MotoGP Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix *** Spoilers ***

[duccarlos]

Too early for results, but I know that this week is busy with activities around Indy and the paddock. A few people are already on their way.

[duccarlos]

FP1:

Pos.   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time   Gap 1st/Prev.
1   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   339.4   1'34.535   
2   38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   337.8   1'34.569   0.034 / 0.034
3   29   Andrea IANNONE   ITA   Pramac Racing   Ducati   340.7   1'34.579   0.044 / 0.010
4   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   336.7   1'34.678   0.143 / 0.099
5   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   340.0   1'34.885   0.350 / 0.207
6   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   337.1   1'35.084   0.549 / 0.199
7   45   Scott REDDING   GBR   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   325.6   1'35.122   0.587 / 0.038
8   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   333.0   1'35.283   0.748 / 0.161
9   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   339.0   1'35.445   0.910 / 0.162
10   68   Yonny HERNANDEZ   COL   Energy T.I. Pramac Racing   Ducati   334.4   1'35.501   0.966 / 0.056
11   5   Colin EDWARDS   USA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   337.4   1'35.743   1.208 / 0.242
12   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   Ducati Team   Ducati   333.7   1'35.935   1.400 / 0.192
13   7   Hiroshi AOYAMA   JPN   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   324.1   1'35.953   1.418 / 0.018
14   6   Stefan BRADL   GER   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   337.0   1'35.972   1.437 / 0.019
15   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing   Honda   322.6   1'35.995   1.460 / 0.023
16   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   333.4   1'36.419   1.884 / 0.424
17   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   340.9   1'36.436   1.901 / 0.017
18   8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   321.9   1'36.444   1.909 / 0.008
19   23   Broc PARKES   AUS   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   313.7   1'36.445   1.910 / 0.001
20   9   Danilo PETRUCCI   ITA   Octo IodaRacing Team   ART   316.0   1'36.837   2.302 / 0.392
21   70   Michael LAVERTY   GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   320.9   1'38.399   3.864 / 1.562
22   63   Mike DI MEGLIO   FRA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   318.8   1'38.405   3.870 / 0.006
23   2   Leon CAMIER   GBR   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   316.9   1'39.962   5.427 / 1.557

[duccarlos]

FP2:

Pos.   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time   Gap 1st/Prev.
1   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   340.6   1'32.882   
2   29   Andrea IANNONE   ITA   Pramac Racing   Ducati   339.7   1'33.104   0.222 / 0.222
3   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   336.7   1'33.424   0.542 / 0.320
4   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   339.4   1'33.432   0.550 / 0.008
5   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   340.2   1'33.493   0.611 / 0.061
6   6   Stefan BRADL   GER   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   340.4   1'33.513   0.631 / 0.020
7   68   Yonny HERNANDEZ   COL   Energy T.I. Pramac Racing   Ducati   339.9   1'33.531   0.649 / 0.018
8   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   331.9   1'33.587   0.705 / 0.056
9   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   338.0   1'33.598   0.716 / 0.011
10   38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   338.8   1'33.621   0.739 / 0.023
11   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   339.3   1'33.690   0.808 / 0.069
12   45   Scott REDDING   GBR   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   323.5   1'33.971   1.089 / 0.281
13   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   Ducati Team   Ducati   338.4   1'33.996   1.114 / 0.025
14   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   342.5   1'34.054   1.172 / 0.058
15   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing   Honda   323.9   1'34.912   2.030 / 0.858
16   5   Colin EDWARDS   USA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   336.8   1'34.994   2.112 / 0.082
17   7   Hiroshi AOYAMA   JPN   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   330.2   1'35.106   2.224 / 0.112
18   8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   322.0   1'35.231   2.349 / 0.125
19   70   Michael LAVERTY   GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   324.4   1'35.472   2.590 / 0.241
20   9   Danilo PETRUCCI   ITA   Octo IodaRacing Team   ART   320.0   1'35.721   2.839 / 0.249
21   63   Mike DI MEGLIO   FRA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   320.9   1'35.749   2.867 / 0.028
22   23   Broc PARKES   AUS   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   319.0   1'35.941   3.059 / 0.192
23   2   Leon CAMIER   GBR   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   318.3   1'36.394   3.512 / 0.453

[duccarlos]

Crazy Joe looking good!

[thorn14]

The new track surface is making the times hard to read. Was it damp at all for FP2?

Maybe the new engine will help, but it's too early to tell.

[duccarlos]

Dry throughout the session. They did change the last corner to something less psychotic.

[Triple J]

Crazy Joe looking good!

Maybe he's on a full factory bike now (if he wasn't already), or he's just amped knowing he's a factory rider now. 

[DarkMonster620]

or a combination or hype-engine-fairings?

[Triple J]

MM takes pole again with a fantastic lap...Dovi was getting a tow on that lap as well, and it allowed him to take 2nd. JLo in 3rd. The surprise is Pedrobot down in 8th! Rossi in 5th.

HUUUGE highside for Bautista in FP3!  

[Speeddog]

MM continues with his remarkable habit of pulling a quarter of a second out of his laptime whenever it seems necessary.

Masterful strategy from Dovi, if you're gonna get a tow, get it from MM.

Bautista attempted to break JLo's altitude record from China, but fell short.
I'll be surprised if he's not visibly stiff tomorrow.

Pol Espargaro does get the "Save Of The Day" award, very impressive. 
Especially, maintaining control after trying to crush the tank with his dingdong. 

Bradley Smith got stuck under the bike for a bit, hope his gear did it's job.
Herve should give his mechanics a Year End Bonus, they've had lots of extra work so far, and the season's only just past halfway.

Big Attaboy to Leon Camier, thrown in at the deep end and qualifies 16th. 

[koko64]

Another record breaking race. Rossi too.

[Grampa]

I have it on good authority that toasty was plugged in and caused a power outage.

[bdfinally]

I had a giggle when Fox put up a graphic that MM was the first to win 10 in a row since "Mike Doohan"

[ab]

MM is simply unbeatable. He needs to move on to another sport

Was hoping Rossi would keep that lead or Atleast keep JLo away.  Great race anyhow.

(Moto3 is more fun I tell you)

[Triple J]

The 1st half of that race was friggin' fantastic.   

What to say about MM though...after he was gifted the lead for the second time he put his head down, opened a reasonable gap, and then maintained it for the win. Unbelievable. 

Great racing by Rossi as well. For a while I thought he had a chance to pull off the win. JLo is looking much better as well.

Sure seems to me that most of the Duc's improvement is due to the tires. Dovi can hang early on, but as soon as the bike eats the softer tire, then he drops back to 7th/8th...just like the last few years.

After MM wraps up the championship, him and Rossi should switch bikes for a race or two...just to see what would happen.