FIM MotoGP World Championship Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis, Indiana August 26 Free Practice Two (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Casey STONER, Australia (HONDA), 1:40.724 2. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:40.918 3. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:41.205 4. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:41.461 5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (HONDA), 1:41.536 6. Colin EDWARDS, USA (YAMAHA), 1:41.699 7. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy (HONDA), 1:41.742 8. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 1:41.789 9. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:42.231 10. Randy DE PUNIET, France (DUCATI), 1:42.339 11. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:42.405 12. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:42.673 13. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:42.920 14. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:43.034 15. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Great Britain (YAMAHA), 1:43.085 16. Toni ELIAS, Spain (HONDA), 1:43.230 17. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (DUCATI), 1:43.528 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner tops timesheets in Indy as new tarmac improves throughout first day Round 12: Indianapolis GP Free Practice One & Two Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Friday 26 August 2011 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Hard. Rear (asymmetric): Hard, Extra Hard Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner finished at the top of the timesheets after the first day of running at Indianapolis, setting a best of 1m 40.724s on his last lap of this afternoon’s 45-minute free practice session. Throughout the day the laptimes tumbled as the new tarmac improved as more rubber was laid down and the track was cleaned by the MotoGP, Moto2 and 125cc classes, plus support races. The 1.5miles of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that have been repaved in time for this event started off slippery and by the end of the morning free practice Ben Spies was at the top of the timesheets but over three seconds off last year’s pole time of 1m 40.105s. During this first session, the softer front and rear slicks were favoured for the extra grip they gave on the dirty and slippery surface. Evidence of the track’s improvement as it started to rubber-in came this afternoon. As most riders switched to the harder front with the softer rear, Stoner’s time was 2.5seconds faster than Spies’ best of the morning. After two sessions on the new surface Stoner has lapped faster than last year’s race fastest lap, and judging by the improvement in times today it should continue to get faster tomorrow. The weather today was hot and dry, and although the fastest times were set on the harder option front slick tyre, it was the softer rear that was favoured throughout the day for its extra grip, especially beneficial on the new tarmac. Whilst Indianapolis is very demanding of the left side of the tyres, there were no issues with rear tyre durability even of the softer compound, suggesting it is a viable option for race distance on Sunday with current track conditions. Running for the MotoGP class resumes tomorrow morning at 1010hrs local time with the third and final free practice session before the afternoon’s hour of qualifying. Hirohide Hamashima Assistant to Director, Motorsport Tyre Development Division “We can clearly see by the times today that the new tarmac here at Indy is improving with every lap as more and more rubber is laid down and it gets cleaner; especially the infield which is rarely used. New tarmac is usually quite slippery and needs plenty of use to lose its new sheen and become less slippery. Based on today, the times will be faster again tomorrow and likely again on Sunday. Whilst our engineers visited Indianapolis after the Grand Prix at Laguna Seca earlier in the year to analyse and assess the new tarmac here, today is the first time we have run around it on MotoGP tyres so it was a relative unknown for everybody but I am generally happy with tyre performance. We experienced some rear tyre graining this morning but as the track changed this was almost no problem by the afternoon but instead with more rear grip the front tyre started pushing more. The track is changing significantly so adjusting the setup and tyre choice correctly each session is crucial but tricky and tomorrow morning’s practice will be especially important.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista achieved a solid result at Indianapolis in America today with ninth place on the leader-board to show for his hard work. Bautista was one of the busiest riders today, as he completed 41 laps around the 4,216m circuit during the two sessions He recorded his best time of 1’42.231 on his penultimate lap and is sure that both he and the Suzuki GSV-R have more to give this weekend. Bautista worked hard with his crew to get the best of the difficult conditions at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the newly surfaced circuit presented a whole lot of problems for all riders. The recently laid asphalt has not had much use, making it very slippery, but as the day wore on – and more rubber was laid down by the bikes from all three classes – the conditions