MotoGP Red Bull Indy GP: Sunday (updated regularly)

NEWEST AT TOP

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009 – Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo won the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 30 after pole winner Dani Pedrosa and MotoGP points leader Valentino Rossi crashed early in the race.

Alex de Angelis finished second for his first career MotoGP podium result, while American Nicky Hayden earned his first podium finish of the season in third.

Pole sitter Pedrosa led from the start of the race but slid out of the lead with a low-side crash in Turn 15 on Lap 4 of the 28-lap race. He was unhurt and soon rejoined the race on the No. 3 Repsol Honda Team entry, but more than a half-lap behind. He finished 10th.

Rossi assumed the lead on his No. 48 Fiat Yamaha Team machine. But the lead was short-lived, as his teammate, Lorenzo, dove underneath Rossi in Turn 1 on Lap 9. One lap later, Rossi’s bike became unstable exiting Turn 2 and slid out from under him. Six-time MotoGP World Champion Rossi remounted his bike but retired from the race on Lap 12.

After Rossi’s crash, Lorenzo cruised to victory, winning by 9.435 seconds. He rode a wheelie, to the delight of the fans, from the exit of Turn 16 nearly a half-mile through the finish line. He also performed an Helio Castroneves-like fence climb in Turn 1.

The victory trimmed Rossi’s lead over Lorenzo to just 25 points with five races remaining this season. Lorenzo crashed out of the lead at two consecutive races entering this event.

“If you want to win, you have to always be at the limit, and in the last two races I was at the limit to try to win and I crash, so I was a bit disappointed,” said Lorenzo, a native of Palma de Mallorca, Spain. “Today the situation changed completely.

“Today I feel great on the bike, riding in (1:) 42 quite easily. I think if Valentino doesn’t crash, I could ride maybe in the 39.9 or 39.8 because I felt very good on the bike. But when Vale crash, I focus and try to finish.”

Besides his first podium finish, de Angelis also recorded a significant “first” for a motorcycle at Indianapolis. On Lap 19, he became the first motorcycle rider to eclipse the 200-mph mark at IMS with a trap speed of 201.3 mph on the main straightaway on his San Carlo Honda Gresini machine.

Hayden’s third place on the No. 69 Ducati Team entry is his second consecutive Red Bull Indianapolis GP podium after he finished second to Rossi in 2008.

But Hayden, from Owensboro, Ky., had to work hard for the podium. Repsol Honda Team rider Andrea Dovizioso pushed Hayden for the last eight laps of the race. Hayden beat Dovizioso to the finish by .531 of a second.

“It’s great to be on the podium; I’m really happy,” Hayden said. “This (riding this season with Ducati) has been the biggest challenge of my life. We hung in there and caught a couple of breaks today and was able to get on the podium. Just happy to be on the podium and spraying a little bubbly today. Hopefully we can just keep building on this.”

Fellow American MotoGP rider Colin Edwards, from Houston, rounded out the top five on the No. 5 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 entry.

Marco Simoncelli won the 250cc race on the No. 58 Metis Gilera by 1.943 seconds over series points leader Hiroshi Aoyama, who finished second on the No. 4 Scot Racing Team Honda. Spaniard Alvaro Bautista finished third on the No. 19 Mapfre Aspar Team Aprilia.

Simoncelli, of Italy, earned the pole for the 250cc race at the 2008 Red Bull Indianapolis GP but never had the chance to claim victory at the inaugural event because adverse weather conditions caused by remnants of Hurricane Ike forced cancellation of that race. Simoncelli struggled with crashes during practice but made the most of his race, leading 21 of the 26 laps.

“Today it was very difficult race because yesterday I crashed three times,” he said. “I wasn’t sure my start was good for today. But today, in the warm-up, we made some modifications. In the last laps, I tried to do 100 percent. I had to do three laps like it was qualifying.”

Pol Espargaro won the 125cc World Championship race on the No. 44 Derbi Racing Team entry after an intense five-rider duel for the lead.

Espargaro, of Spain, qualified fourth and was part of a pack of riders led by No. 18 Jack & Jones Team rider Nicolas Terol. 2008 Red Bull Indianapolis GP 125cc race winner Terol led the first 21 laps of the 23-lap race until Espargaro passed him entering Turn 1 after slipstreaming behind him down the main straightaway.

Bradley Smith, from Great Britain, and Simone Corsi, from Italy, passed Terol on the final lap and finished second and third, respectively. Pole winner Julian Simon rallied from a poor start, which saw him drop to 10th by the Turn 4 on Lap 1, to finish fifth.

The 2010 running of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP is provisionally set for Sunday, Aug. 29.

