FIM MotoGP World Championship
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis, Indiana
August 8, 2015
Qualifying Results (All on Bridgestone tires):
From Qualifying Session Two:
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:31.884
2. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:32.055
3. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:32.186
4. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:32.208
5. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:32.243
6. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:32.269
7. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:32.468
8. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:32.511
9. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:32.571
10. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:32.636
11. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:32.670
12. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:32.814
From Qualifying Session One:
13. Scott REDDING, UK (HONDA), 1:33.170
14. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:33.199
15. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:33.278
16. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 1:33.381
17. Stefan BRADL, Germany (APRILIA), 1:33.822
18. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 1:33.839
19. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (HONDA), 1:33.978
20. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (HONDA), 1:34.030
21. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (ART-APRILIA), 1:34.226
22. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (DUCATI), 1:34.332
23. Toni ELIAS, Spain (HONDA), 1:35.167
More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:
Marquez and Pedrosa complete perfect 1-2 in qualifying for Red Bull Indianapolis GP
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa have completed a faultless day placing first and second for tomorrow’s 27 lap race, the first qualifying 1-2 since the GP of Malaysia in 2014.
Both riders were immediately fast with Marc posting his best time on his first exit, with a time of 1’31.884 and was unable to better this on his second run. Dani went straight to second place on his first run then improved his time on his second exit closing in on Marc’s time and finishing just 0.171 seconds off his teammate with a time of 1’32.055.
Marc has started from pole in every race on American soil in the MotoGP class except Laguna Seca in 2013, making it six from seven and tomorrow he will be aiming for his fifth consecutive win at the Brickyard.
The race will begin at 14h00 local time.
Marc Marquez
1ST 1’31.884
“I’m happy because FP4 went very well. Maybe the 6 tenths aren’t completely ‘real’ and there is actually only one or two tenths difference, but the positive thing is that we managed to turn around the gap that we had to Jorge yesterday. There is still the warmup tomorrow and I think everybody is improving, as the track condition is changing and we have to continue to adapt to it. Right now Jorge is the toughest rival and we must be vigilant.”
Dani Pedrosa
2ND 1’32.055
“Today we worked a lot with the tyres, because at the moment my race pace is slower than that of Marc and Jorge. In the qualifying session I was able to do quite well. With the second tyre I had a good feeling, but I made some mistakes in some sections of the circuit and I tried to do an extra lap – which didn’t go so well. I’m happy to get a place on the front row, so we will continue working hard to try and gain a few tenths for tomorrow, because there are a couple of sectors – the first two – in which I am losing some time. We shall see if we can improve my riding and increase the grip a little, so that tomorrow we can be in the fight for the win.”
More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:
Smith to speed from second row of the grid at Indianapolis
Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Bradley Smith produced a stellar effort in the qualifying practice at the Indianapolis Grand Prix today to clinch 6th position for tomorrow’s 27 lap sprint. The young Briton began the day with a superb display in FP3 where he posted a top time of 1’32.421, which saw him finish the session in 2nd and just a blink of an eye back from the leading time by 0.029. Following this performance, the 24 year old was fully charged for a successful run in QP2. When the 15 minute shootout began, the British rider jumped onto the Yamaha YZR-M1 and burst into action before setting a time of 1’32.269 on his 7th lap which lifted him to third position. He then attempted to lower the time further, before finishing in 6th which equals his best qualifying performance of the year, with his lap being only 0.083 from the rear of the front row. Smith now fully intends to undertake a typically strong start tomorrow to be able to battle as close as possible to the factory MotoGP bikes during the 10th round of the 2015 season.
Meanwhile Pol Espargaro will contest the second American round of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship from 11th on the grid after a tricky qualifying practice in Indianapolis. The Spaniard began his day with a solid performance in FP3 by setting a lap of 1’32.945 which he was due to improve further, but he unfortunately fell at the end of the practice. This meant his earlier time saw him finish the session in 8th and able to progress straight through to QP2. When the qualifying started, the 24 year old pulled the pin and set a 1’32.670 on only his second lap. Espargaro concluded the 15 minute shoot out with this time as his personal best, which will see him start the race from the middle of the fourth row, with a gap of less than half a second from third position. Nevertheless, the 2013 Moto2 World Champion remains fully confident of being able to climb through the field tomorrow and clinch a high scoring finish aboard the Yamaha YZR-M1.
Bradley Smith
Position : 6thTime : 1’32.269Laps : 9
“I’m really pleased with my performance today and in addition, my objective for the second half of this year was to qualify higher, so it has been a good start. At the same time, I am a bit disappointed as I was so close to the front row and I definitely left a bit of time out on track, but with everything being so close any small mistakes could have cost us a lot. I felt really good with the bike today and we started off well in the morning. Later we were even able to make another small step forward in FP4. We have made some considerable progress with the hard tyre and towards the end of the final practice session, I became much more confident about our chances in tomorrow’s GP. It will be a long and tricky race but the key factor is to remain consistent. Yet, to start from the outside of the second row is quite positive and I have qualified in that position before so I know the right lines to take. This afternoon, we will improve our plan of action for tomorrow a bit more, but all in all, I’m ready for the fight.”
