Indianapolis MotoGP™ debrief with Masao Azuma Wednesday 21 August 2013 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft & Hard. Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric) Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative) Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez capped off an emphatic display of speed at Indianapolis MotorSpeedway by claiming his third consecutive MotoGP™ victory last Sunday ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa and Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo. Conditions at Indianapolis on Sunday were hot with a peak track temperature of 53°C recorded during the race and as fine weather persisted for the whole race weekend, the riders had ample opportunity to evaluate tyre choices before the race. All slick compounds in Bridgestone’s allocation for the Indianapolis Grand Prix being tested. Q&A with Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department There was a lot of variation in tyre choice over the race weekend but for the race, no works riders selected the harder option rear slick. “Indianapolis continued the trend we have seen throughout this season; riders are prepared to choose the softer rear slick option and devise a strategy to make it last the race distance rather than opting for the more durable, hard rear slick. It seems riders want the option that will give them maximum performance at the start of the race, rather than have a tyre option that will offer more consistent grip levels over the race distance. However, reviewing some of the rider comments after the race, I believe that some riders would have had good results had they chosen the harder rear slick available to them, as some did experience a marked drop in tyre performance in the final laps of the race on the softer rear slick. The Indianapolis circuit is very abrasive and the extra durability of the harder option may have offered more consistent performance over the race distance. The challenge for us at the moment is developing new tyres and looking at compound selection so that riders feel there is more of a benefit to selecting harder rear slick options for the race, and work in this regard is ongoing.” So as all works riders selected the softer rear slick option for the race, how did this perform in what were quite hot track temperatures on Sunday? “Actually the performance of the softer rear slick for the works riders, the medium compound tyre, was very good. Not only did Marc set a new race lap record, he did so on the eighteenth lap so this showed that the softer rear option exhibited good durability as well as performance so this was a positive for us. This year’s race was a lap shorter than last year, but in our estimation over the same race distance, the overall race time this year would have been about seven seconds quicker than last year – another positive sign. Despite the good performance of the medium compound slick tyre, the data we acquired during Friday and Saturday practice show us that the hard compound rear tyre was also a viable race option for Sunday, but as no rider decided to use it we were unable to make a direct comparison.” Again this year there was a lot of talk about the track surface at Indianapolis. In regards to the tyres, what makes the tarmac of the Indianapolis circuit challenging? “Indianapolis has three different types of tarmac; one type used on the oval course, one type on the section starting at turn one that was originally constructed for Formula 1, and the other type is on the infield. The infield tarmac is the most challenging in terms of tyres as not only is it one of the more slippery surfaces seen on the calendar, it is also quite abrasive. Usually if a tarmac is quite abrasive, you supply harder rubber compounds as hard rubber resists wear better. However at Indy we need to also ensure the rubber compounds offer enough grip to counteract the low grip level of the tarmac. It is managing this balance of resistance to wear versus grip at Indianapolis that makes it challenging for tyres. In addition to the tarmac, the layout of the circuit also adds to the challenge with the sequence of left-handed corners from turns twelve to fourteen generating very high temperatures in the left shoulder of the rear tyres. Because of this we employ our heat-resistant construction in the slicks we provide at Indianapolis. As you can see, the Indy circuit presents many challenges for our tyres but given the new qualifying and race lap records set last weekend and the overall tyre performance exhibited, I believe our tyre allocation for Indianapolis was well planned. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: MEKLAU TAKES RIJEKA SUPERBIKE VICTORY GRANDys duo Suzuki’s Andy Meklau took a step closer to clinching the Alpe Adria Superbike series with a second race victory at the weekend’s Rijeka circuit in Croatia. In Saturday’s opening race, Meklau was second ahead of GSX-R1000-mounted team-mate Marko Jerman, who was struggling with a collarbone injury, but in Sunday’s second race, the Austrian (pictured) made a pass on leader Berto Camlek (Yamaha) on the final lap to win 0.3-of-a-second, with Jerman again third. Meklau heads the championship standings on 169 points with Jerman second on 141 with one round to go at Slovakiaring. In the Superstock 600 class, series leader Daniel Bukowski led Saturday’s opening race aboard the team’s GSX-R600, but crashed, eventually re-mounting to finish sixth. And in Sunday’s race, he rode a calculated race to finish in third. Said GRANDys duo Team Manager Jacek Grandys: “Our start in Croatia was very successful. I felt sorry for Daniel in the first race because he could have wrapped-up the title this weekend. The situation in the championship classification is still good though and we are waiting for the last weekend of the season now at the Slovakiaring. “In the Superbike class, it seems that the title will come to one of our riders, but after this weekend, Marko deserves full recognition for his efforts because despite injury he fought bravely with the other competitors.” Alpe Adria Rijeka results: Superstock 600 1st race: 1. Luka Decko (Yamaha) SLO 2. Luca Tommasini (Triumph) ITA 3. Stefan Kerschbaumer (Yamaha) AUT 4. Alex Radman (Triumph) CRO 5. Adrian Gyutai (Honda) HUN 6. Daniel Bukowski (Suzuki GRANDys duo) POL Superstock 600 2nd race: 1. Luka Decko (Yamaha) SLO 2. Stefan Kerschbaumer (Yamaha) AUT 3. Daniel Bukowski (Suzuki GRANDys duo) POL 4. Alex Radman (Triumph) CRO 5. Adrian Gyutai (Honda) HUN Superbike 1st race: 1. Berto Camlek (Yamaha) SLO 2. Andy Meklau (Suzuki GRANDys duo) AUT 3. Marko Jerman (Suzuki GRANDys duo) SLO 4. Jan Halbich (Kawasaki) CZE 5. Irek Sikora (BMW) POL Superbike 2nd race: 1. Andy Meklau (Suzuki GRANDys duo) AUT 2. Berto Camlek (Yamaha) SLO 3. Marko Jerman (Suzuki GRANDys duo) SLO 4. Jan Halbich (Kawasaki) CZE 5. Irek Sikora (BMW) POL Alpe Adria Championship Points (after the Rijeka): Superstock 600: 1. Daniel Bukowski (Suzuki GRANDys duo) POL 142 pts 2. Janos Chrobak (Honda) HUN 104 pts 3. Adrian Gyutai (Honda) HUN 102 pts 4. Luka Decko (Yamaha) SLO 79 pts 5. Luca Tommasini (Triumph) ITA 74 pts Superbike: 1. Andy Meklau (Suzuki GRANDys duo) AUT 169 pts 2. Marko Jerman (Suzuki GRANDys duo) SLO 141 pts 3. Jan Halbich (Kawasaki) CZE 133 pts 4. Irek Sikora (BMW) POL 122 pts 5. Berto Camlek (Yamaha) SLO 99 pts More, from a press release issued by LeoVince USA: LeoVince USA Sponsored GP Tech Debuts in Moto2 With Rider James Rispoli Richmond, Calif. – August 21, 2013 – LeoVince and James Rispoli have a strong history as LeoVince helped power James to his first Supersport championship in 2011. Now, Rispoli is celebrating a solid Moto2 debut at the 2013 Red Bull MotoGP at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 21-year-old rode a GP Tech-sponsored Tech 3 machine in Moto2, marking a huge step up in the ranks of motorcycle road racing for Rispoli. LeoVince supplied a handcrafted Moto2 titanium exhaust to help him in his inaugural ride. The first practice session was a struggle for Rispoli, who had to deal with both gearing issues and a malfunctioning slipper clutch. Things rapidly began to improve after that, and by the time qualifying rolled around, Rispoli had dropped 3.885 seconds from his fastest lap in the first practice. After qualifying 29th, Rispoli ran a smooth, steady race on his LeoVince-equipped Tech 3 motorcycle and crossed the finish line in 25th. He had a battle with Louis Rossi but was able to pull ahead by 1.9 seconds at the checkered flag. During the race, Rispoli dropped even more time from his laps, eventually setting a best lap time of 1:45.243—more than four seconds faster than he ran in the first practice. Now that his Moto2 debut is behind him, Rispoli is preparing to continue his charge in Daytona SportBike. In ten races this season, Rispoli has yet to finish outside the top ten. Keep an eye on him when the AMA Pro Road Racing series heads to New Jersey Motorsports Park, September 13-15. LeoVince USA congratulates Rispoli on a great Moto2 debut!