***

RESULTS

INDIANAPOLIS – Results of the 28-lap Red Bull Indianapolis GP MotoGP race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle, time behind winner. All riders on Bridgestone tires:
1.      Jorge Lorenzo   Spain   Yamaha
2.      Alex de Angelis San Marino      Honda   +9.435
3.      Nicky Hayden    United States   Ducati  +12.947
4.      Andrea Dovizioso        Italy   Honda   +13.478
5.      Colin Edwards   United States   Yamaha  +26.254
6.      James Toseland  Great Britain   Yamaha  +32.408
7.      Loris Capirossi Italy   Suzuki  +34.400
8.      Mika Kallio     Finland Ducati  +34.856
9.      Toni Elias      Spain   Honda   +45.005
10.     Dani Pedrosa    Spain   Honda   +45.377
11.     Chris Vermeulen Australia       Suzuki  +45.478
12.     Randy de Puniet France  Honda   +52.294
13.     Aleix Espargaro Spain   Ducati  +1:03.552
14.     Gabor Talmacsi  Hungary Honda   +1:15.086
NC      Marco Melandri  Italy   Kawasaki        +3 laps
NC      Niccolo Canepa  Italy   Ducati  +5 laps
NC      Valentino Rossi Italy   Yamaha  +16 laps
NC – Not classified
Fastest lap: Lorenzo, 1:40.152, Lap 4; Pole lap: Pedrosa, 1:39.730

POINTS

Riders: Rossi 212, Lorenzo 187, Casey Stoner 150, Pedrosa 141, Edwards 123, Dovizioso 120, de Angelis 88, Capirossi 86, de Puniet 84, Melandri 79, Vermeulen 77, Hayden 73, Toseland 72, Elias 70, Kallio 42, Canepa 32, Sete Gibernau 12, Talmacsi 10, Yuki Takahashi 9, Espargaro 3.

Manufacturers: Yamaha 280, Honda 204, Ducati 182, Suzuki 109, Kawasaki 79.

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PODIUM QUOTES

JORGE LORENZO (Fiat Yamaha Team, winner): “This is fantastic for me and for my team. I’ve had two crashes in a row but now I’ve won, and my closest rivals have crashed instead. Of course, I’m sorry for them, but these are the highs and lows of racing and it’s an amazing result for me. I was strong all weekend, and I really want to thank my team for giving me a great bike. I had a hard start and I had to try very hard to pass people and get back to third, but then I had a good rhythm and I was able to go with Valentino and Dani. Once Dani had gone, I knew it would be a hard fight between me and Valentino and in fact when he crashed, I didn’t realize for a while, because I misread my pit board and thought it said plus-0! Anyway, my bike was great, and from then on it was quite easy. I just stayed focused. I had great fun on the slow-down lap with the fans, and I am so happy to win here at this amazing track. The championship was almost gone, but in one day things have changed a lot. It will be hard but we won’t give up!”

ALEX DE ANGELIS (San Carlo Honda Gresini, second): “It’s a great satisfaction. I started not very well and lost a lot of time with (Colin) Edwards at the beginning. Then I overtook him, went with my pace, and saw the others were struggling. I tried not to make mistakes and to push. It was a difficult and complex race; however, it’s great. I come from five positive races. I’ve always improved, and we’ve found the ideal setup for this bike. We struggled a lot at the beginning (of the season), but I’ve never stopped believing in myself, and the same goes for the guys working with me. So with this result, I want to thank them because at difficult times you can feel who really is with you and who isn’t.”

NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Team, third): “It feels great to be on the podium here at Indianapolis, and I want to thank all the team, my friends, family and fans for their support because this has been a tough season and I’ve needed every one of them. I was really careful at the start because I watched the 125cc race earlier on, and the guy in my grid position made a jump start. It made me think that I really didn’t want to do that today. As a result, I didn’t get a great start but I saw Lorenzo charge past a few guys, making a hole in the pack, so I tried to follow him. I pushed hard and in the middle of the race I went as fast as I have all weekend, but I didn’t have any more than that. Dovizioso came on strong at the end, so I gave myself a little pep talk and made sure I was ready for whatever he had. He was going to have to come up with something special to keep me off the podium here at Indy. Thankfully I kept it together and brought it home. We don’t have long to the next race at Misano, but I’m in the mood for a little party tonight. My buddies have seen the sun come up every day since Friday, but hopefully they’ve got something left in the tank for me!”

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OTHER AMERICAN RIDER QUOTE

COLIN EDWARDS (Monster Yamaha Tech 3, fifth): “It wasn’t as much fun as thought it was going to be, to be honest with you, I had hopes of better result at my home race. I did the same times I did all weekend, but I struggled with some grip issues. It just felt like everything was pivoting on the rear. It was like speedway (motorcycle racing). As soon as I got the bike on the side, the rear came around, and that is not the fast way. I couldn’t put any load on the rear. At the end of the day, we had the same tires as the guy who won the race so whether it was something in our setup or riding style, I don’t know. All I could do was watch Nicky and Andrea walk away from me, and I took some big risks on the brakes. Once Nicky got by, it became hard to manage, and I think we turned a tire on the rim. I had a lot of vibration over the final 10 laps.”

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MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS

250cc: Marco Simoncelli, Metis Gilera, Italy

125cc: Pol Espargaro, Derbi Racing Team, Spain

***

NEXT RACE

Grand Prix of San Marino, Misano, San Marino, Sept. 6. Round 13 of 17.

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LCR Honda

Indianapolis, 30 August: after yesterdays physically demanding qualifying session, the LCR Honda MotoGP racer Randy De Puniet started from the 12th place for the 28-lap race at the spectacular Indianapolis circuit which celebrate its 100th anniversary. The 12th round of the season got underway at 15:00 local time with sunny skies and ambience temperature of 20°C ahead 146.680 fans.

