the first session to the second, which is very important, but we have to keep working to improve the electronics because the track conditions can changes very quickly here and we can’t afford to take our eye off it. As an example today the pace picked up by around a second from the first to the second session, mainly because of the change to the track. With the change in temperatures tomorrow the track will alter again. Our top speed also wasn’t what we expect today so we have to improve that aspect tomorrow. We are adapting well and the team is doing a great job but we have a lot of work to do if we want to meet our objective of finishing as the top Open bike.”
19th Eugene Laverty 1.34.923 (39 laps): “Indianapolis is a nice, fun track and the first corner in particular is impressive. You go in there really fast and it took me a few laps to adapt but by the end I was really enjoying it. The temperature picked up quite a lot in the afternoon, it felt like a different track and the bike was sliding around a lot. Compared with Sachsenring this has been a more positive start to the weekend. We have worked on the rear-end set-up to try and find some confidence, the bike felt more balanced and I was more comfortable. We are still not in the position we would like to be in so we will have to keep working hard tomorrow to improve. But I am optimistic after today and I think we can do a good job tomorrow. We need to improve under hard braking but I think the potential is there.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR CONSISTENT AT INDY 1ST DAY
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR got back on track today with the first two practice sessions of the GP of Indianapolis, which introduces the start of the second half of the season for both Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales.
The two Suzuki riders were pretty consistent with their pace, while trying to find an efficient set-up to approach the race. The main job was focused on taking advantage of the important progress made at the Misano tests. The weather conditions are supposed to be consistent over the weekend, therefore in FP3 there will be some more time to focus on the quick-lap-attack to enter directly into Q2.
Espargaro struggled a little to find the best way to make his GSX-RR turn as he wanted, and with his team he tried many changes in his set-up to find consistency. In both sessions his lap-times settled between 10th and 15th position, but registered continuous improvements. At the end of the day his best lap time was 1’34.139 which sets him provisionally in 15th place.
Viñales on his side decided with his crew to change their strategy and to focus entirely on finding the most comfortable and consistent pace. He only used hard tyres and worked hard to improve his lap-times. but keeping a good rhythm. This, however, didn’t prevent him from popping into the top-10 occasionally in FP2 and he ended the day with 1’33.973, which leaves him in 13th place and 1.113s from the provisional leader.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager:
“Today has brought mixed feelings. Aleix struggled to find a good connection with his bike and he couldn’t find the proper way to be effective in the tighter parts of the circuit. His crew worked hard and made many changes to the bike but we still need to work to put him in a better condition for the race. Maverick, on his side, did a different job, focusing more on the race-preparation and he made many changes in the set-up to consolidate his feeling with the bike and get more knowledge about his GSX-RR’s reactions. This new approach gave positive results in terms of consistency of pace.
“Tomorrow we will work on both approaches inside the garage; with Viñales to capitalise on pace and focus on a time-attack to make a good qualifying assault, while with Aleix we need to find a good way to develop the machine in order to give him the much-needed confidence to find a good pace and make a good qualifying session.”
Maverick Viñales:
“It’s been an interesting day because with my crew we decided to change the strategy with which we approach practice compared to previous races and I’m happy to say that so far it worked pretty well. We decided not to pursue immediately the top-10 – which means direct access to Q2 – but to focus in finding the best set-up for consistent pace and improving from that point. This idea came from the feeling that in the race I am always consistent but the starting point of this consistency is too slow to allow me to fight with the top riders. The team has given me positive support with this strategy and we hope I will have a faster starting point and then go from there. This has in fact paid dividends already, because my best lap-time was in the last laps with a tyre that was as worn as if we were at the end of a race. This doesn’t mean that I underestimate the importance of a good fast lap attack: tomorrow we have one more session to enter Q2 and for sure I will pursue the best position possible on the grid, but another thing is that having used only two sets of tyres today – both hard – we have many more options for tomorrow.”
