Before the racing action even starts, here are notes about qualifying. Dani Pedrosa will start from pole and there are two wildcard riders from the United States. They are current AMA Superbike racer Steve Rapp, and former AMA Superbike standout, Aaron Yates. Qualifying was interesting and scary as Nicky Hayden, Ben Spies, and Casey Stoner all had vicious crashes. These 1000 CC bikes used in MotoGP are becoming very fast, just like the old 500cc World Championship bikes were in the 1980s and '90s. Stoner could be hurt and is questionable for starting the race. The same goes for Nicky Hayden. Ben Spies should be fine.
Casey Stoner will race today. So will Ben Spies. Nicky Hayden will not race. He will be a spectator, watching. Folks, be prepared for a boatload of racing action here. Three races, consecutively will be blogged in this report. Motorcycle racing was the first race at Indianapolis in 1909. The motorcycles raced on the old brick course. Of course, the bricks are now just in the yard on the front straight. Hence, "The Brickyard". One of the first riders to run at Indy was Cannonball Baker. The weather is going to be great.
First up, it's Moto 3, followed by Moto 2, and then, MotoGP. Check this out.
Moto 3:
Sandro Cortese starts on pole. No American riders in this class. But, it's going to be good. At the start, Danny Kent gets the early lead into turn one. Louis Salom has second and Zulfahmmi Khairuddin. There's a wreck in turn two. Hector Faubel goes down and gets back going. Faubel is riding hurt. Kent leads right now. The bikes get wound up between turns nine and ten. Khairuddin passes Sandro Cortese. Efrin Vazquez is also up at the sharp end. Jakub Kornfeil runs wide.
Salom takes the lead now. Vinales is also really going for it. Louis Salom is followed by Danny Kent. Keep the bike in the narrow line through the infield road course. Zulfahmmi Khairuddin takes the lead. Wind the bike up, drive it out. Efrin Vasquez is running well as Maverick Vinales is flying. Alex Rins also moves up. Vinales wants by Louis Salom. There's a long way to go. This is the shortest race of the three today. 23 laps scheduled.
This is the fifth annual visit by MotoGP. Zhulfammi Khairuddin might be able to get a podium at Indy. What a massive career boost that would be. Khairuddin rides a KTM. Efrin Vazquez, Sandro Cortese, Louis Salom and others are very competitive. The parity is reduced in this class compared to the old 125cc class. These guys really compete, as readers of this blog know. Fifteen laps left. Rins and Cortese pass Salom. Anyone can win this race. There have been very few crashes.
Brad Binder retires with mechanical problems. But, very few crashes have happened so far. Vinales wants down inside as Cortese wants to push Alex Rins wide. Rins tries Vinales but can't pass. Romano Fenati is now coming up to the sharp end. Cortese is not wasting time either. Use the curb down the short chute between turns four and five. Rins makes a mistake allowing Khairuddin to pass. Vinales wants to get away from Cortese and Fenati while Zulfahmmi Khairuddin is pushing hard. Alex Rins runs wide, losing two spots in one corner. Twelve laps left.
Former World Champion Kevin Schwantz says that the crashes on the MotoGP bikes are much more dangerous to deal with than the old 500cc Grand Prix days. When you used to high side, it would spin and snap. You could prepare your body to move. But, now, the trajectory is different. By the time you fly, hold your breath and hope you don't get hurt. Schwantz runs a riding school right at Indianapolis.
Nine laps to go in Moto 3. Sandro Cortese is now leading Maverick Vinales and Louis Salom. Khairuddin is down to fourth. Efrin Vazquez crashes out of the race. Vinales tries Cortese but can't get there. Alex Rins and Romano Fenati are coming back. Jonas Folger and Jakub Kornfeil round out the top ten right now. Cortese is keeping Vinales honest right now. He's scored in every race and has missed the podium just one time. Frenchman Alan Techer falls off his #89 bike (a TSR Honda Cannes bike).