The Frenchman riding the Honda RC212V is still suffering from the motocross injury suffered four weeks ago but after the Czech Republic GP the broken left ankle was considerably improved. However the 4.216 km track is heavily biased with ten left hand corners and six right hand corners which make changing direction very punishing. The 28-year-old got a good start from the fourth row and was up into 10th by the end of the first lap but had to battle through the pain and struggled a lot for a wrong rear tyre choice that prevented him to end in the top ten. Now LCR Team will move straight to Misano circuit for the San Marino e Riviera di Rimini GP on the 6th of September.

De Puniet – 12th: “In yesterdays’ practices I felt better on a hard rear tyre and that was my choice for todays’ 28-lap race. But obviously it has been the wrong decision! From the beginning I had not enough grip on the left and I could not open the throttle where I would like. I thought that the grip would have improved after a few laps but it did not happen and I struggled for the whole race. At seven laps to go I also went wide on turn two and Elias and Vermeulen were faster than me today. The ankle aches a lot like in Brno but I think that Misano race track will suite me better than Indy”.

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Pramac Racing

Emotional debut since the first turns for the new Pramac Racing Spanish rider Aleix Espargaro. The young rider, who started from the last position on the Indianapolis Grand Prix starting grid, has found him self in tenth position after a few turns but in one of them he was caught in the group and touched Elias going off the track. He managed to go back on track but it wasn’t easy to ride by him self as he was so far from the group. The Catalan rider didn’t give up and made it to finish in thirteenth position in his first MotoGP race conquering three world championship points. His teammate, Niccolò Canepa, was having a good race but an anomaly at the electronic system forced him to retire during the twentyfourth lap when he was twelfth. After the second and last 2009 MotoGP round in the United States of America, the world Championship goes back to Europe where in seven days there will be the Misano Grand Prix.

Aleix Espargaro – Pramac Racing – 13th in the race – 20th in the Championship

“I have started really well, but after only a few turns I was stuck in a group of riders and I couldn’t manage to avoid Elias. I am very sorry for this also because he is a good friend. I managed to step back on track, but alone wasn’t easy to ride. I tried to maintain a good rhythm and at the end I conquered three points in my first MotoGP race: not so bad. Now I know a bit better the bike and I believe we can do much better in Misano on a circuit that I particularly like.”

Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing – Retired- 16th in the Championship

“Today I was having a good race, I could have fought with Elias and Vermeulen, but when a few laps were missing a problem to the electronic system has suddenly switched off my bike. A pity because I was keeping a good rhythm and I could have fought to enter the top ten with the riders that were in front of me. I am very sorry because I needed a good result and I now hope that I will have the possibility to achieve it in Misano.”

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MotoGP

The battle for the 2009 FIM World Championship was blown wide open on Sunday at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix as Jorge Lorenzo scored a great win and his Fiat Yamaha colleague Valentino Rossi suffered his first DNF of the year.

Lorenzo eventually crossed the line with a 9.5s winning margin to cut Rossi’s championship lead in half, as the deficit dropped from 50 to 25 points, with five races remaining.

Behind Lorenzo there was a great ride from San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alex de Angelis who did his quest to remain in MotoGP no harm at all in second place, gaining his first ever premier class podium from fourth on the grid.

Nicky Hayden also rode brilliantly after qualifying sixth, repeating his 2008 Indianapolis podium, this time in third position – his best result to date with Ducati. Hayden got the better of Andrea Dovizioso, despite a stiff challenge from the man who replaced him in the Repsol Honda team, the Italian yet again having to settle for fourth on the last lap.

World Champion Valentino Rossi hit the ground on lap nine when battling for the race lead with Lorenzo, the Italian able to remount and try to continue, only to have to retire a couple of laps later due to the damage his M1 machine sustained. It is the first time Rossi has failed to finish a race since Valencia in 2007.

Earlier on there was also a crash for Dani Pedrosa on the fourth lap when the pole man was leading the race. He bravely picked up his RC212V and rejoined in last place, doing well to finally finish in 10th position.

Adding to the American representation towards the front Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) finished in fifth place, whilst there was a late crash from Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) when battling with James Toseland (also Tech 3) for sixth. Melandri’s mishap left the Englishman to again match his best ever MotoGP result.

The top ten also featured Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Mika Kallio (Ducati) and Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini). A special mention must go to Pramac Racing’s temporary replacement rider Aleix Espargaró who earned three points in 13th place on his MotoGP debut.

250cc

In what will be the first and last ever 250cc race at Indianapolis, a good performance by World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera) kept his championship hopes alive as he crossed the line in first place, two seconds ahead of current standings leader Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team).

With the cancellation of last year’s 250cc contest at Indy due bad weather and the arrival of the new Moto2 class next season, this was a one-off race and Simoncelli wrote his name into the history books with his fourth win of 2009.

Simoncelli now trails the Japanese rider by 27 points with five races remaining. Aoyama suffered a big front end moment with four laps to go and dropped back from Simoncelli, but he is still consistently scoring points. Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar Team) lost ground in the championship as he finished third, though he remains second in the standings, 16 points behind Aoyama.

