By Ken de la Bastide, For The Herald Bulletin
SPEEDWAY — Unlike the first visit of the MotoGP riders to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, the riders were greeted with dry track conditions with new track records being established in all three divisions.
Last year, rain impacted qualifying for the MotoGP, 250cc and 125cc classes, and storms on race day resulted in the shortening of the MotoGP and 125cc races and the cancellation of the 250cc event.
Existing track records were shattered during Saturday qualifying in all three classes in preparation for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP today. The 125cc race starts at noon, followed by the 250cc class at 1:15 p.m. and the MotoGP at 3 p.m.
Thousands of fans took advantage of the sunny, cool weather to watch practice and qualifying with throngs of people gathered on the infield road circuit at the crucial corners leading from and to the long front and back straightaways
As he has done all weekend, Dani Pedrosa topped the speed chart following qualifying for the MotoGP. Pedrosa was fastest during both the Friday and Saturday practice sessions and followed that up by capturing his second pole position of the year.
Pedrosa set a new track record with a time of 1 minute, 39.730 seconds and was one of four drivers to break the mark set by Valentino Rossi in 2008 of 1:40.776. Pedrosa’s time was the fastest ever at IMS on a motorcycle.
It broke a string of seven consecutive pole positions for the Fiat Yamaha team of Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Pedrosa won the pole position in Germany.
Lorenzo, Rossi and Alex De Angelis all topped the old mark. Americans Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden posted the fifth and sixth quickest time. Hayden finished second in 2008, and Edwards is coming off a 15th-place showing at IMS.
During the final practice session before qualifying, Pedrosa turned the fastest lap ever on a motorcycle at IMS with a time of 1:40.271. Pedrosa on Friday turned the fastest lap in the first practice session under wet track conditions at 1:51.507 for the Repsol Honda team.
France’s Mike Di Meglio grabbed the pole position for the 250cc race on the last lap of qualifying posting a time of 1:44.341 to break the mark set last year by Marco Simoncelli of 1:45.168.
Points leader Hiroshi Aoyama was second quick followed by Simoncelli and Hector Barbera.
Seven drivers broke the old track record in the class.
Spain’s Julian Simon led an assault on the old track record in the 125cc class, capturing the pole position with a time of 1:49.337, shattering the mark set last year by Pol Espargaro by more than a second.
Fourteen drivers topped Espargaro’s mark of 1:50.475 set in 2008. German rider Sandro Cortese turned a lap at 1:49.387 to join Simon on the front of the starting grid. Nicolas Terol was third quick followed by Esparago.
“I am really happy. It was a very good result,” Simon said after capturing the pole position. “The track conditions, it was tough in some corners, but overall it was very, very good.”
Simon said during the Friday practice there was a problem with the suspension and chassis, but the team gave him a good set-up for qualifying.
Houston native Kevin Schwantz, the 1993 world champion, said the atmosphere in Indianapolis was like at any great Grand Prix event around the world.
“The layout here at the Speedway, the big, long back straightaway, as well as the super-long front straightaway, gives a bike that maybe isn’t handling as well a chance to catch back up in the draft,” he said. “That will keep the racing close throughout the day.”
Schwantz said it’s great to see how many people in America care about the sport.
“The sport, if it has a home, it seems like it’s mostly Europe,” he said. “But to come here and see how well the U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca and especially here in Indianapolis, how both events have grown and the support the American fans give it. Anybody that knows anything about any form of motorsport knows Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For MotoGP to be here, it’s really special.”
