| Indianapolis Motor Speedway |
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Much will hinge on the adaptability of bikes and especially tyres at a circuit the engineers have no previous data for. A crucial factor will be track temperature, although it looks certain to be much cooler than recent events at Laguna Seca, Brno and in particular Misano, where the late European summer sunshine brought ambient temperatures of 35ºC, heating the asphalt to 48ºC. At Indianapolis average temperatures in September range from highs of around 25ºC to lows touching 13ºC.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the largest spectator sporting facility in the world, with 257,000 permanent seats. Originally constructed in 1909 with a 2.5-mile oval, an exciting 16-turn motorcycle road circuit, which includes part of the historic oval, has been purpose-built for this weekend’s event. Action will get underway an hour earlier than usual, with the first practice session scheduled for 9.30am on Friday and running until 11am, allowing the riders an extra half hour to get to know the track. Sunday’s race is also scheduled for later than usual, with the red lights set to go out at 3pm.
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Valentino Rossi – A different challenge
“I am still on a high from Misano, which was an amazing day, but now we are facing a different challenge. It’s very exciting to be going to Indianapolis, such a famous and historical place for motorposrt, but it’s obvious from reports that it’s going to be quite a difficult race for everyone. Of course we have no data but we’re also expecting the surface to be quite tricky for the tyres. I hope the track is safe, we know the walls are quite close in some places but hopefully it won’t be a problem. We will find out on Friday! It’s fun to be going to a new place in America and I hope there will be a lot of fans, even if it’s not quite as many as at the Indy 500!” |
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Jorge Lorenzo – “A famous place!”
“Returning to the United States is really exciting for me, not for the fact we’re going back there but because we’re racing at a completely new circuit. Indianapolis is a historic place, which we have all heard people talking about at one time or another. It’s a track I’ve seen hundreds of times in movies and on the television. As far as I’m concerned, I just want to keep in a good run of form and stay at the level we found at San Marino, where everything worked as we’d hoped once again. The whole team and myself have to focus throughout all four sessions because they will be crucial to prepare for the race. There are five rounds until the end of the world championship and we have to keep fighting to meet our objectives. This is the first of a difficult run of races outside Europe.” Davide Brivio – “Expecting a great weekend” Daniele Romagnoli – “Indy is a magical track” Valentino Rossi : Information Jorge Lorenzo: Information |
