[COVERAGE] Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP
August 20th, 2013 by Elusive Media
What a weekend at the Famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ben Spies returns to his Ignite Pramac Racing Team after being out since RD2 in Austin, TX and is fully fit! Engery TI Pramac Racing Andrea Iannone also returns from being injured as well, But Friday was just the start of the Marquez weekend. To Start off, Marquez picks off Pedrosa by one tenth of a second at 1’39.502 after a day of free practices, while Bradl (despite a fall during FP2), finishes ahead of Lorenzo. Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi finish off the top six times of the day.
On Saturday Marquez continues to conquer the field and taking his forth pole of the season. In return, Marc Marquez beats the previous pole record by eight tenths of a second(1’37.958), while half a second back is Lorenzo and Pedrosa to finish the front row. For his home race, Nicky Hayden claims a spot on the second row in sixth place. Bradl having a great weekend up until a crashes in T1 and the best he can pull out is 8th qualifying time. Valentino Rossi struggles with qualifying with a disappointing ninth(worst qualifying on a Yamaha since Valencia in 2008) and will have plenty of work to do during race day. Ducati Team rider Andrea Dovizioso finishes off the top 10. Ben Spies which looked strong after missing seven races this year crashed in FP with a highside in T4, which ended his weekend. We wish him a quick recovery and home to see him back out soon!
Race Day is here and Marc Marquez, which so far hasn’t had the best starts continues that by getting behind Lorenzo and Pedrosa out of the gate. While both(Lorenzo and Pedrosa) are still recovering from their injuries, it doesn’t take Marquez long to get past his rival and teammate. He ultimately takes victor after the 27 Lap race and dominates all 3 US GPs, which also marks his third consecutive win! Valentino Rossi finds his rhythm and battles his way past Monster Yamaha’s Tech3’s Crutchlow and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Bautista on the final laps and clinches 4th all the way back from 9th. Stephen Bradl Finishes seventh on his LCR Honda, while a controversial final turn overtake by Hayden sends both Ducati Teammates jumping out of line and allowing Smith’s Tech3 Yamaha to beat them to the finish! Besides Ben Spies, Karel Abraham as also unable to start the race due to injury on the first day and hope for a quick recovery for his home race on the following round!
With this Win from Marquez, he now leads the championship by 21 points(188 Total) from Pedrosa and 35 points behind is now Lorenzo. It should be an interesting second half of the championship. As both Pedrosa and Lorenzo become fully fit. Will Marquez still be able to keep up with the wins? Lets hope both of them can put some pressure on Marquez and keep the Championship exciting!
On to IMS News: There was rumors that this would of been Indianapolis’s last year, despite one year left on the contract. But during race weekend, it was officially released that MotoGP would be returning to the IMS Raceway! There is also talks of a reconfiguration of the track for next year, which would include a fresh coat of tarmac on all infield. Will this be enough to extend IMS past next year? Look forward to see what happens in the next following months. Til then See you next year!!!
For further news on everything MotoGP, check out www.motogp.com
Enjoy the photos from MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3!
Date: August 16-18th, 2013
By: Erik
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