improved, enabling Bautista to record a time three seconds quicker in the afternoon than he did in the morning. Today’s practices were held in bright sunshine and air temperatures rose to 31ºC. Current World Championship leader Casey Stoner on a Honda recorded the fastest time of the day, with reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo fourth. Bautista will have one more practice session tomorrow morning, followed by an hour of qualifying in the afternoon, when he will be going all out to get a good grid position for Sunday’s 28-lap race. Álvaro Bautista: “This afternoon I was able to improve my lap-time because the track conditions were better than they were this morning. We still have some problems with turning the bike – we didn’t have good grip this morning because of the new surface, so this afternoon we tried to get more grip from the rear. We changed the setting of the bike, but because the track had improved and grip was better we lost a bit more turning in the corner. Now we know the track is much better, so for tomorrow we will try another setting and I’m sure that will improve things even further. We still have a lot of work to do, but I am happy with situation at the moment. We are in ninth position and I know we can still improve quite a lot. I hope to continue with the way we have been working today and in recent weeks in tomorrow’s sessions and I think we can take the bike further forward ready for Sunday.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Edwards brimming with confidence after fast start in Indianapolis Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Colin Edwards made a superb start to his home MotoGP round at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway today. The popular Texan finished inside the top six in both practice sessions as preparations for round 12 of this year’s MotoGP World Championship commenced in hot and humid conditions. Edwards finished this morning’s first 45-minute session in a fantastic third position and he was one of only two non-factory riders to lap inside the top 10. Lap times were some way off last year’s pace as the field got to grips with the repaved infield section between turns five and 16. But with more rubber laid on the track, times tumbled in the second practice and Edwards was able to knock almost two seconds off his best pace. He ended with a fastest time of 1.41.699 to finish sixth on the combined timesheets, the 37-year-old once again leaving a host of factory supported riders trailing in his wake. Edwards was just over 0.2s behind reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo in fourth and he’s confident he can mount a challenge for a top six in Sunday’s 28-lap race. Cal Crutchlow was also able to drastically improve his lap times in the second session, the British rider taking full advantage of the improved grip levels to finish with a best time of 1.43.085. That was 2.3s quicker than his benchmark set this morning as Crutchlow worked on improving the set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team machine, while also trying to learn the technically demanding Indianapolis Mo tor Speedway track. Crutchlow finished in 15th position overall but was only 0.7s away from the top 10. The 25-year-old is confident with improved track conditions and further set-up modifications to gain more front-end confidence, he will be able to compete for a top 10 grid position in tomorrow afternoon’s qualifying session. Colin Edwards 6th 1.41.699 39 laps: “This morning it felt like I was back at the Texas Tornado Boot Camp but just riding a more expensive bike because it was pretty slippery out there. To be honest I actually really enjoyed it even though the grip was a bit sketchy. We all knew that grip was going to be a little bit of an issue this morning but it was 100 per cent dirt track. As soon as you got your knee on the ground the front would go and the rear would come round, but I still had a lot of fun with the bike moving around so much. This afternoon with a lot more rubber down it was a lot better and hats off to the folks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They’ve done an amazing job because the bumps that have been really bad have mostly gone and with a bit more rubber down the surface is going to offer a lot more grip. We won’t feel the benefit of the new tarmac this year but the changes are for the future and next year it is going to be a million times better. Being third this morning and sixth this afternoon has given me a lot of confidence for the rest of the weekend. I’m not fighting the bike this weekend and it feels awesome.” Cal Crutchlow 15th 1.43.085 39 laps: “This morning was pretty difficult because the track was very slippery and I was having to contend with not a lot of grip while also trying to push to l earn the track. Sometimes I’d run off line and it was so dirty that I was losing a lot of time. The track was in much better condition this afternoon but it felt like I didn’t have the front grip I needed to push for a faster time. We had a lot of wear on the tyre and not much grip and I’m not sure why. The issue this year has been losing the front on the brakes, but today I was losing the front mid-corner and off the throttle. I’m sure we can make some big steps with the set-up and I’m confident I can climb a few places up the order and fight for a top 10 in qualifying tomorrow. The good thing is that every single lap we make improvements and I go faster, so if we can get more front-end feeling then I’m looking forward to having a strong race.