A Win, A Podium Sweep, A Championship Lead on Öhlins in AMA Pro XR1200 Indianapolis, Indiana: On this FIM MotoGP and AMA Pro XR1200 combined weekend where ferrous metal meets resin’d fibers, the XR1200 class had its one and only double header of the season, treating international fans to an entertaining show of the history of motorcycle racing. Taking place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway the world’s largest spectator sporting facility, according to its own pontificated proclamation racer Kyle Wyman won Saturday’s Race One of the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 class, and took second in Sunday’s Race Two, rounding out the weekend with the points lead for the season on his Öhlins equipped KLR Group XR1200. This win in Saturday’s podium sweep by Öhlins riders was the result of a race-shortening red flag, cutting the official count to five laps. The race leader prior to the red flag was credited with causing the waving of said crimson-colored textile, and so he was docked to the back of the pack. Wyman was a victim of the oiled track, crashing his way into the win as numerous front-running riders hit the petroleumed pavement. Trophyed for the first time, Benjamin Carlson earned second place while Michael Corbino was salaried with third, each also on Öhlins. In Sunday’s race it was a close battle to the closing yards, with Wyman taking second only a second-plus behind the race winner, shown at the line just 1.891 arrears. Carlson is credited with third in a caliper to crankcase finish, rounding out the podium and giving both Wyman and Carlson two podiums for the weekend. Three rounds remain in the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 championship, with points so close that the battle may come down the final lap of the final round. Check your locals listings for dates and times to view the races at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and the new NOLA Motorsports Park located outside the new New Orleans; these last two rounds strangely occurring at racing facilities born from the rains of hurricanes. Öhlins USA distributes and services the world’s leading performance suspension components for automobiles, motorcycles, and ATVs. Öhlins develops its proprietary and trend-setting suspension components, steering dampers and oils, at the highest levels of racing from open-wheel car racing, to Moto GP, to off-road competition on two and four wheels. Öhlins USA also provides training for service centers and dealers. Öhlins USA can be contacted at: 828-692-4525; www.Ohlinsusa.com. More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Indianapolis MotoGP™ debrief with Masao Azuma Wednesday, 22 August 2012 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Extra-Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric) Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative) Dani Pedrosa won his second race of the season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last Sunday, the Repsol Honda rider winning the race ahead of compatriot Jorge Lorenzo on the Yamaha Factory Racing M1, while Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Andrea Dovizioso notched his fifth podium finish of the year. Conditions over the race weekend were warm with track temperatures peaking at 48°C during the race. Grip levels were poor during the first day of practice on Friday and gradually improved over the course of the weekend though generally, the Indianapolis tarmac is towards the lower end of the scale in regards to outright grip. The tarmac at Indianapolis is also quite abrasive, so tyre choice for the race saw all riders selecting the harder front slick option, while the majority of works riders selected the harder rear slick, while most of the CRT riders went for the softer rear slick. Pedrosa’s victory at Indianapolis means he closes the gap to Lorenzo in the championship to eighteen points, while Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner remains in third place overall and thirty-nine points behind Lorenzo. Q&A with Masao Azuma Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department Rear tyre choice for the race was almost uniformly split between the works and CRT machines. Can you explain why? “The Indianapolis circuit is quite demanding on tyres, particularly the left shoulder of the rear tyre which is put under extreme loads in the succession of fast left-hand turns. Our two asymmetric rear slicks that we supplied for this race have comparatively harder rubber on the left shoulder than the right, but almost every rider on the works bikes opted for the harder rear slicks. The reason for this is that greater power output and pace of the works bikes means the stress they place on the rear tyre is greater than the CRT machines, hence the harder rear option was chosen to ensure the best levels of durability and cornering stability.­­­” “The lower power output of the CRT entries means they generate lesser load on the rear tyre and hence riders on these bikes were able to go for the softer rear slick, which provides a slight trade off in durability for greater edge grip. However, the softer rear slick was still an option for the works riders with the right combination of setup and riding style, and Jorge Lorenzo was able to use the softer rear slick to ride his way to second place in the race. Additionally, both Colin Edwards and Steve Rapp on CRT entries preferred the feeling they got from the harder rear and so chose this option, so both rear slicks were viable race options for all of the riders on the grid.” Special construction rear tyres were provided for the Indianapolis Grand Prix for the first time. How did these tyres perform and will you continue to provide this specification for this circuit? “The Special Construction tyres performed well, both by holding up to the tough demands of this circuit and also our rider feedback indicates the feel of these tyres wasn’t significantly different to the regular construction tyres we provided at this circuit last year. Our analysis of the tyres over the weekend, including right after the race, shows that the tyres were will within their operating temperature window despite the high track temperatures and extra loads generated by the latest 1000cc machines and so our decision to provide tyres with extra heat-resistance capability was the right move. Based on what we have seen last weekend we will definitely offer this specification of rear slick at Indianapolis in the future.” Both the front and rear tyre compound selection was revised for Indy. Did these revised compounds perform as expected and what benefits did they provide to riders? “The Indianapolis circuit is very abrasive, yet provides relatively low grip levels so finding tyres that can generate adequate traction, yet provide the necessary abrasion resistance is quite a challenge for tyre development. For the front slicks we made the extra-hard compound available as last year we saw graining even on the hard compound front slick and so wanted to offer a front tyre with the best possible abrasion resistance. All riders evaluated this option prior to the race and the consensus was it did offer excellent abrasion resistance yet still provided enough edge grip to navigate the circuit with confidence, hence all riders selected this option for the race. For our rear slick allocation this year, we wanted to provide better edge grip to riders so we offered softer rubber compounds, though by supplying Special Construction rear slicks we could provide good grip levels while ensuring effective dissipation of the high level of residual heat this circuit generates.” More, from a press release issued by Metal CH: Corbino Scores First AMA Podium at Red Bull Moto GP INDIANAPOLIS – XP Motorsports/Metal CH’s Michael Corbino scored his first AMA Pro Vance and Hines XR1200 Series podium with a 3rd place finish on Saturday in the first race of the Red Bull Moto GP round at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Corbino saved a vicious high side on the second lap while running in 4th place and had toeventually fight his way back past Michael Barnes, Bobby Fong and Steve Crevier to finish on the podium. “I got a really good start today and decided to see if I could run with the front guys,” Corbino said. “I had a little problem on the second lap and got shuffled back some, but I was able to use the draft to get back up there with Benny. I have to thank my team and my mechanic Ben who has done an incredible job all season.” Corbino followed Benny Carlson and winner Kyle Wyman in the red flag shortened race. “I was really hoping that they were going to restart it,” Corbino continued. “I have no idea how I got past the oil without falling but I could see that all of the leaders were out. Last year the race had quite a few incidents so I kind of had an idea how things might play out. I knew if I rode hard and stayed out of trouble we could have a strong finish. This is a dream come true for me and I’m going to continue working hard so I can be up here again.”