Aleix Espargaro:
“This hasn’t been a good day for me, I struggled a lot in finding a good set-up that could allow me to take corners as I wanted. I felt the bike hard to handle in the slow corners and in turns with a quick change of direction; therefore I struggled to move up in the classification. It’s pretty strange because we had very positive feedback from the work we’ve done in Misano, but today we made a lot of changes but none seemed to improve the situation, therefore during the technical meeting this afternoon the team will try to understand how to be faster and define a way for working tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
Lorenzo paces Opening Day at Red Bull Indianapolis GP
INDIANAPOLIS, Friday, Aug. 7, 2015 – Two-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo of Spain paced the field during the first day of MotoGP practice for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Friday, Aug. 7, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 2009 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner, Lorenzo posted the fastest lap time of the day of 1 minute, 32.860 seconds in the second of two MotoGP practice sessions on the IMS 16-turn, 2.591 miles (4.170 km) road course. Lorenzo also led the best riders in the world during the first MotoGP practice session with a fastest lap of 1:33.654 on his No. 99 Movistar Yamaha bike.
“I’m very positive; very happy with the start of the weekend,” Lorenzo said. “Normally, it’s very important after the long holiday, after a lot of days without riding; it’s very important to feel fast and comfortable on the bike. That’s the way I feel today. Because we didn’t put on the new tire at the end like some of the riders, I think we have half a second or even more and we can improve the bike and get closer to the lap record from last year or even better.”
Not surprisingly, two-time defending world champion Marc Marquez posted the second-fastest times of the day in both MotoGP practice sessions. Marquez rode his famed No. 93 Repsol Honda to a time of 1:33.747 in the first session, and improved to 1:32.863 during the second practice.
Marquez will look to add to his four-year run of perfection at IMS. The Spanish superstar was victorious at IMS in Moto2 in 2011 and 2012, and also posted MotoGP wins at the Racing Capital of the World in 2013 and 2014.
Andrea Dovizioso was third-fastest in both sessions (1:33.871 and 1:33.155) on his Ducati. Italian legend Valentino Rossi, the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP champion who enters this weekend’s action as the MotoGP points leader, had the 10th-fastest lap in the afternoon session.
Owensboro, Kentucky, native and 2006 MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden, who was unable to compete on the reconfigured IMS road course last year due to injury, posted the 16th fastest time of 1:34.397 on his No. 69 Aspar Honda during the second practice session.
“It was the first time I rode the new track, so it definitely has a little bit more flow to it; really nice,” Hayden said. “But it’s just getting some rubber down, because this track hasn’t been used a lot. But the grip for the first day is definitely the best I’ve probably ever seen at Indy.
“The grip level is just more consistent all over the track, which is really nice for the riders. Also the curbs; the curbs are really smooth and got good grip and good feedback. They’ve done a great job.”
Tito Rabat of Spain led Moto2 practice at 1:36.967 on his Kalex, and Danny Kent of Great Britain paced Moto3 practice at 1:41.437 on his Honda.
In MotoAmerica qualifying, Cameron Beaubier took the pole in Superbike with a lap of 1:37.247 on his No. 6 Yamaha, Bobby Fong won the pole in Supersport on his No. 50 Triumph with a lap of 1:39.848 and Jake Gagne was the fastest qualifier in Superstock 1000 on his No. 32 Yamaha in 1:38.421.
Qualifying will begin tomorrow with Moto3 from 12:35-1:15 p.m., followed by the first MotoGP qualifying session from 2:10-2:25 p.m. and the second session from 2:35-2:50 p.m. Moto2 qualifying will be held from 3:05-3:50 p.m. The MotoAmerica Superbike/Stock 1000 Race 1 will take the green flag at 4:15 p.m., followed by the MotoAmerica Supersport Race at 5 p.m.
2015 Ticket Information: Fans can buy tickets for the 2015 Red Bull Indianapolis GP and apply for tickets to the 2016 Indianapolis 500, Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, the Lilly Diabetes 250 and the Crown Royal Presents the “Your Heroes Name Here” 400 at the Brickyard.
Fans have three quick, convenient methods to buy tickets:
• Online: Visit www.ims.com/tickets. Tickets are available 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
• Phone: Call 800-822-INDY or 317-492-6700 between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday.
• In Person: Visit the IMS Ticket Office in the IMS Administration Building located at 4790 West 16th Street, Indianapolis, IN, which is just east of the roundabout at Crawfordsville Road and 16th Street, between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday.
Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are available. Contact the IMS Group Sales Department at 866-221-8775 for more information.
Information on parking and camping at IMS events is available at www.ims.com/tickets.