Nico Terol and Pol Espargaro won the previous 125cc races at Indy. Three laps to go. Vinales is being chased for the victory by Cortese and Salom. Romano Fenati fends off Miguel Oliveira and Jonas Folger. Oliveira passes Fenati. It is incredible for these teenage riders to learn race craft. How do you pace yourself? Look after the tires. Don't make moves too quick. This is the last lap. Who will win it? Someone will make a move. Folger passes Fenati. One lap to go. Cortese passes Vinales. Vinales runs wide. Who is the winner? He's got a nine point lead over Vinales.
Salom opens the door and makes a bid for the lead. He's in the driver's seat now! Where did he come from? Will he win? Vinales is down! He's crashed! Luis Salom wins his first Moto 3 race at Indy! How special!
#39 Luis Salom ESP Kalex KTM
What a Moto 3 race. Moto 2, MotoGP, and XR1200 are still to come.
The Moto 2 race is on deck. This one will be a wild one to watch, too.
Nine time dirt track motorcycle champion Scott Parker is in attendance at the race this weekend. Some Moto 2 riders will go to MotoGP. Marc Marques will run for Repsol Honda. Bradley Smith will take over a Tech 3 Yamaha. Andrea Ianonne needs opportunity. Ditto for Scott Redding, and Pol Espargaro. These three guys could appear in MotoGP, someday. Plenty of good riders have run Moto2 and moved to MotoGP including the late Marco Simoncelli.
Moto 2 is 600cc four stroke motors. In qualifying, Marc Marques ran well. Pol Espargaro gets his third pole of 2012. All riders in this class are on Dunlop tires and the bikes are built for the tires. By mid race, tires will degrade. To increase the life of the tire, they are warmed very slowly. If they're too hot, they get really greasy. There's no launch control. Use the throttle and the clutch release. Pol Espargaro has a slide on the grass in the morning warmup, low siding the bike in the next turn. But, he's ready to race. Keep the bike on the track.
Moto 3, done and dusted. Moto 2, ready.
At the start, Marc Marquez gets a great start, but Andrea Ianonne takes the lead. Can the bikes get through clean. Domink Aegerter, Julian Simon, and Brad Smith are all jammed up. All the motors are the same at 600ccs. The chassis is the major part of these bikes. Marques runs wide. Other riders besides Marc Marques who is moving to MotoGP next year, are saying to team managers, "check me out. I am MotoGP material and can be competitive." Aegerter makes a pass on Andrea Ianonne. Aegerter is running real well.
Scott Redding is flying towards the front. Mika Kalio has a dreadful start. Marques pushes Pol Espargaro wide. Dominik Aegerter still has an advantage on Ianonne. Pol Espargaro wants by these two. His brother Alexei is in MotoGP of course. Kallio and Redding are running very well. Ditto for Yuki Takahashi and Tito Rebat. Marquez has reeled in Domink Aegerter. Marques takes the lead with three of 26 laps completed. Tom Luthi is also up at the sharp end. Marquez continues to lead.
Nicky Hayden joins the broadcast. He high sided the bike. He said he was sliding to turn the bike and when he rolled out of the throttle, he fell. He's got some broken bones in his hand and he was unconscious for a while. His head is not feeling well either. So, he'll have to just watch and rest. "Shake it off and think about what's next" he says. Get well soon, Nicky. Mika Kallio is running well. He's had 174 races across four divisions like 125, 250, MotoGP, and Moto2. Marques is running well, finding a rhythm on the bike. Marquez sets a new lap record. Elena Rossell falls down.
Julian Simon has third. Another lap completed. Mika Kallio and Tom Luthi battle. Marc Marques is running 1:43s and these guys are running real good lap times. Diving into the infield with split pavement has been giving riders trouble. Kallio took Ianonne by surprise. Kallio is one of those guys who is one of the best riders to never be a World Champion. Aegerter passes Ianonne. He was tied with Pol Espargaro for second in points. But, Marquez might gain more points. Marquez is going to do real well in MotoGP next year. We'll find one.
