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MotoGP
MOTOGP: Streaking Into Indy
Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies are looking to keep their decade-plus podium streaks intact with a strong effort in front of the home crowd this weekend.
Ducati Team's Nicky Hayden (Photo: Evan Williams)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Three straight hours of coverage of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP from Indianapolis, IN will air on SPEED on Sunday, August 19th starting at noon ET. MotoGP QP will air Saturday, August 18th at 10:30pm ET. #MotoGPonSPEED
One way or the other, something's got to give.
In all four previous Red Bull Indianapolis Grands Prix, there has been an American on the podium.
However, in 2012 there hasn't been an American on a MotoGP box to date. This just might prove to be the weekend that disappointing record changes, but in order to do so, someone is going to have to step up and defeat at least one of the untouchable trio of Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, and Casey Stoner, all former Indy winners.
Nicky Hayden took the second-to-last podium of his Repsol Honda career at his home race in 2008, surviving the remnants of Hurricane Ike to finish second to championship-bound Valentino Rossi in the inaugural Red Bull Indy GP. The Kentucky Kid came back to score his first podium for Ducati a year later, finishing third.
Meanwhile, fellow American Ben Spies boasts an even more impressive record at Indy. He finished sixth as a Rizla Suzuki wild card in 2008 while in the midst of his third AMA Superbike title campaign, crossing the stripe hot on the heels of Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso and ahead of both Suzuki full-timers. In Spies' rookie MotoGP season he qualified on pole and finished second to Pedrosa aboard a satellite Yamaha. And last season he qualified second and showed the pace to fight for the win if he hadn't suffered a dreadful start. The Texan still managed to pick his way up through the field to secure the final spot on the podium thanks to an impressive bevy of overtaking maneuvers.
However, neither man has managed to finish on the podium yet this season -- albeit in contrasting fashions.
Hayden has been held down by his machinery but still managed to impress, outpacing teammate Rossi on a regular basis and earning a contract renewal from Ducati. Still, a podium has rarely looked to be within his reach aboard the Desmosedici, although he got off to a strong start this morning, running third best in FP1.
Spies, meanwhile, has suffered through a disastrous campaign mired by bad luck and mistakes despite being gifted arguably the most competitive machine on the grid -- the works Yamaha M1. Widely seen as a legitimate title threat before the season began, the Texan has already announced his eventual exit from the Yamaha team and is widely expected to exit the championship altogether. That said, he has shown podium pace on a number of occasions in 2012, and if he somehow puts it all together this weekend, he should be considered not just a podium threat but a potential race winner.
Besides the extra motivation provided by the home crowd this weekend, Hayden and Spies will be spurred on by their collective desire to right what they must consider to be a serious wrong in '12. Neither man has endured a podium-less season since well prior to the start of their respective AMA Superbike careers with Hayden's nine-year streak of scoring at least one MotoGP podium of particular note.
SPEED.com Motorcycle Racing Editor Chris Martin saw Eddie Lawson win aboard a Kawasaki the first time he attended an AMA Superbike race and witnessed Ben Bostrom win a World Superbike race aboard a V&H Ducati the first time he worked one. He has written about AMA SBK, WSBK, and MotoGP for SPEED.com since 2003. Chris is now on Twitter.
One way or the other, something's got to give.
In all four previous Red Bull Indianapolis Grands Prix, there has been an American on the podium.
However, in 2012 there hasn't been an American on a MotoGP box to date. This just might prove to be the weekend that disappointing record changes, but in order to do so, someone is going to have to step up and defeat at least one of the untouchable trio of Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, and Casey Stoner, all former Indy winners.
Nicky Hayden took the second-to-last podium of his Repsol Honda career at his home race in 2008, surviving the remnants of Hurricane Ike to finish second to championship-bound Valentino Rossi in the inaugural Red Bull Indy GP. The Kentucky Kid came back to score his first podium for Ducati a year later, finishing third.
Meanwhile, fellow American Ben Spies boasts an even more impressive record at Indy. He finished sixth as a Rizla Suzuki wild card in 2008 while in the midst of his third AMA Superbike title campaign, crossing the stripe hot on the heels of Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso and ahead of both Suzuki full-timers. In Spies' rookie MotoGP season he qualified on pole and finished second to Pedrosa aboard a satellite Yamaha. And last season he qualified second and showed the pace to fight for the win if he hadn't suffered a dreadful start. The Texan still managed to pick his way up through the field to secure the final spot on the podium thanks to an impressive bevy of overtaking maneuvers.
However, neither man has managed to finish on the podium yet this season -- albeit in contrasting fashions.
Hayden has been held down by his machinery but still managed to impress, outpacing teammate Rossi on a regular basis and earning a contract renewal from Ducati. Still, a podium has rarely looked to be within his reach aboard the Desmosedici, although he got off to a strong start this morning, running third best in FP1.
Spies, meanwhile, has suffered through a disastrous campaign mired by bad luck and mistakes despite being gifted arguably the most competitive machine on the grid -- the works Yamaha M1. Widely seen as a legitimate title threat before the season began, the Texan has already announced his eventual exit from the Yamaha team and is widely expected to exit the championship altogether. That said, he has shown podium pace on a number of occasions in 2012, and if he somehow puts it all together this weekend, he should be considered not just a podium threat but a potential race winner.
Besides the extra motivation provided by the home crowd this weekend, Hayden and Spies will be spurred on by their collective desire to right what they must consider to be a serious wrong in '12. Neither man has endured a podium-less season since well prior to the start of their respective AMA Superbike careers with Hayden's nine-year streak of scoring at least one MotoGP podium of particular note.
SPEED.com Motorcycle Racing Editor Chris Martin saw Eddie Lawson win aboard a Kawasaki the first time he attended an AMA Superbike race and witnessed Ben Bostrom win a World Superbike race aboard a V&H Ducati the first time he worked one. He has written about AMA SBK, WSBK, and MotoGP for SPEED.com since 2003. Chris is now on Twitter.
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