Daily Trackside Report - Sunday, Aug. 29
August 29, 2010 | By
TODAY’S SCHEDULE (all times local):
7 a.m. Public Gates Open
7 a.m.-6 p.m. Vendor Marketplace Open, Gasoline Alley Garages
8:40-9 a.m. 125cc Warm-Up
9:10-9:30 a.m. Moto2 Warm-Up
9:40-10 a.m. MotoGP Warm-Up
10:20 a.m. USGPRU Moriwaki MD250H Powered by Honda Race #2 (12 laps)
Noon 125cc Race (23 laps)
1:15 p.m. Moto2 Race (26 laps)
2:25 p.m. Skydivers Jump
2:50 p.m. Invocation, Bob Hills, Chaplain, IRL Ministry
2:51 p.m. National Anthem
2:52 p.m. Flyover, C-130 Hercules, 123rd Airlift Wing, “The Thoroughbred Express,” Kentucky Air National Guard
2:57 p.m. Command to start engines, Mari Hulman George, IMS Chairman of the Board
3 p.m. MotoGP Race (28 laps)
6 p.m. Track Closes
***
Ducati announced Saturday evening a two-year contract extension with American MotoGP rider Nicky Hayden, keeping “The Kentucky Kid” at the Ducati Team through the 2012 season.
Hayden, from Owensboro, Ky., joined Ducati in 2009 after spending the first six years of his MotoGP career at Honda. He will be reunited next season as a teammate with seven-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi, who is joining the Ducati Team from Yamaha. Rossi and Hayden were teammates at Honda during Hayden’s rookie season in 2003.
NICKY HAYDEN: "I am very proud to be signing for Ducati again. Last year I felt like I rode for Ducati, but now I really feel as if I am a Ducati rider. The team, sponsors and Ducati fans have really taken me in and supported me a lot, and I really hope to pay them back with the results they deserve. Next year I'll be teamed with some guy named Rossi, who knows a little something about bikes! We're going to have a strong squad. I won't predict results, but I have no doubt this team will have some real passion, real worth ethic and a lot of fun. It is the start of a new era at Ducati, and it is an honor for me to be a part of it.”
FILIPPO PREZIOSI (Director, Ducati Corse): “We are really pleased that Nicky will be staying with us for the next two years. It is no secret that he is a rider who never gives up; his whole racing history shows it. As a person, his tenacity is an example for us all because he shows us that nothing is impossible if you truly believe. His progress since arriving at Ducati has been impressive, and I am sure this trend will continue in the future. Nicky is also a special rider because of his attention to every detail, and for him having Valentino as his teammate means a huge contribution toward the development of an even more competitive motorcycle. I think it is these characteristics that have won the hearts of all the Ducatisti, and that is the reason why a Ducati is the bike for him right now.”
***
Kawasaki rider Bryan Smith won the Lucas Oil Indy Mile AMA Flat Track Grand National expert main event Saturday night at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
Smith edged Harley-Davidson rider Chris Carr by .139 of a second in the 25-lap race.
***
Five-time 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan is pleased to see MotoGP returning to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2011. Doohan has been a visitor to the Red Bull Indianapolis GP paddock this weekend.
MICK DOOHAN: "I think it's great that there's another event here in the United States. It's good to have an event here on this side -- almost to the East Coast. It gives the (fans) who can't get out to California a look at what happens in MotoGP. It's good to see that it finally came here. I came here in the early part of this decade to look at the track and speak to Tony George and Mel Harder about bringing MotoGP here, so for me it's good to see that it's finally arrived.”
***
1993 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz talked about the Red Bull Indianapolis GP returning to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2011 and other topics in the paddock. Schwantz is managing the Team Honda/Moriwaki wild-card entry in Moto2 for American rider Roger Lee Hayden.