Simone Corsi is moving up. Fifteen laps left to run. Julian Simon is now third. He won a title in the 125cc class in 2009. Luthi passes Iannone. Scott Redding is not having the race he wants. Marc Marques is checking out. He's got a five second lead. Andrea Ianonne has sunk to tenth place. Typically of course, Ianonne is a real scrapper for the finish of the race as seen in earlier races this year, and countless blog entries.
Mika Kallio might have used up his tires. Marques can ride where he doesn't need to use a ton of lean angle. Bradley Smith has sunk, but, he'll also be in MotoGP next year. Smith hasn't won in Moto2. He's going to be on the Monster Energy Yamaha. But, he's going to be in for a rude awakening. Tom Luthi is fourth over Mika Kallio. Yuki Takahashi is out of the race. The riders appreciate racing at Indy, but the road course at Indianapolis is pretty technical and difficult to get used to.
Julian Simon is running very well with ten laps to go. Marco Simoncelli, Toni Elias, and Marc Marques have won at Indy before. In 2008, there was a rainstorm as a remnant of Hurricane Ike. Not sure who won in '08. Claudio Corti and Anthony West are running well. Johann Zarco is also running well. With a short distance to go, Marquez appears to have this race in the bag. Four laps left. Pol Espargaro is still second and Julian Simon is third.
Yuki Takahashi was taken out by Xavier Simeon. Simeon should have used better judgment. Nico Terol (who won three 125cc races), is buried in the field. He's not come to the fore yet at all. Terol has not made the transition. He cannot find the setup with his bike. Three laps to go now. Marques won ten 125 races. He's won eleven Moto 2 races. He's mirroring his 125 career, he's going to win the title in Moto2, and he'll be up with the big boys in MotoGP next year. Mika Kallio has been able to pass Tom Luthi.
Julian Simon will get a podium. Good finish. Just two laps left now. Marques does have a similar riding style to Dani Pedrosa. It'll be an all Spanish team for Repsol Honda next year. That will be fun to watch. Spain will lock out the podium in this race. The Spanish and Italian riders really do well in motorcycle racing. Marc Marquez wins at Indianapolis for the second time!
#93 Marc Marquez ESP Suter Cervera
OK. The preliminaries are over. It's time for the main feature race. MotoGP is up next!
Rossi, Pedrosa, Lorenzo, and Stoner have won this race the last four years. Hector Barbera, Cal Crutchlow, Casey Stoner, Ben Spies, and Nicky Hayden all crashed. The riders have now taken their sighting lap. The teams have checked their bikes. It's now going to be up to the riders. Some will focus. Some will be willing to talk to people. Don't forget, that besides Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies, (well, of course, Nicky is now out with injury), but, we also have Steve Rapp and Aaron Yates racing in MotoGP as wildcard riders.
Valentino Rossi will return to Yamaha, and leave Ducati at the end of the year. It will be two champs at Yamaha next year. Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Rossi wants to do well. He's a legend. He's only eighteen wins away from matching the legend, Giacomo Agostini. We are coming up to race time, folks. It's not too far away now.
The prototype motorcycles are on hard Bridgestone tires and the CRT's are on soft ones. Lorenzo is also on soft tires. Can he make the tire last? Here we go.
At the srart, Pedrosa gets a good hole shot. Spies gets second. Spies takes the lead and runs wide. This race is 28 laps. Andrea Dovizioso is up to third. Ben Spies will not be in MotoGP next year. One rider crashes. Not sure who. Pedrosa feels he's got something with the bike. Spies takes a wide line while Pedrosa takes a tighter one. Jorge Lorenzo is third. Stefan Bradl is also moving up. Bradl has been the surprise of the season, coming up from Moto 2. Alvaro Bautista also gets a good start. Alexei Espargaro is now tenth. Get in a rhythm, heat up the tires, and go.