Pol Espargaro
Position : 11thTime : 1’32.670Laps : 8
“Without a doubt I can’t be satisfied with this qualifying result. During the practice sessions we always had a strong rhythm with the harder compound of tyre but as soon as I put the soft one in and tried to push for a fast lap time, my confidence with the bike dropped significantly. I didn’t feel comfortable nor did I enjoy riding the bike and my movements on it were not natural. It went as far as thinking that I would crash in nearly every corner which has happened twice already this weekend. However, fortunately our situation for the race looks to be more competitive even if I haven’t given myself an easy task from 11th place on the grid as I personally think that the starting position counts as more or less 40% of the result. Still, I will give it my all tomorrow and try to climb back to the positions that I want to be in.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Racing:
Fifth row start for Redding at The Brickyard
Indianapolis, United States – 8 August 2015: Scott Redding was disappointed to miss out on a place in Q2 by just eight hundredths of a second this afternoon, leaving him to start tomorrow’s Indianapolis Grand Prix from 13th position on the fifth row of the grid.
There have been some encouraging signs this weekend for Redding but, once again, qualifying proved difficult for the 22-year-old Briton, as he struggled to overcome handling issues whilst chasing a fast lap this afternoon.
Having missed out on the top two by just under a tenth of a second in Q1 it was a disappointing result for Redding, but the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider had a positive final practice session. Redding was consistent in the session, traditionally used by riders to test their race setup, which points to a more competitive showing in tomorrow’s 27-lap race.
Scott Redding: 13th – 1’33.170
“This morning wasn’t too bad but I was struggling a bit on corner entry. We thought that we had been going the right way with setup but, today, everything seems to be doing something, and not in a good way. I’ve less front grip, I’m struggling with the rear and I’m a bit lost and more than a little annoyed at this moment. The race pace isn’t too bad but the biggest problem I’ve got at the moment is with the new tyre.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“Friday was a really good day and I thought we’d have the pace to go directly to Q2 today instead of having to try and fight with our way through Q1. Again, today, we didn’t do what we should be doing. We should be securing a place in Q2 automatically and, if we do end up in Q1 for whatever reason, then we should at least be finishing in the top two. Instead, tomorrow, we face another start from too far back on the grid, which guarantees a more difficult race.”
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:
ENCOURAGING QUALIFIERS AT INDIANAPOLIS FOR ALVARO BAUTISTA AND STEFAN BRADL
The Aprilia riders significantly improve their lap times. In the race tomorrow they will start side by side from the sixth row
Indianapolis (USA), 8 August 2015 – On a demanding weekend like few others for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, the best news arrived just in time during the decisive Q1 session. In fact, both Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista significantly improved their times in the session that decides the starting grid for tomorrow’s race.
With his personal best of 1’33.822, Stefan Bradl rode his RS-GP to the sixth row with the 17th best time, followed just 17 thousandths later by team mate Alvaro Bautista (18th best time and sixth row). Despite the reduced grip and the less than congenial track conditions for the Italian bike, both riders showed grit and determination. At the end of the day they brought home the best possible result.
Tomorrow, where they will be hard at work during the morning warmup and the race, promises to be rather interesting. There is also a chance of rain in the forecast which could reshuffle the entire deck.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Director)
“A demanding weekend for us, as usual, given the project we’re working on. In any case I am quite satisfied because we have found a professional rider and a very valuable person in Stefan who, with his indications, is allowing us to focus better on our bike’s weak points. Basically we are struggling in closing out turns. That’s the main problem which then generates others. Thanks to the combined indications of Bradl and Bautista, I think we will be able to speed up our development process. They make an excellent pair. For us this season is still an extraordinary effort in an extremely high level championship but we are really learning a lot.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“Today both of our riders did an excellent job. Despite this being his début, Stefan showed that he had achieved a good feeling with the bike straight away, putting good times on the sheets. Alvaro also did a good job, so we are satisfied with the way things have gone so far this weekend. We can count on a reinforced team and that definitely helps us in the future, both in terms of results and in terms of developing the bike. Tomorrow will be an important day and I hope we’ll be able to ride a good race.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“Today we did various tests trying to improve the setup, to help the RS-GP turn better and to find traction. It wasn’t a huge step forward, but we did manage to make some improvements. In particular the hard front tyre still doesn’t give me the same feeling as the soft one, but it performs better in terms of consistency for the race, so I think that will be our choice for tomorrow. In qualifying I was able to take good advantage of the first tyre, improving my time by half a second, whereas with the second one while I was pushing hard I lost control and even risked crashing. Fortunately nothing happened besides me not being able to make any further improvement on my times. Tomorrow we are expecting a hard race on a track which is difficult for us, also taking the weather into consideration which could change everything. In any case we need to continue working and gathering data.”
