[COVERAGE] Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP
August 12th, 2014 by Elusive MediaThe race weekend has arrived and pasted, but it was fantastic from all 3 classes! All eyes were on Marquez to see if he could continue his undefeated season and continue breaking records after records on only his 2nd year in top class. First, lets talk about this years changes to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway(IMS) circuit. After the many years of complains from the riders because of the bumpy and changing tarmac surfaces, IMS has listened. They have now not only repaved the whole circuit, but changed the track layout to have a more flowing track(more exciting racing!), while still keeping their ‘stop and go’ sections which gives us great opportunities for overtaking!
So lets continue with our race weekend, After FP2, Defending World Champion Marc Marquez leaded the back with an impressive .222s(Iannone – Parmac Racing) & .542s(Lorenzo – Movistar Yamaha) in front of his nears competitors. IMS also received positive remarks from all class on the modified layout and resurfacing. Its excited to see Ducati running up front with the other two manufactures, but will it continue the rest of the weekend?
As a Nicky Hayden fan, i must note he was absent from his motorcycle(Drive M7 Aspar) and replaced by Leon Camier due to a past injury that needed surgery. Lets hope to see him 100% in the upcoming races! Despite him being absent from his bike, he was joined his family for a press conference on his fathers new book release. If you a Hayden fan, its a must read, as it involves the whole Hayden family.
Lets move on to FP3/4 and the important qualifying for Sunday’s race. After Marquez dominating day one, Bradl has posted the quickest time of 1:32.522, about .3 faster than yesterdays quickest lap by Marquez. Rossi and Lorenzo finish off the top 3, while the lone Ducati ridden by Dovizioso finishes 4th and Pol Espargaro finished the top 5 in FP3. Dovizioso maybe not have set the fastest lap in FP3, but he does break the fastest trap speed on a motorcycle at IMS with an impressive 214.5mph! FP4 mostly focuses on fine tuning race setup and getting ready to put in a few fast laps to go for pole position in qualifying. Marquez is back to what he does best, shows up on the time sheet with the fastest time this weekend with a 1:32.391! Bradl drops off from the top 5, but Pol Espargaro, Rossi, Dovizioso, and Lorenzo finish the top 5. The new track layout continues to let the riders hit higher speeds; Pedrosa set the new trap speed record at 216.9mph! As Q1 finishes up, Redding and Crutchlow advance to join the rest of the top 10 qualifiers in Q2. With the limited time to put hot laps in, Marquez takes the fastest lap 12 minutes into Q2 with a pole time of 1:31.619. This marks Marquez’s eighth pole out of the ten races so far this season! The odds of continuing his winning streak looks promising! Dovizioso takes the the 2nd grid position(best qualifying since pole in Japanese GP in 2010) while Lorenzo finish off the front row. Seeing 3 different manufactures up front is always promising for an exciting race! Side note: Kallio picks up his 2nd pole of the season for Moto2 and championship leader Miller on pole for Moto3!
Race day is here and it was thrilling! Ducati has really started to get it together this season. Dovizioso has managed to get off the line fighting for the lead along side another Ducati ridden by Iannone. Tho a quick laps down, Rossi takes the lead but Dovizioso keeps a tight leash behind. Marquez has never been known for his starts and get pushed back to fight for 5 and 6th. Lorenzo also falls behind and tails Marquez in the first few laps. While Rossi and Dovizioso battle for the lead, they end up touching allowing Marquez and Lorenzo to sneak their way up to the front. But the show isn’t over, Marquez swings wide a couple turns later and Rossi regains the lead. The top four are within a few bikes lengths of each for almost the entire first half of the race. Its almost like your watching a Moto2 or Moto3 race! With about 16 laps to go, Marquez starts putting some distance between him and pack. Lorenzo and Rossi continue to fight for position 2 while Pedrosa works his way up from 8th on the grid and overtaking Dovizioso for 4th place. Unlike Pedrosa, Dovizioso ends up falling back toward the end of the race to finish in 7th. While the Ducati lost its pace toward the end of the race, it was memorable to see the Ducati finally fighting for the lead in the first 1/2 of the race! A worthy note was Collin Edwards in 13th, which ends his last American race in his motogp career! He will sure be missed! Keep an eye out for an article with just photos i’ve taken of Edwards over the years! The unstoppable Marquez now clinches his 10th consecutive win on his Resole Honda! This is the first time since Mick Doohan in 1997 to have 10 wins in a row in the premier class. Impressive!!!
I hope you enjoyed the coverage from this years races, til next year! Enjoy the gobs of photos!
Date: August 8-10th, 2014
Location: Indianapolis, IN
By: Erik
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