KEVIN SCHWANTZ: "I've been a supporter of this event from day one. Indy does a good job promoting this event, pulling this event off even with the obstacles that have been thrown at them the past couple of years. To hear that we are coming back for another year does my heart well.” (About motorcycle racing in the U.S.): “The problem we have in this country with this two-wheel sport is that we just don't have the exposure. We don't get the support, the recognition that it gets in Europe, and that's what makes it as big as it is worldwide, between Europe and Asia and South America. MotoGP is as big as soccer is. We'll always struggle with that, having baseball, football and basketball here. But at the same time, a good venue, a great city like Indianapolis -- what a place to host such a great event with the Speedway with all the heritage it has in racing. I think everybody who drives into this place realizes what those bricks mean to motor racing.” (About the racetrack): “My take is that there are tracks out there that need resurfacing; there are tracks that are smooth as a baby's bum. The good riders excel whether the surface is slick or bumpy or smooth – still find a way to be the best that they can be and put their motorcycle somewhere the front.”
***
125cc WARM-UP:
At 8:30 a.m., the ambient temperature was 72 degrees F (22 C) with a relative humidity of 83 percent and south-southeast winds at 5 mph (8 km/h). Skies were sunny.
•Pole lap, Saturday: 1:48.124, #93 Marc Marquez
8:40 a.m. – GREEN.
9 a.m. – CHECKERED. End of session.
***
Top Five Riders, 125cc Warm-Up:
1. #93 Marc Marquez 1:48.352
2. #38 Bradley Smith 1:48.842
3. #40 Nicolas Terol 1:49.034
4. #39 Luis Salom 1:49.121
5. #44 Pol Espargaro 1:49.229
Top trap speed: #39 Salom, 139.6 mph (224.7 km/h)
***
Moto2 WARM-UP:
At 9:10 a.m., the ambient temperature was 73 degrees F (22 C) with a relative humidity of 83 percent and south winds at 5 mph (8 km/h). Skies were sunny.
•Pole lap, Saturday: 1:46.139, #60 Julian Simon
9:10 a.m. – GREEN.
9:26 a.m. -- #6 Debon slides out, walks away from accident.
9:27 a.m. -- #48 Tomizawa crashes, walks away from accident.
9:29 a.m. -- #40 Gadea slides off track in Turn 10, remounts bike, continues.
9:30 a.m. – CHECKERED. End of session.
***
Top Five Riders, Moto2 Warm-Up:
1. #29 Andrea Iannone 1:45.720
2. #60 Julian Simon 1:45.943
3. #45 Scott Redding 1:45.982
4. #3 Simone Corsi 1:46.309
5. #40 Sergio Gadea 1:46.449
Top trap speed: #29 Iannone, 168.2 mph (270.7 km/h)
Americans: #34 Roger Lee Hayden, 12th, 1:46.784; #42 Jason DiSalvo, 17th, 1:46.910; #9 Kenny Noyes, 29th, 1:47.345.
***
MotoGP WARM-UP:
At 9:30 a.m., the ambient temperature was 77 degrees F (25 C) with a relative humidity of 74 percent and south winds at 6 mph (10 km/h). Skies were sunny.
•Pole lap, Saturday: 1:40.105, #11 Ben Spies
9:40 a.m. – GREEN.
9:55 a.m. -- #46 Rossi falls in Turn 11, continues to pits. Third crash this weekend.
9:58 a.m. -- #46 Rossi returns to track.
10 a.m. – CHECKERED. End of session.
***
Top Five Riders, MotoGP Warm-up:
1. #99 Jorge Lorenzo 1:40.482
2. #26 Dani Pedrosa 1:40.708
3. #11 Ben Spies 1:40.711
4. #27 Casey Stoner 1:40.804
5. #4 Andrea Dovizioso 1:40.883
Top trap speed: #26 Pedrosa, 197.3 mph (317.6 km/h)
Other Americans: #69 Nicky Hayden, seventh, 1:41.012; #5 Colin Edwards, 12th, 1:41.670.
The top nine riders in this session