[COVERAGE] Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP
August 14th, 2015 by Elusive MediaWe return after a three week summer-break with Movistar Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo only separated by 13 points and excited to see them continue the fight at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While Ducati and Honda are not currently fighting for the lead, both Italian riders, Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso have had a stronger first half of the season. At the Honda Team, they have had a rocky start to the season, but IMS has always been good circuit to both Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez, who has never lost a round on the American soil.
After media day, a lot of talk has been going around with some riders and the track. Will Indianapolis be on the schedule next year? Is this the last home race for Nicky Hayden in MotoGP? Aprilia makes debut at IndyGP with Stefan Bradl after his team has financial issues. It’s exciting to see a new manufacture join MotoGP; good years ahead for Aprilia and MotoGP. This will be the second year on the resurfaced track and the weekend looks to be in the mid 70’s all weekend; everyone is looking forward to the free practices!
As expected, the first day of free practice(FP1&2) go to Jorge Lorenzo with Marquez on his Repsol Honda less than three thousands of a second behind! And it looks like the Ducati team has continued their good fortune after the break following in third and forth on the day. All eyes are on the Doctor though and he has some work to do as he finished the day in tenth. Qualifying day quickly arrives and FP3 the riders do some shuffling in the standings. Marc Marquez ends up finding an impressive four tenth of a second while Jorge Lorenzo is on par with his times as yesterday. Bradley Smith on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 has an amazing lap and almost takes the top of FP3 with only three hundreds of a second behind Marquez. Rossi still hasn’t found what he’s looking for, though he just gets into Q2 in ninth. As we move into Q2 and find out our top ten, the Repsol Honda team clinches both top spots. As expected on American Soil, Marquez yet again find himself at the top and alone in the 1m31s, finishing at 1m31.884s. He clenches his 5th pole position his season. Dani Pedrosa get in a great hot lap and secures the 2nd position on the grid with a 1m32.055s. To finish the front row, Lorenzo on his Movistar Yamaha MotoGP grabs the last important front row position, 1m32.186s. Cal Crutchlow riding his CWM LCR Honda almost takes that last front row spot from Lorenzo, but ends up being two hundredths behind Lorenzo’s Yamaha. Danilo Petucci and Bradley Smith have an impressive lap time as well while picking up fifth and sixth. Less than a tenth separate third to sixth on the grid! The Ducati team(seventh/tenth) and Valentino Rossi(eight) can not seem to find the time needed and fall back to the middle of the 3rd row. Championship leader Valentino Rossi on his Movistar Yamaha will have to fight through some stronger riders ahead of him tomorrow; the start will be key!
Party Cloudy skies in the low 70s start off the morning warm-up for the MotoGP riders. While it’s a quick session, they can dial in those last minute adjustments. Lorenzo and Marquez found the limit and end up low siding; both riders OK. Now we fast forward to the start of the main event. With nearly 68,000 fans present at IMS, we are ecstatic to see the green light and put behind the three week summer break. The light turns green and we are off! Everyone gets away cleanly and Lorenzo is able to takes the lead into turn 1. He knows on a track like IMS, if he doesn’t attack first and Marquez in front will make things much worse! Rossi has a fantastic start and climbs up to fifth positions after the first lap is completed, while Marquez, Pedrosa, Iannone finish off the top 4. Rossi has clearly found something in the morning and is able to keep a competitive lap time in the beginning stages. Lorenzo also find a favorable setting and just starts grinding out the laps. Are we about to see Marquez finally lose his first American track!? While Lorenzo and Marquez fluctuate between .350 and .100 of a second each lap, that battle behind for third start to pick up. Prior to lap 10, Dani Pedrosa is able to keep a good distance from Rossi at about three seconds, but after six laps, Rossi closes the gap to a mire .144! As the last laps continue, Rossi and Pedrosa keep attacking each other for the last podium position. Back up at the front, lap 23, Lorenzo is still a quarter of a second ahead of Marquez. But Marc Marquez digs deep on the remaining last laps and tries to surprise Lorenzo and it works! By lap 25, Marquez leads by .100 of a second and increases that lead up to the finish line on lap 27, .688 seconds in front of Lorenzo. Marc Marquez on his Repsol Honda has once again won the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP race and still comes out undefeated on the United States circuits all while setting a new lap record(1m32.625s) on his 23 lap! Rossi ends up battling with Pedrosa til the end and is able to holds onto third position. Andrea Iannone on Team Ducati finishes off the top 5. Sadly the only American left on the MotoGP grid, Nicky Hayden on his Aspar Honda finishes in 16th.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway has yet again shown us a spectacular race and with growing numbers in attendance at nearly 146,000, we hope this won’t be the last time we return to this legendary flat track. It’s been an superb eight years so far! While Marquez was able to secure the top spot on the podium, this means the championship is even closer than ever this season! Jorge Lorenzo many only have gained a few points, but it cuts the lead to nine points! Tho Valentino Rossi has been on the podium every around, Lorenzo has been able to slowly chip away Rossi’s lead. Rossi will need to push harder if he wants to see that 10th MotoGP Championship Victory! I have a feeling we will be in for an exciting second half of the season and I’m hanging off the chair in suspense!!