STEFAN BRADL
“I am absolutely surprised to have already reached such a good level on my first time out with this bike. It’s true that it didn’t take much for me to adapt to it, but in any case I hope that tomorrow we’ll be able to take another step forward in terms of setup. Today we did a lot of work both on the geometries and on the electronics and the positive thing is that I can feel the changes. That means that we know which direction to go in order to improve. In any case the race tomorrow will be no walk in the park: today I pushed hard in the qualifiers and I could feel that my right wrist is still not at 100%. I’ll do everything I can to be physically fit tomorrow, but it will be hard, also because the tyres will wear, the bike’s performance will change and I still need to learn how to ride it in these conditions, with worn tyres. In any case we have done a great job so far and I hope we’ll be able to ride a good race tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:
Indianapolis (USA), 8th August 2015
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo scored a front row position in this afternoon‘s qualifying at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Teammate Valentino Rossi made a considerable improvement on the practice sessions, dropping into the mid 1‘32‘s to take eighth.
Lorenzo was on typical form for the 15 minute qualifying heat, ensuring he was the first man on track as the session began. His first flying lap of 1‘32.715 saw him shoot up directly to provisional pole, but his hold was short lived. As the rest of the field crossed the line, he dropped to fifth before quickly retuning to the box with nine minutes on the clock.
When he returned to the track less than a minute later the pace had quickened and Lorenzo had dropped back to sixth. He responded by delivering another hot lap, bettering his time to 1‘32.611 to secure fifth place on the grid for the race, but again wasn‘t able to hold the spot and slipped back to sixth.
He came back in to the pits for a third time with a little more than four minutes on the clock for a quick stop, to commence his final try with three minutes remaining. This time the Spaniard made it count, his time dropped to a 1‘32.186 in his final push, enough to secure third position on tomorrow‘s grid.
Valentino Rossi endured a challenging qualifying this afternoon, as he was unable to find a set up with his YZR-M1 to challenge the frontrunners.
Rossi left pit lane directly behind his teammate but came back in before completing his outlap. After a quick stop, he headed back out to set a first flying lap of 1‘32.511 for third. Eager to claim a front row starting place, he gave it another try but was unable to improve and returned to the box for a second time with less than six minutes remaining.
One minute later he was back out for his third outing, but despite giving his all his time was not enough to move up the grid. The nine-time World Champion will start tomorrow‘s race from eighth on the third row.
JORGE LORENZO
Our competitors were very explosive and fast, especially during qualifying on one lap. It‘s always difficult to beat them during the practices, not just at this track, but in general. I was a little bit afraid before putting in the last tyre, because I was in sixth position. Luckily for me I managed over the weekend to save one more tyre and in the third try-out I was able to improve my time by half a second and that gave me first row. This is vital, because tomorrow Marc can go very quickly from the beginning and it‘s important to be as close to him as possible. It will be a long race, I think we have a good pace and we didn‘t improve the bike as we expected, but we still have the warm up to try some things.
VALENTINO ROSSI
Yesterday I was very slow and a bit worried, and we didn‘t start with a good base setting. Today the situation has improved, especially my pace is not so bad. In FP4 I was in fourth position and I raised my level and my potential a lot and also the life of the tyre is longer, but unfortunately in qualifying I wasn‘t strong enough to start from the second row. I hit traffic, made mistakes and I have to start from the third row. This is a big problem because I‘m not very fast here and we still have some problems with the bike that we have to improve, we have to make a step for tomorrow. I think fighting for the podium tomorrow will be hard, because Marc and Jorge are very strong, but at this track like at Sachsenring also Dani is very fast, so it will be difficult.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
Starting from first row is a good result from Jorge. He showed a strong pace during the race simulation we did this morning. There is still some room for improvement, but we expect tomorrow to be a tough race. Valentino ran into some traffic and as a result couldn‘t do better than the pace he showed today, even though we made a step and the bike improved from yesterday. Starting from eighth place makes it more difficult, especially at the beginning of the race, but we know what he‘s capable of. We will try to prepare something for tomorrow‘s warm up to see if we can gain a few more tenths and then we will give everything we have at 2pm.
More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:
Marquez marches to third consecutive Indianapolis MotoGP™ pole position
Round 10: Indianapolis MotoGP™ – Qualifying
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday August 8 2015
Bridgestone slick options: Front: Soft, Medium & Hard; Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre options: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)
Weather: FP3 – Dry. Ambient 21-22°C; Track 31-37°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP4/QP – Dry. Ambient 29-29°C; Track 47-49°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez is ideally placed to claim a hat-trick of Indianapolis Grand Prix victories as he secured pole position in qualifying today ahead of his teammate Dani Pedrosa.
Marquez was the only rider able to set a time in the 1’31 bracket and his time of 1’31.884 was just two-tenths off his own Indianapolis Circuit Best Lap record – an impressive feat given track temperatures in qualifying this year were around 10°C higher than last year. Pedrosa’s personal best time of 1’32.055 was good enough for second place on the grid ahead of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo, who clocked a 1’32.186 on his final lap in Qualifying Practice 2 to secure the final front row position. All of the top three riders in qualifying used the combination of the medium compound rear and hard compound front slick during their time attack in QP2.
It was another warm day in Indianapolis but despite high ambient temperatures, the cloud cover meant that track temperatures didn’t reach the levels seen yesterday, with a peak reading of 49°C recorded this afternoon. After being given a positive reception by riders yesterday, the hard compound front slick was the most popular option in today’s sessions; during both long runs and in time attack situations in qualifying. It is expected the majority of riders will select this option for the race, although the medium compound front slick is likely to be selected by some riders. Rear slick choice today was more varied with all three options in the allocation being used. For the factory Honda and Yamaha riders the hard compound rear slick is by far the most popular option, while the medium rear slick was favoured by the Ducati riders. The soft compound rear slick could also feature in the race as it is likely to be selected by the majority of open class, Aprilia and Suzuki riders.