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: TOP TEN FOR DE PUNIET IN THE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE AT INDIANAPOLIS Positive first day of work for the riders of the Pramac Racing Team. The French rider, Randy De Puniet, finished in tenth place with just over a second and a half to the fastest of of the day, Casey Stoner. His teammate, Loris Capirossi, has finished in fourteenth position but is confident for the next two days of work on the Indianapolis circuit. Marco Rigamonti Randy De Puniet Track Engineer “It’s been a positive day all despite the track conditions are not the best. The new asphalt track conditions changes almost at every lap, but in the afternoon, the situation seems to have improved for us. The biggest problem is that the front tire deteriorates too quickly and tomorrow we will study some solutions to help our rider.” Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing 10th in 1’42.339 “The best thing about today is that I don’t have any more pain in my body. My back feel much better and I can now use my full body to move the bike. I am at 100% and very happy about it ! At the moment the tenth position is quite a good result but I hope to improve during the weekend. The main problem we are fighting against is the front tyre: the new asphalt is a bit hard on the tyre and we have to understand how to solve this problem otherwise it will be difficult to finish the race.” Loris Capirossi Pramac Racing”- 14th in 1’43.034 “I am quite satisfied with how we built the bike in the second session. Certainly we can still improve a lot for the upcoming practices. The grip of the tires is not the best but unlike other riders this should not be so bad. This is a positive thing that could come back to our advantage during Sunday’s race.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha MotoGP Team: Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies got straight down to business at the legendary Indianapolis circuit today in the first free practice sessions of the Grand Prix weekend. The Texan delivered an impressive performance in front of his home crowd, topping the timesheets in the morning session with a 1’43.260. The afternoon session saw the grip levels improve dramatically, allowing Spies to take nearly two and a half seconds off his time and record a best of 1’40.918. He led for the majority of the session, only dropping to second at the end, a mere 0.194 from provisional pole. Jorge Lorenzo had a difficult start to the day along with the majority of the MotoGP grid, struggling to find grip on the newly resurfaced Indianapolis track. The 125cc and Moto2 classes helped to increase the grip level over the lunchtime period and some key set up changes by the team brought the World Champion out fighting in the second session. Lorenzo was straight up into the top three and was the only rider to contest the fastest spot with his team mate for most of the session. He ended the second session in fourth position, 0.737 from the front. Ben Spies Position : 2nd Time: 1’40.918 Laps: 29 “I feel a lot better now, almost ok but when I’m off the bike I’m more in pain which is frustrating. It was a good start today, the first session I was waiting to see if the track was going to stay the same but in the end in the afternoon it improved a lot. We were able to be in the top three in both sessions which is great. The track is going to get even better for tomorrow so we’re looking forward to making another step forward and seeing what we can do.” Jorge Lorenzo Position : 4th Time: 1’41.461 Laps: 27 “I started today struggling with the new asphalt. The morning was not good, but FP2 was much better and my feeling was really good. I’ve got grip on the rear now but I still have some problems with the front. I think we can still improve a lot in some parts. Ben is riding very, very well and it means I can be closer. I will try tomorrow to be at the same level as him.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “The second free practice was a big jump from the morning with much more grip available. We made some small changes and Jorge felt a lot better on the bike. The tyres are going down quite quickly as there is still a lot of dirt on the track so we need to find a way to ensure we can finish the race with enough grip. We compared two different set ups, one was clearly better so for tomorrow we know our direction. For today we are happy with the improvements we have made.” Massimo Meregalli Team Director “It’s definitely a good start today and the circuit conditions are improving. The bike behaviour is good so we are working to finalise the bike set up for Ben, overall he is happy so far. He still has a small issue with his arm but hopefully he will be ok for Sunday as he is proving that he can do a good job here. Jorge made a good improvement from the morning, the team found the right way to improve the bike. Tomorrow they will make another step and on Sunday I fully expect he will be up there.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: ROSSI AND HAYDEN WORK ON GP11.1 SETUP The hot weather and newly resurfaced track at Indianapolis made conditions very slippery this morning, which complicated work for the riders and teams on the first day of the Indianapolis Grand Prix. Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden followed two different paths in their search for the right setup for the GP11.1, with the Italian suffering more from the rapidly improving grip as the riders cleaned the track. Both are confident of improving tomorrow. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 8th (1:41.789) “It definitely took a few laps to feel out the new surface and get some rubber down this morning, but toward the end of the afternoon session, you could really start carrying some speed in a few corners. I have to remember that I probably need a little bit of time to understand the bike, and the team needs more time to understand which direction to work. Still, we’re too far off the pace for my home track, and I certainly had hoped to be faster today. We’ll just stay positive and keep working toward Sunday. The new bike definitely does some things better, but we’ve got to get some weight to transfer to the front so that I can get it to turn.” Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 11th (1:42.405) “This morning the track conditions were really critical. There was no grip, and it seemed like we were riding in the wet. Things improved a lot in the afternoon though, which is a sign that the asphalt is good and that it was just very dirty since it hadn’t been ridden on yet. It’s also a good sign for tomorrow because the conditions should continue to improve. Also, there are fewer bumps, so they did a good job. As for us, we didn’t expect the grip to improve so much this afternoon and we had to chase a setup the whole session, as I really couldn’t feel the bike. Tomorrow we’ll completely change the balance. Nicky didn’t go bad, so we’ll try to improve as well: the step forward that we made at Brno is still there. We just tried a set up a little too strange since we didn’t expect the conditions to change so much from one session to the next.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: CAUTIOUS ELIAS HIT THE “REPAVED” BRICKYARD Indianapolis, 26 August: Just five weeks after the first American round at Laguna Seca race track the MotoGP returns to the US this time with all three championship classes at one of the most famous racing venues in the world: Indianapolis Motor Speedway which has been recently repaved upon riders request. LCR Honda MotoGP rider Toni Elias clocked the 16th fastest lap time (1’43.230) at today’s opening free practice session trying to follow the evolution of the new surface. The Spaniard has found the new tarmac very slippery and he was cautious at his first outing here as his right feet injured in Brno test session is still aching. Elias: “This morning the surface was terrible and we could not fine tune the bike in those conditions because of the low grip: it was like riding on the ice. Then the situation has improved in the afternoon and everybody started to drop 2/3 seconds with the same machines and same tyres. We still have some issues in the weight transfer and hard braking but we improved our pace and I am confident ahead tomorrow. I want to thank the Clinica Mobile stuff because they helped me a lot with my feet: I think I will take a painkiller injection tomorrow before the qualifying”. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: The Repsol Honda Team enjoys a strong start in Indianapolis The Repsol Honda riders were back on track today for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix at the famous Motorsport Speedway, which has undergone substantial resurfacing since last years race. In this morning’s first session, all three riders complained with the lack of grip that this new surface suffers from. Conditions improved slightly for the afternoon session after more rubber had been laid on track from the other classes. Lap times dropped consistently and Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner lapped three seconds faster than his morning lap time. Casey ended the day at the top of the times sheets with an impressive 1’40.724, only six tenths slower than the circuit record lap of 1’40.152 (Lorenzo, 2009). Dani Pedrosa focused on adapting to the new track conditions, working on the set up of his RC212V and found more grip claiming the third fastest time of the day, improving his morning lap times by four seconds. Team mate Andrea Dovizioso finished fifth at the end of the first day. Andrea struggled with tyre wear during the afternoon session. Tomorrow he will continue to work on the set up and try to understand how manage tyre wear. CASEY STONER 1st 1’40.724 “This afternoon the track was slightly better and of course the lap times improved with more bikes on track and cleaning it up, but I’m still not comfortable on this surface. It’s incredibly slippery and the track is certainly my least favourite of the whole season. It’s very tight, slippery and the new surface is pretty bad, it’s not just the dirt on the surface but there seems to be something strange where the two surfaces join, some grease of some sort that creates more issues. With this said, we couldn’t find too much with the bike, we made a small step this morning and a small step this afternoon but we’re struggling to get a good feeling in the bike. We tried the harder front this afternoon which gave us good feedback and we were able to go a little bit faster, but in general the track needs to