Pole man Mike di Meglio (Mapfre Aspar) was fourth, 12 seconds back on Simoncelli, whilst Roberto Locatelli (also Metis Gilera) and Héctor Barberá (Pepe World Team) were fifth and sixth.

125cc

A five-way battle which lasted for the majority of the 125cc race went down to the very last lap and ultimately ended with Pol Espargaró (Derbi Racing Team) earning his first Grand Prix win.

The 18 year-old Spaniard made up for his disappointment in last year’s event, when he just missed out on the win, by judging the race to perfection and holding off his rivals on the last lap to win by 0.120s from Briton Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar).

Simone Corsi (Fontana Racing) finished in third place, three tenths down on Smith, to claim his second podium of the season. The front quintet crossed the finishing line with just 1.8s separating them, with Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team) in fourth place and championship leader Julián Simón (Bancaja Aspar) fifth.

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San Carlo Honda Gresini

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Alex de Angelis clinched his first ever MotoGP podium in the Indianapolis Grand Prix today, charging from his best ever grid position of fourth to his best race finish in motorcycle racing’s premier class with a stunning second place. After losing ground at the start the young San Marino rider produced a strong pass on home favourite Colin Edwards early in the race to move up to fourth place before benefiting from crashes for Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi.
Toni Elias, who finished on the podium in the last round at Brno two weeks ago, was forced off track by race debutant Aleix Espargaró in the second corner of the opening lap and not for the first time this season he had no option but to battle through the pack from last place. The Spaniard produced a typically determined and combative ride to seal a creditable ninth place at the chequered flag. The next race is De Angelis’ home event – the San Marino Grand Prix – next weekend.

Alex De Angelis (3rd): “I have to thank the team for the incredible job they have done this weekend – the bike has been fantastic ever since we unpacked it on Friday and we have gone from strength to strength over the course of the weekend. They also gave me a lot of confidence this morning and honestly I think they had more belief that I would be on the podium today than I did! It is a fantastic result but it is no fluke because we have been in great form over the last five races. It is a long time since I was on the podium back in the 250cc class and I had almost forgotten what a great feeling it was. Now I want to enjoy it and celebrate with another good performance at my home race next weekend.”

Toni Elias (9th): “Ninth place is not what we had hoped for before we came here but I can’t complain because after making a bad start to the weekend we have made continual improvements and we were in good shape for this race. Unfortunately I was pushed onto the grass by Aleix into the second turn and it ruined my race. He came to apologise at the end of the race and I told him not to worry – it has happened to all of us in the past! It is a shame because I think we could have been on the podium today, or at least in the top five, but to take ninth under the circumstances is still a positive result.”

Fausto Gresini – Team Manager: “I am really, really happy with this second place for Alex. He produced a truly exciting performance, his pace was fast and the result was very much deserved. For the team to be back on the podium again after Brno shows that we are making excellent progress. I would like to take this opportunity to thank HRC, San Carlo and all our other partners in this project. It is a shame Toni was forced off track because he had the potential to do much better than ninth place.”

1 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA YAMAHA
2 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA
3 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA DUCATI
4 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA HONDA
5 5 Colin EDWARDS USA YAMAHA
6 52 James TOSELAND GBR YAMAHA
7 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA SUZUKI
8 36 Mika KALLIO FIN DUCATI
9 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA
10 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA HONDA
11 Chris VERMEULEN AUS SUZUKI
12 Randy DE PUNIET FRA HONDA
13 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA DUCATI
14 Gabor TALMACSI HUN HONDA

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Repsol Honda

Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso came within half a second of a podium finish today at the Indianapolis Grand Prix as he converted eighth on the grid into a strong fourth place at the finish. The Italian skillfully picked his way through an incident-packed race and in the closing laps he looked destined to overhaul a hard-charging Nicky Hayden for third at the American’s home race. Dovizioso closed to within 0.1s and was perfectly poised to strike until a momentary loss of grip on the last lap forced him to settle for fourth place. Despite missing out on the podium by fractions of a second, Dovizioso was pleased with the overnight improvements to his machine settings, which allowed him to increase his race pace. He will go to Misano next weekend ready for another front-running performance.

His Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa looked odds-on for a repeat of his runaway victory at Laguna Seca as he converted pole position into an early lead. Setting a searing pace in front of Valentino Rossi and eventual race winner Jorge Lorenzo, Pedrosa appeared to be repeating the dominance he had shown in every practice session ahead of today’s race. At the end of lap four however he fell from the lead – remounting and putting in a spirited fight-back despite a bent handlebar, no rear brake and a right footpeg that was half worn away. The never-say-die Spaniard was the fastest rider in the second half of the race and battled back to 10th place at the chequered flag to collect six championship points.

With barely time to draw breath, the MotoGP paddock now jets back across the Atlantic for the next weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix at the Misano circuit.