The weather forecast suggests a fair chance of afternoon thunderstorms tomorrow, so wet or dry conditions could greet riders for tomorrow’s race at 1400 local time (GMT–4). Before then, the morning Warm UP session at 0940 will provide a final opportunity for the riders and teams to confirm their tyre choice and bike setting for the race.
Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
“We had warm, dry conditions throughout the day so there was plenty of opportunity for the riders to confirm which tyre combination they preferred. The hard front, hard rear combination is working really well for the factory Honda and Yamaha riders as it combines excellent braking stability with strong, consistent drive grip at the rear. The hard compound front slick is also popular with the other factory machines and open class riders and I expect that we will see the soft and medium compound rear slicks on the grid for tomorrow’s race as well. There is a chance of rain for tomorrow’s race and although the riders haven’t been able to try this new Indianapolis tarmac in wet conditions, we have two compound options of wet tyres available so no matter what the conditions are, we have enough options for the riders.”
More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:
Open Class pole position for Barbera and Avintia Racing
08/08/15 Avintia Racing MotoGP Grand Prix of Indianapolis – QP
Once again Hector Barbera was the fastest Open Class rider on track during the qualifying session for the Indianapolis Grand Prix at the famous Brickyard venue. The Avintia Racing team Spanish rider was on top of the Open Class in every free practice session this weekend and he did so in the Q1, but the MotoGP class level is incredible this season and he has to be happy with the 14th place on the grid for tomorrow’s race after a great lap of 1’33.199. He’s confident on winning again in the Open Class tomorrow, but he also hopes to be fighting with some factory bikes on the race.
Mike Di Meglio crashed during the first minutes of the Q1 and after jumping on his second bike the feeling was not perfect and the Avintia Racing French rider will star tomorrow’s race from the back of the grid. But Di Meglio’s pace is good and he aims to recover some places and take points.
HECTOR BARBERA #8 / 14th (P1 Open) 1’33.199 @HectorBarbera
I’m happy because my lap was really fast and, of course, because again we were the best Open Class on track. We have been working really well during all the free practice sessions and for me being the best Open is not the most important, the most positive today is that we have a perfect set up for the race. I’m confident about the race because we have been quite close to the Pramac Ducatis, and this is also one of out targets. The weather for tomorrow could be unpredictable with some forecast suggesting it could be wet, but whatever happens will be the same for everybody. If it rains will be tricky as we didn’t test on wet conditions, but I prefer a dry race as we have been working towards a dry race over the weekend.
MIKE DI MEGLIO #63 / 22nd (P5 Open) 1’34.322 @Mikejpp63
I’m really disappointed because I felt strong in the free practice sessions, I pushed hard in the first lap of the Q1 and I crash. The team made a great job but when I got back in track with my second bike, the engine was not fast enough an we have to find out why. I have a good pace for tomorrow but the problem will be starting from the back of the grid. The first laps will be crucial and then we’ll see what we can do.
More, from a press release issued by CWM LCR Honda:
CRUTCHLOW CLOSE TO INDY FRONT ROW
Cal Crutchlow qualified in a fantastic fourth place for the Indianapolis Grand Prix at the world famous ‘Brickyard’ circuit today, posting the fourth fastest lap on board his CWM LCR Honda.
In a closely-fought session the British rider finished just over three tenths off pole position and a narrow 0.022 seconds off the front row in fourth place.
Cal Crutchlow #35 (4th – 1’32.208)
“Obviously I’m pleased with the position today. I would have liked to have been on the front row but the CWM LCR Honda team did a great job and we did our best. We still need to improve in a few areas of the circuit, especially with the harder rear tyre.
“At the moment we have some issues in that respect but we will sit down tonight and discuss where we can improve. It is a case of me in some areas and the package in some other areas but I am sure we can come up with some answers before the race.”
More, from another press release issued by CWM LCR Honda:
MILLER SECURES BEST EVER MOTOGP GRID AT INDY
Jack Miller secured the best grid position of his rookie MotoGP World Championship season with an outstanding performance in qualifying at Indianapolis this afternoon. In hot but cloudy conditions the CWM LCR Honda rider made constant progress, building on the work he had done yesterday and working with his crew to solve the front-end issues he had experienced in free practice.
The Australian came out strongly in Q1 and posted a best lap of 1’33.381, an improvement of 1.4 seconds on his best effort from yesterday and enough for sixth fastest in that session and sixteenth overall on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
Jack Miller #43 (16th – 1’33.381)
“I’m quite happy with today, it’s my best qualifying so far but not only that, this is the best I have ever felt riding this bike. It feels like a long time that we have been working to get this comfortable and now we are here.
“Tomorrow will be a tough race but I am happy with what we have achieved here so far so who knows what can happen. Our aim is to get the best possible start and after that we will see!”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
Iannone qualifies on row 3 for Indianapolis GP in seventh place, while Dovizioso lines up tenth on the grid
After the second day of practice and qualifying for the Indianapolis GP which will be held Sunday at the legendary Motor Speedway, Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso of the Ducati Team set seventh and tenth quickest times respectively and will start Sunday’s tenth round of the MotoGP World Championship from rows 3 and 4 of the grid.