improve before we can know what direction to go in and I just hope the conditions impro ve for the race. My last few exits were slightly ruined from traffic on track and also wildlife! I saw something out the corner of my eye, I’m not sure what it was perhaps a gopher or something, I thought it was a part from someones bike, I’m just glad we both escaped from that situation unharmed!” DANI PEDROSA 3rd 1’41.205 “The track improved a little in the second practice session, at least on the racing line, but outside the line the surface is still very dirty and slippery. However, we made some better lap times; it’s just about getting a good setup with the tyres and trying to take care of them. Let’s hope that the conditions keep improving throughout the weekend and we can keep working step by step on the set up considering that the tyres will be the key point in this race. In general, I’m happier than this morning, we were able to improve by four seconds in just one session, but we have to keep focused and make another step forward tomorrow”. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 5th 1’41.536 “The track improved a lot from the morning to the afternoon and in FP2 the lap times dropped by three seconds. With more rubber on track, the grip changed quickly and now the main issue is tyre wear. This is typical for new asphalt so we have to manage the tyres carefully, with special attention on the front tyre. The key point for the race will be managing the tyres. I hope that conditions will improve again tomorrow as with today’s situation it’s impossible to finish the race. I’m not worried with fifth position as when it was time to push, we weren’t able to because we had to keep the tyres for tomorrow so I’m confident that we can be competitive here”. More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: The MotoGP class set off on the newly resurfaced Indianapolis circuit under sunny skies and high temperatures on Friday as the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix got underway. It was 27 year-old Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies who led for the majority of the afternoon practice session and his best time of 1’40.918 was an improvement of over two seconds from his earlier FP1 time, as the entire category improved significantly on their morning session efforts as grip levels stepped up. Spies’ time was not enough to stay in front of Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner however, whose time of 1’40.724 was fastest of the day and placed him top of the timesheet. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) who won last year’s Indianapolis GP, followed Spies in third with a time of 1’41.205. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) also moved up significantly in the second practice outing, bettering his time by over three seconds to slot into fourth position. Andrea Dovizioso was fifth quickest in FP2 with a best time of 1’41.536, 0.163s ahead of Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) in sixth. Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) finished in seventh with a best time of 1’41.742, followed by Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) in eighth aboard the fastest Ducati, Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) ninth and Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) tenth. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) improved on his FP1 time by just under two seconds but it was not enough to keep him within the top ten times, moving the Italian into eleventh for the day. Moto2 Ioda Racing Project rider Simone Corsi leapt to the top of the timings from 23rd place in the final five minutes of the second Moto2 outing with a lap of 1’46.274. Like the MotoGP riders who went out before them the Moto2 class improved on their morning times considerably, and Corsi’s effort came despite a crash earlier in the session from which he recovered admirably. Marc Márquez recovered from a crash he had at the end of FP1 to finish 0.065s behind Corsi, putting the Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol rider in second for the day, while Ioda Racing Project team mate Mattia Pasini posted the third quickest time, a 1’46.448. Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) gradually made his way to the front, posting a time of 1’46.453 to rank him fourth in the session, after a slow start of the day saw him finish the first practice outing in 16th. Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing), who had topped the morning session, finished fifth with a time of 1’46.574. The British rider was followed by Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar), who made big strides in his lap times, with fellow Spaniard Ricky Cardús (QMMF Racing Team) seventh. Aleix Espargaró (Pons HP 40), Mike di Meglio (Tech 3 Racing) and Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing Moto2) completed the top ten. American wildcard Jake Gagne (GPTech) made an impressive showing, posting the 26th fastest time. Kenan Sofuoglu of the Technomag-CIP team did not participate in the afternoon session after a fall in FP1 resulted in a foot injury. 