MotoGP 2008 – Round 14 – Indianapolis (USA) – Day 1 – Dorna Report
The MotoGP World Championship´s first day of action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw attention turning away from the impressive new circuit and towards the skies, as torrential rain hit the American track during the 800cc action at The Brickyard.
Whilst the conditions were to few riders´ tastes as they looked to set up their bikes from scratch, wet weather star Anthony West was able to settle in nicely onboard the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR. The Australian star is known for his adaptation to new tracks and ability to perform amidst a deluge, and didn´t disappoint Stateside with a 1´53.034 lap of the IMS circuit in the opening practice session. He was also the fastest in the second run under even heavier rain, albeit with a slower time.
The Kawasaki rider was out to impress as he looks for a ride for 2009, and at the very least put himself on the highlight reel for the day with a spectacular save from the brink of a huge highside in Free Practice 2. With the meteorological picture unlikely to change this weekend, West could be one of the principal beneficiaries.
With no rider able to improve on their times in the second session, Alex de Angelis retained his second place on the combined standings list, a tenth of a second behind West. The San Carlo Honda Gresini rider pushed hard on his afternoon run, going off-track and onto the grass onboard his satellite RC212V.
Reigning World Champion Casey Stoner did not seem too shaken up from a morning crash when he continued his Indianapolis adaptation process, and he remains the rider with the third fastest time from Friday. Andrea Dovizioso was the highest placing Michelin rider with the French range of wet rubber, ahead of Bridgestone-shod Kawasaki and Suzuki riders John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen.
Jorge Lorenzo, the home duo of Nicky Hayden & Ben Spies, plus form-rider Toni Elias, completed the top ten.
Series leader Valentino Rossi looked more at home in the second session, although he did take a trip off-track to the banked first oval corner -not featured in the MotoGP layout- during the run.
The only rider who improved upon their morning times was Repsol Honda´s Dani Pedrosa, getting acclimatised to new Bridgestone tyres, a new engine and the all-new circuit.
The final placing American was Colin Edwards in fifteenth, but rather than `The Texas Tornado´, the main focus of the day was the predicted arrival of Hurricane Ike, which could hit Indiana over the course of the weekend.
With excessive rain proving to be a great leveller at Indianapolis, Karel Abraham rounded off a day of surprises at the soaking American circuit by taking a last-gasp 250cc provisional pole. The Czech rider clocked a time of 2´02.529 on his sixteenth and final lap of the first quarter-litre qualifying session, the risk associated with a track flooded in places paying off for the Cardion AB man.
Abraham was over a tenth of a second faster than second placed Hiroshi Aoyama, who himself made a late push onboard his Red Bull KTM machine. The Japanese rider had collided with teammate Mika Kallio at Misano in the race, and they were alongside each other once more on the provisional front row for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Said first line is completed by Irish rider Eugene Laverty who, like Abraham, pushed his somewhat inferior machinery to its limits in the wet and reaped the rewards at the end of the session. The Blusens Aprilia rider had participated in supersport competition last weekend under similar conditions, and made the most of his recent experience to claim his provisional grid spot.
Lotus Aprilia´s Alex Debon, second Czech rider Lukas Pesek, Yamaha´s Doni Tata Pradita and KTM man Julian Simon put themselves on row two, whilst there was no place in the upper echelons for some of the established stars of the series. Series leader Marco Simoncelli placed fifteenth, whilst title contender Alvaro Bautista was the lowest classifying rider. Mattia Pasini did not make the cut on any of his four laps in the afternoon run.
Lorenzo Zanetti´s was the surprise name at the top of the 125cc timing screen at the end of the opening qualifying session for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, with the Italian grabbing provisional pole courtesy of a 1´58.491 lap.
In tricky conditions of persistent rain and ample track spray, the ISPA KTM Aran rider made a strong showing at the latest circuit to be added to the World Championship calendar. If he holds onto the provisional top spot on Saturday it will be an astonishing result for the man who has a highest grid position of 19th (at Assen) this season.
Zanetti was just under four-tenths of a second faster than Blusens Aprilia´s Scott Redding in the session, with Andrea Iannone –quickest in Free Practice 1- joining the top three. Wet weather expert and series leader Mike di Meglio completes the provisional front row.
The second line of attack for the Indianapolis date has Marc Marquez´ name pencilled at its head, with the Repsol KTM rider set to line up alongside Sandro Cortese, Stefan Bradl and Bradley Smith should things remain the same.
There were crashes in the session for Raffaele de Rosa and Gabor Talmacsi, with the latter not reemerging for further work after tumbling out on his fifth lap. The Hungarian is in the running for a fourth consecutive pole position, but could only place eleventh on Friday.