During the third free practice session in the morning, Iannone managed to go third quickest, thus ensuring that he went directly through into Q2, while Dovizioso, who did not have a perfect feeling with his Desmosedici GP15, was unable to improve on his FP2 time from Friday and had to take part in the first qualifying session (Q1) as he finished in eleventh place.
After the 30-minute FP4 session in the early afternoon, in which Iannone and Dovizioso were fifth and ninth, Q1 got underway and here Dovizioso finished second behind Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Racing Team Ducati), thus guaranteeing himself a place in Q2.
In second qualifying, counting for the first four rows of the starting-grid line-up, Iannone recorded seventh quickest time on his second exit with a soft rear tyre, while Dovizioso had to settle for tenth place and a row 4 starting slot for Sunday’s race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’32.468 (7th)
“We are suffering a bit but we have always managed to improve in every session, and all things considered this is positive because modifications don’t always go well every time you make them. Instead, we have succeeded in gaining constantly, in improving our situation and our race pace, and this is important. As for the rest, I expected to be a bit quicker in qualifying, but it was tough for me even to set this time. Tomorrow we’ll try and do our best, but in any case I’d like to thank the guys in my team because they are really making a big effort.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’32.636 (10th)
“Today was a really difficult day, starting from this morning when we lost virtually the entire session due to various problems and were unable to work well. Unfortunately when we use the soft tyre we always have a big vibration at the front and so I have never been able to push harder to obtain a better grid position. As for our race pace, we are not where we’d like to be, but we are in the second group, not so far behind the front guys, and so with a good start I feel sure I can make up some positions.”
More, from a press release issued by OCTO Pramac Racing:
Stunning Petrux makes 5th place in Q2. Yonny will start from the fifth row.
Danilo Petrucci will be the closest Italian rider to the fabled “Brickyard” on the starting grid of the Indianapolis Grand Prix. Yonny Hernandez will start from the fifth row with a great desire to recover.
OCTO Pramac Racing ended up the Saturday’s qualifying in US with the sensational exploit of the rider from Terni and the ambitions of the Colombian who was not lucky in finding the right conditions in qualifying for the tenth round of the 2015 MotoGP season.
Petrux began his day with some difficulty managing to lower in FP3 only a couple of tenths off his time set on Friday. In FP4 its performance went on growing and got “exploded” in a sensational Q1 in which he lapped very fast ending first with over two tenths of a second ahead of Dovizioso. In Q2 another masterpiece with a time attack (1’32.243) which earned him fifth place (career best in qualifying), just 57 thousandths of a second from the front row.
The feeling that Yonny could be able to do great things was beginning tangible. In FP3 the rider of Medellin has been unable to win the direct qualification to Q2 for only 2 thents of a second ending 11th place. In Q1, after setting the second fastest in the first run, Yonny failed to make that step further that would allow him to access the Q1. He will start tomorrow from the fifth row (15th place).
Stunning Petrux makes 5th place in Q2. Yonny will start from the fifth row.
5° – Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing Team #9 – 1’32.243
Am I Really the first Italian? I did not think about it. It’s wonderful. Until the beginning of Q1 it was just a dream. I just say that this bike has great potential. But it must be found and you need to work hard to make it. I’m lucky because of my team: Daniele and the guys were great. We missed the first row of a few thousandths but I do not want to think about this because we did not expect even to get to Q2 this morning. I am very happy to be to be the first Ducati rider on the grid at Indianapolis. I would be the same tomorrow under the chequered flag but I think it will be almost impossible. Meanwhile, however, thank the whole team for this wonderful day.
15° – Yonny Hernandez – OCTO Pramac Racing Team #68 – 1’33.278
It has been a difficult day. I tried to set the time with the first soft tire but I found a lot of traffic on track. With the second tyre I tried to push harder but I made a mistake in the first corner. It is not a good Saturday for us but I am confident for tomorrow. We’ll have to work a little but I’m sure we can find the right set up.
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
VIÑALES AND ESPARGARO 3RD AND 4TH ROW AT INDY
Today’s qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway once again proved that the fight for the top positions in the MotoGP Championship is very tough as the top 12 riders in qualifying Q2 were all covered by just one second.
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s riders Maverick Viñales and Aleix Espargaro both showed positive improvements in their performances, even though they were a little away from the top time with the single-lap performance; but they were, however, very consistent with race-pace.
Espargaro exploited the morning session to recover from the bad feeling he had yesterday, trying a number of changes in the set-up that made him feel more comfortable. In fact by the end of the session he improved his best time and with a lap of 1’32.914 he managed to get seventh place and direct access to Q2. Qualifying in Q2 was tough as well, with his final position being 12th with a lap of 1’32.814.