Pedrosa is right up behind Spies now. Spies has issues with his back, his elbow and one of his big toes. But, he seems to be riding well now. Pedrosa is right on top of Ben Spies. Pedrosa drafts by Spies. This is great racing. Pedrosa looks at Spies, fighting. Jorge Lorenzo is coming. He's Spies team mate for now. Of course, Rossi will team with Lorenzo for 2013. Dani Pedrosa passes Ben Spies as he ran wide in turns 15 and 16. Casey Stoner has passed Alvaro Bautista, moving in on Stefan Bradl. Jorge Lorenzo is also moving up to pass Ben Spies.
Andrea Dovizioso is a target for Stefan Bradl. Michele Pirro, Matteo Passini, and Danilo Petrucci are all retirements. Spies blows a motor! Oh no! His season goes from bad to worse! He will not win at Indianapolis. Ka blammo! There's oil out of the engine of Spies' Yamaha. Yonny Hernandez is now tenth. Bradl has passed Stoner into turn one. No issues with grip or oil. Stoner is behind Bradl now. There's a large gap between Lorenzo and Dovizioso. He's gone well with Tech 3 Yamaha after being sacked by Repsol Yamaha.
Dovizioso may be in the running to race for Ducati next year. Nineteen laps remain in the race as Dani Pedrosa is gapping Lorenzo. He's turning the wick up for sure. Cal Crutchlow has dumped his bike. He's had a bad weekend. He loses the front end in a slow corner and he's done, after what is called a low side fall. Rossi is now seventh. Karel Abraham is now tenth. Rossi is having a lonely race. The laps are being clicked off quickly. Dani Pedrosa has a 3.1 second lead. He's going for it, just flying!
Randy de Puniet is out of the race. The race is half over and the attrition rate is unreal! Did you see that crash? No, man. What happened? How will the soft tire hold up? Ben Spies and Yamaha have a strained relationship. Not good. But, Steve Rapp and Aaron Yates are having fun out there. Karel Abraham is running well as the teams will run in his home country next weekend. More details at the end of this post. Pedrosa is going very well and he's preparing to be the lead rider for Repsol Honda next year with Marc Marques as his team mate.
Pedrosa runs a 1:39.2 and Lorenzo, a 1:40.1. Casey Stoner holds third while Andrea Dovizioso wants the podium with 11 laps left. Dani Pedrosa wiggles, but stays on the bike. Is there time for Lorenzo to catch Pedrosa? We are into the last ten laps of this Grand Prix. Amazingly, with the injuries in these crashes, there have been fewer falls in 2012 than in the last three years that the race has been run. Alexei Espargaro gets ninth with Karel Abraham also doing well before his home race next weekend. Cal Crutchlow is out of the race now.
Seven laps remain. Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner battle for the last spot on the podium. Jorge Lorenzo might have a rear tire going away. Stoner is reeling in Dovizioso for third with four laps to go. Ride along with another rival, and then try making a pass. These guys are running 200+ miles an hour down the front straight. These bikes are like Formula One cars on two wheels. Lorenzo is looking to pass Steve Rapp. Rapp makes MotoGP history as the oldest rider to make his debut in MotoGP at age 40. Aaron Yates also, has been retired for three years. But, he and Rapp are having a good time in this race.
Steve Rapp is biding his time. He lets Lorenzo by. Two laps left now. Dani Pedrosa is racking up wins and it will put him company with some of the legends of the sport like Giacomo Agostini, Anton Mang, Mike Hailwood, Angel Nieto, Phil Read, Max Biaggi (who now is in World Superbike of course), Jim Redman, and Carlo Ubbiali to name a few.
Andrea Dovizioso has passed Casey Stoner. But, Spain will make a clean sweep of the Indianapolis GP. Dani Pedrosa wins! He's the first repeat winner at The Brickyard! It's his second win of the 2012 season.
#26 Dani Pedrosa ESP Honda
The next race in MotoGP is in the Czech Republic at the Brno Circuit, in a week's time.
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