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO

“After the warm-up today we made a radical change to the set-up and I have to say that my team has worked really well because, thanks to this modification, my feeling with the machine improved a lot in the race. I could ride faster than during the practice sessions and my rhythm in the race was also consistent. Considering how the weekend had gone up to this point, finishing fourth is quite positive result. We still have to improve though of course. I was close to Nicky and I tried to overtake him several times by taking big risks. It’s a pity to finish fourth because the podium was not impossible. The important thing is that we have taken an important step forward. We are close the podium and we will start again in Misano building on this good base.”

DANI PEDROSA

DANI PEDROSA

“This result was a real shame, but sometimes it happens. We did a great job all through practice and qualifying, I was confident for the race and of course I was hoping to win today. I was pushing very hard at the start of the race and perhaps I pushed too much. There was some cloud cover today and maybe the front tyre was a little cooler than before, but whatever the reason, I made a mistake and lost the front. I’m sorry for the team because they’ve worked really hard for me, and also to the fans who’ve given me great support. I wanted to win in American again but it wasn’t to be. There was some damage to the bike – the handlebar was bent inwards and the footpeg was worn away quite badly, but actually I was able to recover and ride at a fast pace to take some points at the end. Looking on the positive side, we’ve been very fast here and that means we can take a lot of confidence to Misano next weekend.”

KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER

KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER

“Andrea came very close to the podium and improved his pace from practice and qualifying so this was a positive step for him. A top three finish would have been very satisfying for him here and he wasn’t far away. It’s his home race next and this result will give him even more motivation for that. Things had looked really good for Dani this weekend and obviously we were hoping for another win, like Laguna, in front of our American Honda fans. He was very fast through every practice session, was on pole position and was leading the race so it was very unlucky that he had that fall. He showed his fighting spirit by coming back through the field. Although this race result wasn’t what we were expecting, the Repsol Honda Team can go to Misano next weekend ready to battle at the front again.”

Race Result – Round 12

1 Jorge Lorenzo 47m 13.592 SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team

2 Alex De Angelis +9.435 SMR HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini

3 Nicky Hayden +12.947 USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team

4 Andrea Dovizioso +13.478 ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team

5 Colin Edwards +26.254 USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha

6 James Toseland +32.408 GBR YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha

7 Loris Capirossi +34.400 ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

8 Mika Kallio +34.856 FIN DUCATI Pramac Racing

9 Toni Elias +45.005 SPA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini

10 Dani Pedrosa +45.377 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team

11 Chris Vermeulen +45.478 AUS SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

12 Randy De Puniet +52.294 FRA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP

13 Aleix Espargaro +1m 03.552 SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing

14 Gabor Talmacsi +1m 15.086 HUN HONDA Scot Racing Team MotoGP

Championship standings

1 Valentino Rossi 212 pts ITA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team

2 Jorge Lorenzo 187 pts SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team

3 Casey Stoner 150 pts AUS DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team

4 Dani Pedrosa 141 pts SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team

5 Colin Edwards 128 pts USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha

6 Andrea Dovizioso 120 pts ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team

7 Alex De Angelis 88 pts SMR HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini

8 Loris Capirossi 86 pts ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

9 Randy De Puniet 84 pts FRA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP

10 Marco Melandri 79 pts ITA KAWASAKI Hayate Racing Team

11 Nicky Hayden 73 pts USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team

12 Chris Vermeulen 72 pts AUS SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

13 James Toseland 72 pts GBR YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha

14 Toni Elias 70 pts SPA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini

15 Mika Kallio 42 pts FIN DUCATI Pramac Racing

16 Niccolo Canepa 32 pts ITA DUCATI Pramac Racing

17 Sete Gibernau 12 pts SPA DUCATI Grupo Francisco Hernando

18 Yuki Takahashi 9 pts JAP HONDA Scot Racing Team MotoGP

19 Gabor Talmacsi 3 pts HUN HONDA Scot Racing Team MotoGP

20 Aleix Espargaro 3 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing

Circuit information

First race 2008

GPs held 1

Laps 28

Race distance 118.1km / 73.4miles

Track length 4.216km / 2.62miles

Track width 16m

Longest straight 0.644km / 0.4miles

Corners 16 (6 right, 10 left)

Pole position Left

4790 West 16th Street

Indianapolis

IN 46222

Website: http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/

Circuit records

Pole position 1m40.776s (150.607Km/h) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha, 2008)

Race lap 1m49.668 (138.395Km/h) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha, 2008)

Race time 37m20.095s (135.508m/h) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha, 2008)

MotoGP Wins 1 (Valentino Rossi 2008)

2008 Winner Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)

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Monster Yamaha Tech3

Colin Edwards and James Toseland claimed impressive top six positions for the Monster Tech3 Yamaha team with hard fought performances in today’s dramatic Indianapolis Grand Prix in front 75,000 spectators.

Edwards came home a solid fifth with the Texan disappointed not have been closer to the front in his second home race of the season. After Dani Pedrosa crashed out of the lead Edwards was briefly third before he began to struggle with some rear grip issues. Today’s results saw Edwards to retain fifth position in the championship standings.

With a daring early charge from 10th on the grid Briton James Toseland scored his equal best result of the season with sixth place after an thrilling late race battle with Marco Melandri. After Melandri had briefly got ahead on lap eight Toseland was back in sixth on lap 10 and then rebuffed every challenge until Melandri crashed out of seventh position with two laps remaining.