Viñales continued the plan that his crew started yesterday, finalising a good configuration that made him comfortable for the race. He attempted the quick-lap time attack with the soft tyre and he managed to be the third rider overall to get under the 1.33 bracket. At the end of the session his 1’32.998 gave him 10th place and direct access to Q2 for him as well. Final qualifying saw him consistently improving his lap times, exploiting the soft tyre with a one-shot lap that gave him ninth place on the grid with a 1’32.571 lap.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager:
“Well at the end we managed to make some improvements with both riders. Aleix did have some troubles this weekend to find proper confidence, but today the team was able to make some little steps forward and finally he could enter Q2. Unfortunately in qualifying he couldn’t do better than 12th but he also focused on the pace for the race and that gave positive results. Maverick was more confident from the very beginning and he constantly improved his performance. He entered Q2 and could qualify on the third row. He focused on being ready for the race and the feeling we have is positive. As usual we are getting more and more knowledge about our machines and our riders, the important thing is to continue to improve and today seems to be a good day in this respect. Tomorrow the race will be tough, both riders will have to be wise and try to recover positions initially, but there will be many laps and with the pace we found I think we can make a good race.”
Maverick Viñales:
“I think it has been a very positive day, more than the result in qualifying shows. Our FP4 work was very good to prepare for the race: I ran with worn tyres and the times and feelings were positive. As I said we changed our working procedure this weekend and I must say that it is positive. I want to say thank you to the team because they did a very good job. Qualifying was pretty difficult because the track was slippery and we always struggle when we lack grip, but today we are ahead of my team-mate and this means that we could exploit at its best the potential of my GSX-RR. Tomorrow we will adjust the bike a little but I think we have a positive base. The strategy will require us to be patient because the race is very long and I must be wise in preserving the tyres. You get the points at the end of the race, so it wouldn’t make any sense to destroy the tyres at the start and then run out of grip at the end. I want to be wise, make a good start and then be consistent, just like we tested this weekend. If I am able to do that, I think we can aim for top six or seven.”
Aleix Espargaro:
“It was a very hard qualifying for me, I haven’t been able to find good confidence the whole weekend. We have made some improvements since FP1 up to now but we are still far from the top. This morning we worked a lot with a full fuel tank and hard tyre to find at least a good set-up for the race. Yesterday I believed I could go for the race with the soft tyre, but at the end the hard offers a more consistent performance so we will have to evaluate the options more in warm-up. The race will be very tough, probably one of the toughest of the whole season, I could never find a proper feeling and I still don’t, but the runs we made in testing for overall pace have given positive responses therefore maybe we will be able to make a good race.”
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Marquez makes it three out of three
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez continued his dominance of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to make it three pole positions in a row at the legendary US circuit.
The reigning MotoGP ™ World Champion has won the last two races at the circuit from pole position, and signs are ominous that he might do the same this weekend after he was the only rider to break the 1’32 barrier during Q2. The day got even better for Repsol Honda as Dani Pedrosa (+0.171s) managed to finish second fastest and secure a 1-2 on the grid for the Factory Team.
Marquez set a 1’31.884 on his just his second flying lap during the session to claim his fifth pole of the season in near perfect conditions at the ‘Brickyard’ as the sun broke through the clouds and the track temperature reached 40ºC. Try as they might, no one else had an answer to the Spaniard’s pace in a frantic end to the session, and it was only Pedrosa who managed to get within three-tenths of the reigning MotoGP™ World Champion.
Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo (+0.302s) will start from the back of the front row despite using a two-stop strategy as he looks to close the 13-point gap at the top of the standings to his teammate Valentino Rossi. Cal Crutchlow (+0.324s) was the leading Satellite rider and will start from the head of the second row in fourth on the CWM LCR Honda.
The big surprise of the session was the pace of Octo Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci (+0.359s), who finished fastest in Q1 and managed to carry that pace into Q2 to start from fifth on the grid as the fastest Ducati in his best ever MotoGP™ qualifying performance. Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith (+0.385s), who had been second fastest overall in practice, will start the race from sixth ahead of the Factory GP15 of Andrea Iannone in seventh.
Current championship leader Valentino Rossi was third on the timesheets with 7 mins to go, but was knocked down to 8th by the end of the session and will have to work hard to try and preserve his advantage in the championship standings on Sunday. The Italian won’t be panicking just yet though as two of his race win this season (Qatar and Argentina) have both come from 8th on the grid.
Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Viñales completes the third row in ninth while Andrea Dovizioso on the second GP15 will start from tenth on the grid, with the Italian having to fight his way through Q2 after finishing 11th on the combined timesheets after practice.
Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and his brother Aleix (Team Suzuki Ecstar) make up the rest of the fourth row in 11th and 12th respectively, with less than a second separating the top 12 riders. To give you an indication how close it was, Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) only just missed out on making it through to Q2 by 0.079s and will start from 13th.
Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera was the leading Open class rider in 14th, with Australian Jack Miller (CWM LCR Honda) in 16th. Stefan Bradl (17th) out qualified his teammate Alvaro Bautista (18th) on his debut for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini while the Aspar MotoGP Team duo of Eugene Laverty and Nicky Hayden will start from 19th and 20th on the grid respectively.
Rookie Rins smashes pole record in Moto2™
Paginas Amarillas HP40’s rookie Alex Rins claimed his second pole position of the season at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix in an incredibly tight Moto2™ Qualifying that saw less than a second separate the top 18 riders.