Date: August 7-9th, 2015
Location: Indianapolis, IN
By: Erik
Gallery – Click Here
motogp
[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
Gallery – Click Here
Buy Tickets for 2015: Click Here
[COVERAGE] AMA Indy Mile Flat Track
August 25th, 2013 by Elusive MediaAfter many years of attending MotoGP at the Indianapolis Motorspeedway, I finally got a chance to experience where Nicky Hayden started his motorcycle career. The famous Indy Mile flat track race happens the same weekend as MotoGP and held at the Indiana State Fair. With the combination of these two events, it really draws in the crowds from all over the world! The racing doesn’t start til the evening, which works out perfect for my schedule(and the fans) as MotoGP and AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson series finishes late afternoon. Since this as my first time shooting this event, I quickly learned to watch out for flying debris from the bikes flying by! Thankfully my gear survived and i got some wicked shots of the races that night!! Enjoy this extra bonus coverage from MotoGP weekend!
Date: August 17th, 2013
Location: Indianapolis, IN
By: Erik
Gallery – Click Here
[COVERAGE] Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP
August 20th, 2013 by Elusive MediaWhat 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
Gallery – Click Here
Buy Tickets for 2014: Click Here
[COVERAGE] Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP
August 22nd, 2012 by Elusive MediaThe sun is out and not a drop of rain is set for Indianapolis Motor speedway, Round10 of MotoGP Championship was set for a great weekend of racing! Over the years, rides from all classes have complained of bumpy track, so at the end of last year’s race, IMS repaved the entire inside track. Even with race weekend being rain free, Thursday the 16th, a massive thunderstorm came through the city, soaking the track and leaving the track dirty, but with the sun beating down on the fresh tarmac, fans and rides were eager to see what each rider could put down for a lap time. Rides quickly learned, even with a bump free track, MotoGP was the first to ever go around the repaved track, which lead to a very slick surface. ISM this weekend took no prisoners. Héctor Barberá returns after being out on injury, while Toni Elías Stand By in case he need to fill in. We quickly learn it was a good thing, Barberá comes out of the last turn and loses traction and land on the top of his helmet, injuring his back. Stoner during qualifying takes a fast high side which throw him off the bike, where we later find out needs surgery, but even with a fracture and torn ligaments in his right ankle, Stoner continues to race on Sunday. Nicky Hayden also takes a high sides as well which renders him unconscious and injurers his hand. Medical steps in and see him unfit to race his home race on Sunday.
Now onto Race day, which isn’t done claiming rides. Spies goes out with engine issues, Crutchlow crashes out, Randy out with bad clutch, and Pirro out as well. Even with Stoner’s enjury he fought a hard battle to take 4th, a disapointing weekend for him, but good to pick up some much needed points in the Championship. Dovizioso finish again on the podium with 3rd, while Lorenzo couldn’t keep the blistering pace of Pedrosa, winning by nearly 10 seconds. For further stats and articles from all 3 classes, head over to motogp.com
Gallery includes photos from all 3 classes including AMA. Enjoy!!
Date: August 17-19th, 2012
By: Erik
Gallery – Click Here
Buy Tickets for 2013: Click Here
Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP
August 30th, 2011 by Elusive MediaAs everyone knows, MotoGP is my “fix”. I watch FP1,2,3 & Quali for all MotoGP races … i’d even watch moto2/125 FPs and Quali if sleep didn’t get in the way! This year was a bit different for travel arrangements, instead of driving in the day before, we flew from Newark, NJ to Indy Friday morning. If all went well, we would have a few hours to make it to the track before the first FP would start. Of course, this wasn’t the case. After a few hours delay with our first plane, the airline decided to give us a new plane. About 2.5 hrs later, we were on our way to the Indianapolis. As we entered Indianapolis airspace, i look at the window and i see the speedway, with 125cc already on the track, dang! Not off to a good start, but we made it safe, and I’m ready to take some photos!
Besides this being the last year for 125cc(moto3 next year), Indianapolis Speedway resurfaced the entire infield of the track a few months prior to the start of race weekend. This was done because many of the riders complained about bumps around the course, but the downside of doing this without anyone riding on the track before was grip. The new problem for the weekend, was of course tire grip. As the weekend progressed and the more rides took to the track, the more rubber that was laid down to give some better grip to the riders. Thankfully the weekend was full of sun with no chance of rain to hit during race weekend.