125cc Last year’s Indianapolis 125cc race winner Nico Terol set the fastest lap of the day after pushing hard and running off into the grass earlier in the afternoon session. The Spaniard’s best time of 1’49.381 was 0.774s faster than Johann Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) in second. Zarco, who had stepped into the lead in the final five minutes, bettered his earlier time on his last lap by 1.818s with a time of 1’50.155. The French rider just edged ahead of Alberto Moncayo (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica) by a thousandth of a second to put the Spaniard, whose first World Championship podium was achieved at the last round in Brno, third in the times. Sergio Gadea (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) posted the fourth quickest time of the day with a 1’50.318, followed by the fourth Spanish rider in the top five Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo), who had led the beginning of the outing to finally post a best lap of 1’50.578. Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany) was sixth, followed by Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar), Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) upon his return to action, rookie Maverick Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing) and Danny Kent (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport), who had a crash on the last lap, to complete the top ten. More, from a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway: STONER EYES MotoGP POLE AFTER LEADING OPENING PRACTICE AT INDY INDIANAPOLIS, Friday, Aug. 26, 2011 – MotoGP World Championship points leader Casey Stoner never has finished on the podium in two career starts at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, but the speed he displayed Friday, Aug. 26 indicates that dry spell may be coming to an end. Stoner, from Australia, was the quickest rider overall in two practice sessions for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, turning a top lap of 1 minute, 40.724 seconds on his Repsol Honda during the afternoon session. His best finish at this event was fourth in 2008. American Ben Spies was second at 1:40.918 on a Yamaha Factory Racing machine. Spies won his first career MotoGP pole last year at this event. Last year’s race winner, Dani Pedrosa, was third Friday at 1:41.205 on a Repsol Honda. MotoGP practice starts at 10:10 a.m. Saturday, followed by qualifying at 1:55 p.m. All riders posted their quickest times Friday in the afternoon session after more rubber was worked into the freshly-paved infield section of the 2.621-mile circuit during morning practices for MotoGP, Moto2, 125cc and the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 series. This afternoon, with a lot more rubber down, it was a lot better, and hats off to the folks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” American MotoGP standout Colin Edwards said. “They’ve done an amazing job because the bumps that have been really bad have mostly gone, and with a bit more rubber down, the surface is going to offer a lot more grip.” Edwards was sixth overall at 1:41.699 on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine. 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden rounded out the American contingent in eighth at 1:41.789 on his Ducati. Seven-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi continued his struggles with the Ducati GP11.1 in his first season with the famous Italian manufacturer. Rossi, winner of this race in 2008, was 11th at 1:42.405 as he continued to search for front-tire traction. “The track is better,” Rossi said. “The grip arrived. I have some problems because I don’t feel the front. I have big trouble from the braking of the turn. The weight distribution is better. We are quite behind. For tomorrow, we have something very different to try.” Simone Corsi of Italy led Moto2 practice at 1:46.274 on the Ioda Racing Project FTR. Kenny Noyes was the leading American, 15th at 1:47.081 on an Avintia-STX FTR. Americans Jake Gagne and JD Beach were 22nd and 32nd, respectively. World Championship points leader Nico Terol of Spain led the 125cc class at 1:49.381 on the Bankia Aspar Team 125cc Aprilia. Terol is the only two-time winner of this event, victorious in 2008 and 2010 in 125cc. All three World Championship classes practice Saturday morning, with 125cc at 9:15 a.m., MotoGP at 10:10 a.m. and Moto2 at 11:10 a.m. Qualifying follows at 1 p.m. for 125cc, 1:55 p.m. for MotoGP and 3:10 p.m. for Moto2. The first of two races for the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 series during this event is scheduled for 4:20 p.m. Series points leader *** 2011 Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets: 2011 Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets are on sale now. To buy tickets, visit www.imstix.com, call the IMS ticket office at (317) 492-6700 or (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area or visit the ticket office at the IMS Administration Building at the corner of Georgetown Road and 16th Street. Ticket office and phone hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday-Friday. The 2011 Red Bull Indianapolis GP is scheduled for Aug. 26-28 at IMS. Race Day general admission tickets cost $40, with Friday general admission $10 and Saturday general admission $20. A three-day general admission ticket is $60. A Friday-Saturday general admission ticket is $25. Children ages 12 and under will be admitted free any of the three days of the event when accompanied by an adult with a general admission ticket. Race Day reserved seat prices will start at $70.