Sense of Urgency in Indy MotoGP Warm Up
Larry Lawrence | August 10, 2014
Photography by Gold & Goose
INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 10, 2014) – The final warm up for MotoGP riders had a little extra urgency to it than normal. The reason is that, while the chances are low, there is at least some forecasts that show the possibility of rain sometime in the afternoon during the timeframe of the seventh running of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP. With that in mind many of the teams did bike change practice in case they need to go from dry to wet setup or vice versa.
Unsurprisingly it was pole winner Marc Marquez who topped the session with a 1:32.727. Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone rounded out the top runners in warm up. Jorge Lorenzo and Pol Espargaro finished out the top five.
Another decision riders and teams will have to make is what tire to choose for the race. This is the first race on the newly reconfigured IMS road course and add to that that the entire infield section was resurfaced, so there are a lot of question marks on just which compound will be best over the course of the 27-lap race.
Four former winners are in today’s field – Marquez, Dani Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.
Marquez is the defending winner of the race and heavily favored to become the second two-time Indianapolis winner going into this afternoon’s event. This race kicks off the second half of the 2014 MotoGP season and Marquez comes into Indy undefeated in 2014.
If Pedrosa is going to beat his Honda teammate Indianapolis might be the place he could do it. Pedrosa is the only two-time winner of the Indianapolis GP and both the races he won were in convincing fashion. He beat Ben Spies 3.575 seconds in the 2010 race and then in 2012 he absolutely walked away from the field winning by nearly 11 seconds ahead of Lorenzo. Pedrosa was also twice runner up in the race, last year to Marquez and in 2011 to Casey Stoner.
Lorenzo won Indy in 2009, and after recently re-signing with Yamaha, is eager to get to work to close the gap on Honda and Marquez. Ditto for Rossi, who won the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP in 2008.
The race starts at 2:00 pm Eastern and can be watched live on Fox Sports 1.
MotoGP Warm Up Results from Indianapolis – Aug. 10, 2014
1 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1’32.727
2 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 1’33.068
3 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 1’33.078
4 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1’33.093
5 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1’33.140
6 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1’33.194
7 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1’33.249
8 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1’33.401
9 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1’33.476
10 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1’33.934
11 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 1’33.989
12 45 Scott REDDING GBR GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 1’34.130
13 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 1’34.135
14 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Drive M7 Aspar Honda 1’34.167
15 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Honda 1’34.335
16 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Ducati Team Ducati 1’34.353
17 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Octo IodaRacing Team ART 1’34.405
18 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 1’34.634
19 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Racing Avintia 1’34.790
20 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Avintia Racing Avintia 1’34.875
21 2 Leon CAMIER GBR Drive M7 Aspar Honda 1’34.925
22 70 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 1’35.317
23 23 Broc PARKES AUS Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 1’35.495
Larry Lawrence | Archives Editor
In addition to writing our Archives section on a weekly basis, Lawrence is another who is capable of covering any event we throw his way.