Rins set the fastest ever lap time by a Moto3™ bike at the circuit, a 1’36.549, to decimate Mika Kallio’s previous pole record from last year (1’36.883) and finish 0.137s ahead of Tito Rabat on the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Kalex.
Reigning Moto2™ champion Rabat has shown excellent race pace throughout the weekend as he tries to close the 65-point gap in the standings to Johann Zarco. Last year’s Moto2™ runner-up, Italtrans Racing Team’s Mika Kallio, completes the front row as he put in his best qualifying performance of the season to finish just 0.316s off the pace of Rins.
Derendinger Racing Interwetten’s Thomas Luthi (+0.337s) will start from the head of the second row, ahead of Jonas Folger (+0.456s) on the AGR Team Kalex in fifth.
Idemitsu Honda Team Asia’s Takaaki Nakagami (+0473s) completes the second row, while Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes will have to start from seventh after crashing at turn 7 with 20 minutes left and missing a big chunk of the session.
Championship leader Johann Zarco will be forced to start from the middle of the third row after he could only manage to set the eighth fastest time on his Ajo Motorsport Kalex, with the Frenchman recorded his worst qualifying performance since Jerez (9th).
Franco Morbidelli (Italtrans Racing Team) and Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) completed the top ten with race winner last time out, Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), down in 16th. Tech 3’s Xavi Vierge on his debut as the permanent replacement for Ricky Cardus will start Sunday’s race from 25th on the grid.
Kent claims 4th Moto3™ pole of the season
Leopard Racing’s runaway Moto3™ World Championship leader Danny Kent took his fourth pole position of the 2015 season after recording the fastest-ever lap by a Moto3™ bike at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Kent didn’t dominate like he has done at some circuits this year and it was a much more typically competitive Moto3™ session as just 0.108s split the front row and less than nine-tenths of a second separated the top 19 riders.
The British rider, like many others, started the session in race trim to work on his setup for Sunday, before switching onto some fresh rubber to set a 1’40.703 with 18 minutes to go. Despite a frantic last few seconds that almost saw Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira takeover top spot, Kent held on to take pole position by 0.088s from the Portuguese rider in ideal conditions (44ºC track temperature) at the ‘Brickyard’.
Drive M7 SIC’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin (+0.108s) pulled off the surprise of the day to secure his first ever Moto3™ front row start after benefitting from a Niccolo Antonelli tow to finish in third. Kent’s closest championship rival, Enea Bastianini (+0.172s) on the Gresini Racing Team Moto3 Honda, will start from the front of the second row after setting a time good enough for fourth.
Estrella Galicia 0,0’s rookie Fabio Quartararo (+0.359s) and Brad Binder (+0.389s) on the Red Bull KTM Ajo complete the second row with Kent’s teammate Efren Vazquez starting from the head of the third row. Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold), Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Jorge Martin (Mapfre Team Mahindra) round out the top ten.
SAXOPRINT RTG’s Scottish rider John McPhee will have to start from back of the sixth row in 18th, while debutant Lorenzo Dalla Porta on the Husqvarna Factory Laglisse bike will line up on the grid in 30th place. Schedl GP Racing’s Phillip Oettl had been seventh fastest overall heading into Qualifying, but a big crash at turn 7 on just his fifth lap ended his participation in the session, and he will start from the back of the grid in 34th.
More, from a press release issued by Aspar Team:
POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar find their feet at Indianapolis
Laverty optimistic after qualifying nineteenth, Hayden one place behind his team-mate after struggling to find best set-up
It is no secret that Marc Márquez is the King of America in MotoGP terms and even though Jorge Lorenzo emerged as a pretender to the throne yesterday the reigning World Champion was back on top in all of today’s sessions at Indianapolis. Márquez’s pole position time came on the second lap of qualifying this afternoon and although a bunch of riders came close, nobody else was able to break the 1’32 barrier and close in on his effort of 1’31.884. Even though his pole time was shy of his 1’31.619 last year, Márquez remains very much the favourite to repeat his win here although fellow front row men Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo cannot be ruled out.
POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider Eugene Laverty is ready to start tomorrow’s race from nineteenth on the grid after building his confidence and pace throughout the weekend. After taking a step forward in the braking zones today the Irishman is focused on battling for ‘Open’ victory tomorrow. His team-mate Nicky Hayden goes into race day with some unanswered questions regarding his set-up, which he will try to answer in the morning’s warm-up.
19th Eugene Laverty 1.33.978: “It wasn’t a fantastic qualifying session for us but at least we improved from yesterday in both this morning’s session and this afternoon. I feel more comfortable on the bike, which is important for the race. It would have been more positive to qualify higher up but I want to be optimistic. I think that we can still have a satisfactory race. Our pace today was quite consistent so we will try to put up a big fight tomorrow. It will be difficult to beat Barbera but the goal in this second half of the season has to be for us to be the fastest Open bike. Yesterday we worked hard on braking, this morning we continued in the same way and we took a step forward – now I can brake harder and safer.”