The race was won by factory Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo.

Colin Edwards 5th — 123 point

“It wasn’t as much fun as thought it was going to be, to be honest with you, I had hopes of better result at my home race. I did the same times I did all weekend but I struggled with some grip issues, it just felt like everything was pivoting on the rear, it was like speedway, as soon as I got the bike on the side the rear came around and that is not the fast way. I couldn’t put any load on the rear. At the end of the day we had the same tyres as the guy who won the race so whether it was so mething in our set-up or riding style, I don’t know. All I could was watch Nicky and Andrea walk away from me and I took some big risks on the brakes. Once Nicky got by it became hard to manage and I think we turned a tyre on the rim, I had a lot of vibration over the final ten laps.”

James Toseland 6th — 72 points

“It’s very pleasing to finish in the top six, I know I’m capable of these sort of results and need to be doing it very weekend. It was an entertaining race for me, pushing my way through from tenth on the opening lap and today I don’t think I lost any friends doing that. Later in the race I had a great battle with Marco Melandri until he made a mistake with two laps go, I thought it would be a fight right to the end with him. I didn’t have good feeling in the warm-up so I was little worried for the race but we softened the bike up a little and I was able to keep my pace fr om qualifying. Melandri was really strong in turns one and two but i just kept covering my line, kept my head down and kept pushing. Now I’m really looking forward to Misano next week, a track I know very well from superbikes.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager

“A very good weekend for us to have two riders in the top six. Colin had a great start and was right with the front group which was very exciting for us, it was pity that with some small problems he couldn’t follow the pace. And special congratulations to James, it wasn’t an easy weekend for him and he made a very good recovery from tenth on the grid. It was a shame for the show that both Pedrosa and Rossi crashed but for our team we got some very good points to enable us to consolidate fourth position in the Team Championship. And congratulations to Jorge to win after all the problems he has had recently.”

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Bridgestone

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Hard, Extra hard (asymmetric)

Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo took a dominant victory at the second Indianapolis Grand Prix today, using the harder option front and softer option rear asymmetric Bridgestone slicks to set the fastest lap and a new lap record in the process.

Completing the top three were two new visitors to the MotoGP podium in 2009; San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alex de Angelis who recorded his best ever MotoGP finish in second position and Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden, the American scoring his best result and first podium of the season on home soil.

De Angelis used the same slick tyre compound options as Lorenzo, but Hayden made best use of his softer front slick to climb from sixth on the grid to a hard-fought third, resisting increasing pressure at the end of the race from Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso on a harder front slick.

Lorenzo’s victory exactly halves teammate Valentino Rossi’s championship lead, leaving the race for the 2009 MotoGP World Championship wide open with five races remaining in the first year of Bridgestone’s tenure as Official Tyre Supplier.

Mikio Masunaga – Bridgestone Corporation Vice President and Senior Officer

“I would like to congratulate Jorge Lorenzo and the Fiat Yamaha Team for their excellent victory here today in Indianapolis. America is a very significant market for Bridgestone Corporation and we are honoured to be able to come here for the second time this season as MotoGP’s Official Tyre Supplier. I would like to thank all the teams and Dorna for their continued support and for organising another fantastic grand prix.”

Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department

“Yesterday Dani set a new pole position record on Bridgestone tyres, and today Jorge set a new lap record on our tyres so this has been a good weekend for us at Indianapolis. We saw some good battles, particularly between Nicky and Andrea, and James and Marco. I’d like to congratulate Alex and the San Carlo team for his first MotoGP podium, and also Nicky and the Ducati Team for a very well deserved third place at his home grand prix.

“I am pleased with the durability of our tyres over a race distance as Indianapolis is an abrasive circuit and some riders, like Alex, set their fastest lap right at the end of the race. The fight between Nicky and Andrea also gave us a good comparison between the softer and harder front tyres, and their close battle shows the wide operating range of each of the compounds we have developed this season. Even in the last laps Nicky and Andrea were evenly matched on laptimes, demonstrating the crossover in performance of tyre compounds we have achieved as sole tyre supplier.”

Jorge Lorenzo – Fiat Yamaha Team – Race Winner

“What a race! You know, in a world championship like this you have to always be on the limit to win. In the last two races I was on the limit and crashed, but today the situation changed completely. Today everything felt great on the bike and I think I could have done a 1m 39.8, but when Valentino crashed I closed the throttle a bit. Before this race I said the championship is almost impossible, but now it is possible for sure. I had a lot of fun in the last lap and I am very happy!”