Stoner’s dominance continues with his seventh pole position setting him up for another win at one of the tracks he’s never won at before. The Ducati team with tire wear and front end feel with both the GP11/11.1 model has hindered both riders to start higher on the grid. The Yamaha team on the the other hand, Lorenzo and Spies qualified 2nd and 3rd, which was their first first double Yamaha front row of the year.
Race day is here and like the whole weekend, the sun is out and is heating up the asphalt to a scorching 51c/123f. Stoner, Lorenzo, & Pedrosa take a charging start, and Pedrosa hoping to do a repeat of last year, but after 7 laps Stoner over takes Lorenzo then Pedrosa and stay ahead for the remainder of the race. Even though Spies starts 2nd on the grid, him and Dovi, touch going into turn one which send him out wide. Marco Simoncelli and Nicky Hayden starts off strong but tire wear slowly start cutting back their times, and eventually Nicky has to pit to change tires to finish the race and still able to get a few points. While Rossi has is own problem worth front end feel and tire wear pushes him back to the end of the pack; At one point Rossi was in 17th to work his way back up to 10th. Despite the bad start for Spies, he works his way back up to 3rd place by lap 16 but too far off to catch Pedrosa. Randy De Puniet ends up finishing 8th, which is his best finish of the season on his Pramac Ducati.
For a first for this year, AMA XR1200 had a race after the MotoGP races were completed. It wasn’t something i was all that up-to-date with, but it was a great bonus the crowed go to enjoy.
For more information, check out motogp.com!
Date: August 26-28th, 2011
By: Erik
Gallery – Click Here
Buy Tickets for 2012: Click Here
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Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP
August 30th, 2010 by Elusive MediaWith the last few year’s GP, you never know what kinda weather you will get at Indy. For one, the first year it rained throughout the whole weekend and the leftovers from a hurricane ended the races early. This year, we had quite the opposite, clear blue skies, excellent racing weather! Qualifying is always an exciting time to see who will grasp the pole position. Jorge Lorenzo has been dominating this year poles and podiums. This weekend the American fans were treated to not only Ben Spies getting his first ever pole position in the premier class, but Nicky Hayden grabbing his first front row on the Ducati. It was one special moment for both in front of their home crowd.
Race Day is here and all rides start off strong, but after a strong FP1/2/Qualifying, Nicky Hayden has some issues with grip, catches a grain cover, which rips off his knee slider, because of this he wasn’t able to ride at his maximum, ending in a 6th position. Ben Spies, Jorge Lorenzo, and Dani Pedrosa took over the front where Ben tried to hold of Dani, but in the end Dani took him in the straight. Ben Spies tries to fight back, but can’t keep up with Dani’s pace. Despite losing Dani, Ben keeps a good grab between Jorge Lorenzo and finishes 2nd, which is the highest podium he has finished in the premier class. Jorge Lorenzo finishes 3rd, not happy with the ride, but happy to add some points to extend toward his first world championship in MotoGP.
Congrats to all riders! and for more news and exclusive video from this weekends race, visit motogp.com!!
Date: August 27-29th, 2010
By: Erik
Gallery – Click Here
Buy Tickets for 2011: Click Here
FP1:
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Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP
September 4th, 2009 by Elusive MediaDate: August 28-30, 2009
Photos: Erik & Scott
Gallery – Click here
Day 1: FP1
Dry weather for 125cc, but rain returns for the MotoGP & 250cc class.
Day 2: A dry track and sun returns for FP2 and Qualifying.
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Day 3: Race Day!
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^^ Rossi & Lorenzo battling it out.
^^ Lorenzo climbing the fence after winning the race!
Pits / Downtown
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^^Ducati fashion show
^^ James Toseland’s band…and they actually were pretty damn good!
^^keeping the crowd amped!
^^ amazing!
^^thousands of bikes fill the streets; Over 8 blocks closed for bikes only!
^^ anyone hungry?
^^ Red Bull going out all…downtown was a BLAST… along with free drinks all night!
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Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP
September 3rd, 2008 by Elusive Media
Featured Event – Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP
Date: Sept 12-14, 2008
By: Erik
Gallery – Click Here
Tickets: ORDER For 2009
“The inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP will take place Sept. 12-14 on a new 2.621-mile road course built for the event at IMS. It is the first motorcycle race at the Speedway in 99 years, as the initial motor race at the fabled facility was a bike event Aug. 14, 1909.Single-day general admission tickets will be available at the gate Friday, Sept. 12 and Saturday, Sept. 13 for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The one-day tickets are $10 each Friday and $20 each Saturday. These tickets only can be purchased at the gates with cash.
Activity Friday includes practice for the elite MotoGP class, with practice and qualifying for the 250cc, 125cc and Red Bull Rookies Cup divisions. On Saturday, qualifying will take place for MotoGP, 250cc and 125cc, with a race for the Red Bull AMA U.S. Rookies Cup class.
Three-day reserved and general admission tickets, which include admission for Race Day, Sunday, Sept. 14, are available.”
Contributers
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