20th Nicky Hayden 1.34.030: “Yesterday afternoon we thought we were moving in the right direction but this morning we tried some things that didn’t turn out as we hoped and qualifying did not go well. We made some changes with the gear ratio and also with the suspension that helped us in some sections but slowed us down in others. The bike has improved over the bumps but the grip is not as good. We had some problems in the first three corners, we will have to improve grip on the edge of the tire for tomorrow and it feels like the rear is sliding a lot. I’m also struggling in the fast corners to turn the bike. The track conditions were more consistent today and that made the job easier for my electronic technicians but even so we still have a lot of work to do.”
More, from a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
Marquez wins Pole Position for Sunday’s Red Bull Indianapolis GP
INDIANAPOLIS, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015 – Two-time defending MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez posted a time of 1 minute 31.884 seconds on his No. 93 Repsol Honda on Saturday while capturing the pole position for Sunday’s Red Bull Indianapolis GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Marquez, who won from the pole during the last two MotoGP races at IMS, scored his fifth pole in 10 races this season. He has 27 poles in 46 starts in his MotoGP career.
The 27-lap MotoGP race starts at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
“Yesterday, I saw that Jorge (Lorenzo) was really strong, but today we got closer and we had a similar pace,” Marquez said. “Happy to be on the pole and we will see tomorrow because the tire degradation, it’s an important thing here. We will be there. The key of the race, I think, on the last laps everybody will be struggling with rear grip. But we will try to do our best and try to be there, ready for a fight.”
Marquez is the first to win three consecutive poles at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP. He was tied with Dani Pedrosa for the most poles (two) overall in the event.
The winner of a remarkable 21 races since entering MotoGP competition in 2013, Marquez will look to win his fifth race at IMS following triumphs in Moto2 in 2011 and 2012 and MotoGP wins the last two years. Marquez is in fourth place in the MotoGP standings and will be looking for his third win of the season on Sunday.
Starting next to Marquez on the grid will be his Spanish countryman and Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, who posted a lap of 1:32.055. A two-time race winner (2010 and 2012) at Indianapolis, Pedrosa failed to make the podium at IMS for the first time since 2009 when he finished fourth last year.
The all-Spanish front row of the grid was assured when two-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo posted a lap of 1:32.186 on his No. 99 Movistar Yamaha. Lorenzo will be looking for his fifth win of the season to go along with victories at Jerez, Le Mans, Mugello and Barcelona.
The legendary Valentino Rossi of Italy, a seven-time MotoGP world champion and winner of the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP in 2008, will begin Sunday’s race in the middle of the third row after posting a time of 1:32.511 on his No. 46 Movistar Yamaha. The ageless Rossi sits atop the MotoGP standings, 13 points clear of his Yamaha teammate Lorenzo. Rossi has wins this year in Qatar, Argentina and Assen.
“For me, from the third row, it’s always difficult,” Rossi said. “But mainly the problem for tomorrow, I’m a little bit worried, especially because also Pedrosa is very strong. He’s a little bit stronger than me. So Jorge, Marc and Pedrosa, to stay with them, we have to make another step.”
Nicky Hayden of Owensboro, Kentucky, who won the 2006 MotoGP World Championship, qualified 20th on his No. 69 Aspar Honda in 1:34.030.
“Well, we thought we had found a little bit of a direction yesterday afternoon,” Hayden said. “This morning we probably went backwards a little bit and qualifying obviously didn’t go very good. We just tried a few things that probably didn’t bring as good a result as we’d hoped.”
During a MotoGP practice session, Andrea Iannone posted a record trap speed of 217.0 mph (349.3 km/h) for a motorcycle at the Indianapolis Speedway, topping the 216.9 mph (349.0 km/h) recorded last year by Pedrosa.
Alex Rins of Spain won his second pole position of the season in Moto2 qualifying with a time of 1:36.549 on his Kalex bike. The 25-lap Moto2 race will start on Sunday at 12:20 p.m.
Current points leader Danny Kent of Great Britain captured the sixth Moto3 pole position of his career and fourth of the season with a lap of 1:40.703 on his No. 52 Leopard Racing Honda. Kent will look to post his sixth victory of the season during the 23-lap Moto3 race Sunday at 11 a.m.
The first MotoAmerica race contested at IMS was won today by Garrett Gerloff on his No. 31 Yamaha in the Supersport class. Bobby Fong finished as the runner-up on the No. 50 Triumph bike, and with his third-place finish, JD Beach captured the 2015 Supersport title with two races remaining on the schedule.
The first of two MotoAmerica Superbike / Superstock 1000 races this weekend ended with polesitter Cameron Beaubier winning the Superbike race – his seventh win of the season — on his No. 6 Yamaha. Finishing a close second on his No. 95 Suzuki was Roger Hayden, the brother of MotoGP star Nicky Hayden. Josh Hayes, who entered today’s race tied for the series points lead with his teammate Beaubier, finished third on his No. 1 Yamaha. Hayes is a four-time AMA Superbike champion.
Also contested during the Superbike race was the first of two MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 races won by 2014 AMA Pro Daytona Superbike champion Jake Gagne on his No. 32 Yamaha. This was Gagne’s 10th win in Superstock 1000 competition this season. MotoAmerica racing action will conclude Sunday with the second MotoAmerica Superbike / Superstock 1000 race beginning at 3:30 p.m.
Public gates open Sunday at 7 a.m., and warm-ups in the various classes begin at 7:30 a.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.