Top ten classification (Sunday 15:00 GMT-4)

1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 47m13.592s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick

2 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 47m23.027s +9.435s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick

3 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 47m26.539s +12.947s Medium Hard Bridgestone slick

4 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 47m27.070s +13.478s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick

5 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 47m39.846s +26.254s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick

6 James Toseland Monster Yamaha Tech3 47m46.000s +32.408s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick

7 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 47m47.992s +34.400s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick

8 Mika Kallio Ducati Team 47m48.448s +34.856s Medium Hard Bridgestone slick

9 Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 47m58.597s +45.005s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick

10 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 47m58.969s +45.377s Hard Hard Bridgestone slick

Weather: Dry. Ambient 21°C; Track 35°C (Bridgestone measurement)

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Ducati Marlboro

Nicky Hayden celebrated his first podium position as a Ducati MotoGP Team rider in the most fitting surroundings possible today, the ‘Kentucky Kid’ producing a sensational performance to finish third in his home race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hayden secured his own little slice of history at the legendary circuit with a battling display, chasing down Alex de Angelis for second place after crashes for both Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi at the front before consolidating third place with dogged defence under pressure from Andrea Dovizioso over the final two laps.
Mika Kallio, making his second of three appearances for the team as stand-in for regular rider Casey Stoner, also had reason to smile after a race in which he improved on his qualifying pace by six tenths of a second to secure a top ten finish in ninth place and give himself a welcome confidence boost before the series returns to Italian shores for the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano next weekend.

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati MotoGP Team)  (3rd)
“It feels great to be on the podium here at Indianapolis and I want to thank all the team, my friends, family and fans for their support because this has been a tough season and I’ve needed every one of them. I was really careful at the start because I watched the 125cc race earlier on and the guy in my grid position made a jump start – it made me think that I really didn’t want to do that today! As a result I didn’t get a great start but I saw Lorenzo charge past a few guys, making a hole in the pack, so I tried to follow him. I pushed hard and in the middle of the race I went as fast as I have all weekend, but I didn’t have any more than that. Dovizioso came on strong at the end so I gave myself a little pep talk and made sure I was ready for whatever he had. He was going to have to come up with something special to keep me off the podium here at Indy! Thankfully I kept it together and brought it home. We don’t have long to the next race at Misano but I’m in the mood for a little party tonight. My buddies have seen the sun come up every day since Friday but hopefully they’ve got something left in the tank for me!”

MIKA KALLIO (Ducati MotoGP Team)  (8th)
“We tried some different things with the suspension for the warm-up, which didn’t really work, but we tried something else for the race and it improved. I was able to push harder in the race in practice and my best lap in the race was actually even better than my qualifying time. That is a good thing but overall I’m still not too happy. My feeling with the bike isn’t perfect and for some reason my confidence is low. I don’t know why that is but it makes it hard to be consistent and easy to make small mistakes. The end position is not so bad but I think we could have been half a second quicker today and that would have moved us up some important positions. The goal for the next race is to find that half second and try to get my confidence back. To have at least finished the race after the recent bad luck is a boost and we will try to build on it at Misano.”

FILIPPO PREZIOSI – Ducati Corse General Director

“I want to congratulate Nicky because even in difficult times he has always believed in Ducati and he has never given up, working hard and staying focused.  Without his feedback we would have never been able to work out a set-up to suit him and it is in this area, as well as in performance, where a rider makes the difference! I also want to thank Vitto (Guareschi) and all the guys at Ducati Corse, who have worked like Nicky – never losing heart. Casey, we’re waiting for you and we know you will be back even stronger than ever.”

Podium Indianapolis GP 2009
1st Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), 2nd Alex De Angelis (Honda), 3rd Nicky Hayden (Ducati)
Fastest lap: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), 1’40.152 – 151.545 Km/h

Circuit Record: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), 1’40.152 – 151.545 Km/h
Best Pole: Dani Pedrosa (Honda – 2009), 1’39.730 – 152.186 Km/h

Riders World Championship
1st Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 212 points; 2nd Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 187; 3rd Casey Stoner (Ducati) 150; 4th Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 141; 5th Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 123; … 12th Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 73; 15th Mika Kallio (Ducati) 42.

Constructors World Championship
1st Yamaha (280 points); 2nd Honda (204); 3rd Ducati (182); 4th Suzuki (109); 5th Kawasaki (79)

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Rizla Suzuki

Loris Capirossi put a difficult weekend and an equally tough start to today’s Indianapolis Grand Prix behind him to battle his way to seventh place at the chequered flag.

Capirossi got a poor start compared to his usual high standards and was then further hampered on the second corner when a couple of riders – including team-mate Chris Vermeulen – collided and forced him onto the grass. Capirossi kept control of his bike but had to fight his way through the field from the back of the pack. He made gradual progress and got into seventh place with three laps remaining and, although he closed the gap dramatically on the rider in front, he was unable to make up any further places as he ran out of laps.

Vermeulen fared even worse from the second corner incident. He was hit by Mika Kallio and pushed very wide onto the grass. He too was fortunate to stay on the bike, but when he re-joined he was a long way from the main field. Vermeulen found his best rhythm of the weekend for the rest of the race as he too progressed through the pack. He made his way up to ninth but a slight mistake cost him a couple of positions on the last lap and he brought his Rizla Suzuki home in 11^th place.

Today’s race was watched over 75,000 spectators at the awesome Indianapolis Motor Speedway and they were treated to an eventful spectacle. Dani Pedrosa crashed whilst leading and then championship leader Valentino Rossi also crashed when in second place, to leave Jorge Lorenzo to take a comfortable victory on his factory Yamaha.

Rizla Suzuki now heads straight back to Europe for the 13^th round of the World Championship at Misano in Italy next Sunday.

