AMERICANS TO RACE IN ALL THREE MotoGP CLASSES IN 2009 Five riders on grid for entire season, including Red Bull Indianapolis GP INDIANAPOLIS In 2009, American riders will race in all three classes of MotoGP competition for the first time since 1990, including in the second annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sunday, Aug. 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards and John Hopkins will represent the United States in the premier MotoGP class, while Stevie Bonsey climbs to the 250cc class. Cameron Beaubier will ride as a rookie in 125cc. Last season, Hayden, Edwards and Hopkins raced in MotoGP, while Bonsey was in his second season of 125cc. In 1990, four Americans rode in the premier 500cc category, including World Champion Wayne Rainey. John Kocinski won the 250cc World Championship in his first attempt, and Alan Scott raced in 125cc. Inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP runner-up Hayden, from Owensboro, Ky., joins Ducati and new teammate 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner after six seasons with Repsol Honda. Edwards, from Houston, returns to the Tech 3 Yamaha team for the second consecutive season. Hopkins, from Ramona, Calif., will ride for the Kawasaki Racing Team for a second season. Bonsey, from Salinas, Calif., will race for the Aprilia Madrid team in his first season of 250cc competition. He is the first full-time American rider in 250cc since Kurtis Roberts in 1997. Beaubier, 16, from Roseville, Calif., joins the Red Bull KTM 125 factory team with considerable international experience. Beaubier finished fourth in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in 2007 at MotoGP tracks across Europe, winning at Sachsenring, Germany. He participated in the Red Bull MotoGP Academy program in 2008, only the second American selected for the prestigious program, which grooms riders for future MotoGP competition. Before competing in Europe, Beaubier raced in WERA and USGPRU road-racing events in the United States. Beaubier competed in motocross and Supermoto before switching to road racing, winning the Supermoto USA lightweight championship in 2004. Defending Red Bull Indianapolis GP champion Valentino Rossi again will race for the Fiat Yamaha Team in 2009 in the MotoGP class. One of his fiercest rivals from earlier this decade, Sete Gibernau, returns to MotoGP with the new Grupo Francisco Hernando team. Three MotoGP rookies will debut in 2009: Mika Kallio of Finland with Pramac Racing, Yuki Takahashi of Japan with Scot Racing Team MotoGP and Niccolo Canepa of Italy with Pramac Racing. Canepa was the quickest rider at the test in July 2007 at IMS before the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP. There will be 19 full-time MotoGP riders in 2009, one more than last season. 2009 MotoGP World Championship Provisional Entry Lists MotoGP No. Rider Country Team 3 Dani Pedrosa Spain Repsol Honda Team 4 Andrea Dovizioso Italy Repsol Honda Team 5 Colin Edwards United States Tech 3 Yamaha 7 Chris Vermeulen Australia Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 14 Randy de Puniet France LCR Honda MotoGP 15 Alex de Angelis San Marino San Carlo Honda Gresini 21 John Hopkins United States Kawasaki Racing Team 24 Toni Elias Spain San Carlo Honda Gresini 27 Casey Stoner Australia Ducati Marlboro Team 33 Marco Melandri Italy Kawasaki Racing Team 36 Mika Kallio Finland Pramac Racing 46 Valentino Rossi Italy Fiat Yamaha Team 52 James Toseland Great Britain Tech 3 Yamaha 59 Sete Gibernau Spain Grupo Francisco Hernando 65 Loris Capirossi Italy Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 69 Nicky Hayden United States Ducati Marlboro Team 72 Yuki Takahashi Japan Scot Racing Team MotoGP 88 Niccolo Canepa Italy Pramac Racing 99 Jorge Lorenzo Spain Fiat Yamaha Team 250cc No. Rider Country Team 4 Hiroshi Aoyama Japan Scot Racing Team 250cc 7 Axel Pons Spain Pepe World Pons WRB 8 Bastien Chesaux Switzerland Racing Team Germany 9 Toni Wirsing Germany Racing Team Germany 10 Imre Toth Hungary Team Toth Aprilia 12 Thomas Luthi Switzerland Emmi Caffe Latte 14 Ratthapark Wilairot Thailand Thai Honda PTT SAG 15 Roberto Locatelli Italy Metis Gilera 16 Jules Cluzel France Matteoni Racing 17 Karel Abraham Czech Republic Cardion AB Motoracing 19 Alvaro Bautista Spain Mapfre Aspar Team 21 Hector Barbera Spain Pepe World Pons WRB 25 Alex Baldolini Italy WTR San Marino Team 28 Gabor Talmacsi Hungary Balaton Racing Team 250cc 35 Raffaele de Rosa Italy Scot Racing Team 250cc 41 Aleix Espargaro Spain Campetella Racing 48 Shoya Tomizawa Japan Team CIP 51 Stevie Bonsey United States Aprilia Madrid 52 Lukas Pesek Czech Republic Auto Kelly CP 58 Marco Simoncelli Italy Metis Gilera 63 Mike de Meglio France Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 75 Mattia Pasini Italy Team Toth Aprilia 125cc No. Rider Country Team 5 Alexis Masbou France Loncin Racing 7 Dominique Aegerter Switzerland AJO Interwitten 8 Lorenzo Zanetti Italy WWC 11 Sandro Cortese Germany AJO Interwitten 12 Esteve Rabat Spain Blusens Aprilia 16 Cameron Beaubier United States Red Bull KTM 125 17 Stefan Bradl Germany Kiefer Racing 18 Nicolas Terol Spain Jack & Jones Pons WRB 24 Simone Corsi Italy Jack & Jones Pons WRB 27 Stefano Bianco Italy CBC Corse 29 Andrea Iannone Italy WWC 30 Pere Tutusaus Spain Matteoni Racing 32 Lorenzo Savadori Italy Fontana Racing 33 Sergio Gadea Spain Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc 34 Randy Krummenacher Switzerland DeGraaf Grand Prix 38 Bradley Smith Great Britain Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc 44 Pol Espargaro Spain Belson Derbi 45 Scott Redding Great Britain Blusens Aprilia 60 Julian Simon Spain Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc 66 Matthew Hoyle Great Britain Maxtra Team 71 Tomoyoshi Koyama Japan Loncin Racing 72 Marco Ravaioli Italy CBC Corse 73 Takaaki Nakagami Japan WWC 81 Jasper Iwema Netherlands Kiefer Racing 88 Michael Ranseder Austria Maxtra Team 93 Marc Marquez Spain Red Bull KTM 125 94 Jonas Folger Germany WWC 99 Danny Webb Great Britain DeGraaf Grand Prix TBD TBD TBD Belson Derbi *** 2009 IMS tickets: Tickets for the three events in 2009 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the 93rd Indianapolis 500, 16th Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and second Red Bull Indianapolis GP can be ordered online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time. Established in 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has long prevailed as an icon of motorsports excellence. Beginning in 2009, the Speedway celebrates its Centennial Era, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the facility in 2009 and the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 2011.