-
Home
- TV Shows
- TV Schedule
- NASCAR
-
Latest Headlines: NASCAR
-
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
MotoGP
MOTOGP: Noyes’ Notebook - Indy Reflections
Dennis Noyes comments on the Indy GP, the developing engine situation for the title contenders, and the real cause of Ben Spies' Laguna Seca crash.
Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa leads Yamaha Factory Racing teammates Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo (Photo: Yamaha Racing)
The 2012 Red Bull Indianapolis GP will probably be remembered primarily for the three huge highside crashes suffered by Casey Stoner, Nicky Hayden, and Ben Spies and by the catastrophic engine failure of Spies' factory Yamaha just as he completed lap six.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) had taken the lead on lap three and was unaware of the blow-up until he saw yellow flags the next lap. Jorge Lorenzo (factory Yamaha), running third and closing on his Yamaha teammate, was able to get past easily, but the following pack -- Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha Tech 3), Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda), Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda), Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda) and Cal Cutchlow (Tech3 Yamaha) -- all found themselves flying blind into the smokescreen.
Doviziozo, eventually third behind Pedrosa and Lorenzo, described the scene: “I could see nothing and I did not know where Spies was in all that smoke.”
Lap times show that, other than Pedrosa and Lorenzo, the rest of the riders in the chasing pack all slowed by two or three seconds making their where through the smokescreen, losing contact with the two leaders.
Pedrosa led all the way after passing Spies down the home straight on lap 3, but the race was not completely uneventful for the Honda rider. In the post-press conference meeting with the Spanish press, Dani said: "I was watching my board to see how close Spies and Lorenzo were, but then I saw the yellow flags and realized Spies has stopped. I was able to pull away from Jorge. A couple of times he took back a tenth or two, but I was able to extend my lead until Turn 2 on lap 18 when I got a false neutral and ran off line onto the dirty part of the track. The bike went sideways but I was able to stay on track. That cost about a second, but after that I just concentrated and kept a good pace."
Pedrosa is now the only rider to have won two MotoGP races from the five GPs run since 2008 at the IMS. Pedrosa has cut Lorenzo's margin from 39 to 18 since Assen. There are still 175 points in play.
Lorenzo's Gamble
Lorenzo made what he later called a “risky” tire choice. With all the factory and satellite prototypes running the harder of the Bridgestone rear tire options, Lorenzo went for the softer “medium” compound. Among riders on factory supplied bikes, only Toni Elias, filling in for the injured Hector Barberá on the Pramac Honda, made the same choice. The medium rear was the used by almost all CRT riders because the less powerful bikes with production-derived engines found they could not get enough heat into the harder rear.
Jorge, speaking in Spanish to the Spanish press after the post race press conference, wasn’t really sure why he had gone with the softer compound and also wasn’t convinced that he could have been faster over race distance with the harder tire: "It was not an easy choice. Ramón (Forcada, Jorge’s crew chief) and I talked about it for maybe an hour, looking at all the data. Finally I just felt more comfortable on the softer tire. I can't really say why. Nothing in the data said so either. But often, because of my riding style, I can use a softer tire. I thought I would have some advantage at the first and that the tire would work well enough over race distance. But I didn't get a good start and when I was following Dani, I could not close the gap. At the end of the race I was struggling, but I really don’t know if I would have been faster on the tire Dani chose."
Stone-Cold Courage
Casey Stoner rode a brave race and finished fourth after his huge highsider and ankle injury in qualifying.
Dovizioso, third, was full of praise for the Australian. "I always want to beat Casey, for sure, but this race he could not push. I could see he could not have the right position on the bike. He could not ride like Stoner."
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) had taken the lead on lap three and was unaware of the blow-up until he saw yellow flags the next lap. Jorge Lorenzo (factory Yamaha), running third and closing on his Yamaha teammate, was able to get past easily, but the following pack -- Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha Tech 3), Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda), Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda), Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda) and Cal Cutchlow (Tech3 Yamaha) -- all found themselves flying blind into the smokescreen.
Doviziozo, eventually third behind Pedrosa and Lorenzo, described the scene: “I could see nothing and I did not know where Spies was in all that smoke.”
Lap times show that, other than Pedrosa and Lorenzo, the rest of the riders in the chasing pack all slowed by two or three seconds making their where through the smokescreen, losing contact with the two leaders.
Pedrosa led all the way after passing Spies down the home straight on lap 3, but the race was not completely uneventful for the Honda rider. In the post-press conference meeting with the Spanish press, Dani said: "I was watching my board to see how close Spies and Lorenzo were, but then I saw the yellow flags and realized Spies has stopped. I was able to pull away from Jorge. A couple of times he took back a tenth or two, but I was able to extend my lead until Turn 2 on lap 18 when I got a false neutral and ran off line onto the dirty part of the track. The bike went sideways but I was able to stay on track. That cost about a second, but after that I just concentrated and kept a good pace."
Pedrosa is now the only rider to have won two MotoGP races from the five GPs run since 2008 at the IMS. Pedrosa has cut Lorenzo's margin from 39 to 18 since Assen. There are still 175 points in play.
Lorenzo's Gamble
Lorenzo made what he later called a “risky” tire choice. With all the factory and satellite prototypes running the harder of the Bridgestone rear tire options, Lorenzo went for the softer “medium” compound. Among riders on factory supplied bikes, only Toni Elias, filling in for the injured Hector Barberá on the Pramac Honda, made the same choice. The medium rear was the used by almost all CRT riders because the less powerful bikes with production-derived engines found they could not get enough heat into the harder rear.
Jorge, speaking in Spanish to the Spanish press after the post race press conference, wasn’t really sure why he had gone with the softer compound and also wasn’t convinced that he could have been faster over race distance with the harder tire: "It was not an easy choice. Ramón (Forcada, Jorge’s crew chief) and I talked about it for maybe an hour, looking at all the data. Finally I just felt more comfortable on the softer tire. I can't really say why. Nothing in the data said so either. But often, because of my riding style, I can use a softer tire. I thought I would have some advantage at the first and that the tire would work well enough over race distance. But I didn't get a good start and when I was following Dani, I could not close the gap. At the end of the race I was struggling, but I really don’t know if I would have been faster on the tire Dani chose."
Stone-Cold Courage
Casey Stoner rode a brave race and finished fourth after his huge highsider and ankle injury in qualifying.
Dovizioso, third, was full of praise for the Australian. "I always want to beat Casey, for sure, but this race he could not push. I could see he could not have the right position on the bike. He could not ride like Stoner."
Grand Prix of The Americas
LATEST HEADLINES: MOTO-RACING
-
AMA MX: Hangtown Ticker (UPDATED)
Notes and quotes following this past weekend's Lucas Oil Pro Motocross… -
VIDEO: AMA MX - Hangtown Classic Highlights
Ryan Villopoto kicked off the '13 Lucias Oil Motocross season in… -
AMA DSB: Westby Back In Action
Dane Westby was back on a bike after his Daytona injury to test at… -
AMA DSB: Heirs To The Throne
AMA Pro's second offseason is finally coming to an end and with it… -
MOTOGP: Crutchlow Takes Career-Best Result
Cal Crutchlow worked his forward to claim a runner-up result in the… -
PHOTOS: MotoGP - French Grand Prix
Dani Pedrosa leads the MotoGP World Championship after securing his… -
MOTOGP: Dovi Leads, Ducati Scores Double Top Five
Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden took full advantage of the wet… - More News