Loris Capirossi:

“The final position is not too bad, but I am disappointed with my start because it was not very good and on turn two I was involved in a big casino with some other bikes – luckily I didn’t come off as bad as Chris! I kept up a good pace and I overtook a lot of guys, I had a good rhythm throughout the race and if I’d have had that rhythm without the incident early on and the bad start I think I could have challenged for a top-five place. I want to thank all my guys for another good job this weekend and they are all working hard to discover the best performance for the new chassis, I already think it is a lot better than the old one, but we still don’t know its full potential. We got good data from the race and it was a better result than the grid position, but we expect more and we will be pushing hard in Misano!”

Chris Vermeulen:

“I got a good start off the line and made up a few places on the outside at turn one, but on turn two I got hit by Kallio and pushed out on the grass and I lost a lot of time. I was about last and had a lot of work to do from there. We made some changes to the bike for the race and I did my quickest run this afternoon from the whole weekend. I moved up some places and towards the end I was fighting for ninth, but had a bit of bad luck on the last lap and a couple of guys got past me. It was certainly the best we have been all weekend and we have some positive things to take to Misano.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“The race was the best performance we have seen all weekend,  both out of the riders and the bikes. We’re able to draw some positives in terms of confirming the correct direction with the new chassis and finding some setting data for it for the next GPs. Both of the guys pushed hard and gave everything today, but it is difficult for the team to achieve its full potential when both the riders are on the grass and at the back of the field on the second corner! The podium was beyond us today, but we had the potential to fight for a top-five and that will be our target as we go straight to Misano next weekend.”

Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix Race Classification:

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 47′13.592: 2. Alex de Angelis (Honda) +9.435: 3. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) +12.947: 4. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +13.479: 5. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +26.254: 7. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +34.400: 11. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +45.478:

World Championship Classification:

1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 212: 2. Lorenzo 187: 3. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 150: 4. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 141: 5. Edwards 123: 8. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 86: 11. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 77:

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KTM

Marquez hangs on to sixth place in 125 cc GP at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Red Bull KTM Moto Sport’s 16-year-old talent Marc Marquez overcame a lack of front end grip to put in a valiant race to hang on to sixth place in the 125 cc GP on the famous, sweeping Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Marquez started ninth on the grid and had a good start to immediately move up the order. But despite a tenacious and determined effort to hang onto the tail of the front group of five riders, he had to be content to settle at the front of the second group. After some lonely laps out in the open, Marc successfully fended off attacks by both Stefan Bradl and Sergio Gadea to eventually cross the line in sixth place.

Harald Bartol, the Red Bull KTM Moto Sport’s Technical Director praised the young Spaniard’s ride and said the team was working hard to deliver some additional engine power to enable him to ride at his full potential.

Marc Marquez: “It was a tough race, because I was not really comfortable with the bike. I had a lack of front end grip. But at least we managed to finish the race, and sixth isn’t too bad even though I would have preferred to battle with the front runners. We just didn’t have enough rhythm and I didn’t have anyone in front of me to follow. I was pleased to be able to get past Stefan Bradl in the last lap. Now we’re looking forward to the next race in Misano and we know we have to be fast there as well.”

Mixed home GP for Beaubier

It was a mixed weekend for the team’s young American rider, the 16-year- old Cameron Beaubier, who has been recovering from a cracked shoulder blade since the race in Brno, Czech Republic. He started at twenty third on the grid and crossed the finish line in nineteenth place.

Cameron Beaubier: “In the beginning I got a good start but in the first corner everybody was bunching up and I wasn’t aggressive enough. I dropped back and I lost touch with the group. I slowly started to catch up in the middle of the race but then I had a slide and it jarred my shoulder. After that I couldn’t brake hard and I couldn’t change direction fast, it was just a battle to get through the race.” Beaubier said he was looking forward to the race in Misano, Italy and to the break in the race program after that. “Hopefully it will give me enough time to recover and to be fully fit for the remaining races this season,” he said.

Bartol commits to more engine power for Marquez

The team’s Technical Director, Harald Bartol said Marc Marquez “….rode a fantastic race. “Now it’s up to us to take the next step and help him with some additional engine power. We probably won’t be able to do something for Misano, but surely for Portugal. In fact, we already had something for this race, but unfortunately it seized.”

Results 125cc GP

1. Pol Espargaro Spain, Derbi, 42′07.925

2. Bradley Smith, Britain, Aprilia, 42′08.045

3. Simone Corsi, Italy, Aprilia, 42′08.373

4. Nicolas Terol, Spain, Aprilia, 42′09.538

5. Julian Simon, Spain, Aprilia, 42′09.726

6. Marc Marquez, Spain, KTM, 42′27.270

Other KTM

19. Cameron Beaubier, USA, KTM 43′09.104

Championship Standings

1. Julian Simon, Spain, 185 points

2. Nicolas Terol, Spain, 132.5

3. Bradley Smith, Britain, 131.5

4. Sergio Gadea, Spain, 111

5. Andrea Iannone, Italy, 109.5

Other KTM

8. Marc Marquez, Spain, KTM, 74

27. Cameron Beaubier, USA, 3