12-09-2008, 06:51pm
Well another weekend is about to kick off with the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP which should make for some interesting racing as no one has raced on the circuit before so with any luck it may even up the field a little even though the factory boys should still be leading the way.
The 1st round of Free Practice is not for a few hours yet so until then some light reading for those interested.
So go the Aussies.
Rossi Biting at the Bit to get out on the Track
MotoGP World Championship leader Valentino Rossi was excited about the weekend ahead of him in the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix press conference on Thursday.
Speaking to the media in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway media centre on Thursday afternoon, on the eve of MotoGP´s historic first ever Indianapolis weekend, standings leader and motorsport icon Valentino Rossi was excited about getting a first sample of the new layout at the famous American venue.
`This track is a bit strange because it was built for cars and has been modified so everybody is quite curious to try it with our MotoGP bikes,´ commented Rossi. `The complex is fantastic, this place is full of history and it is fascinating to see a track with hundreds of thousands of seats to see a race.´
Still buzzing after his superb victory on home territory at Misano Rossi summarised the championship situation saying, `I am coming here after a very good race, a very good result for me. I am in good shape, I am riding quite well and I have been very fast recently so I am very happy about that. My advantage in the championship is quite big after these recent races, but there are five to go and it is still a long way until the end of the season.´
Having arrived in the United States last weekend Rossi has been enjoying his latest `American adventure´ and told the press, `This week I have launched the new Yamaha R1 in Las Vegas and then I have been in New York for two days. Not many people recognised me there so it was almost like having a normal life! But of course our target is to try and improve the popularity in the U.S. and you can see when we go to Laguna that it is already much bigger than when we went there three years ago.´
Rossi´s former Fiat Yamaha team-mate, Colin Edwards, the Texan rider who now represents the Tech 3 Yamaha team, was alongside the Italian on Thursday´s rider panel and provided his own thoughts on the mystique of Indianapolis.
`It is hard to explain how big Indianapolis is in the States,´ said Edwards. `I mean when I was a kid on Indy 500 weekend the country just basically shut down! It was like the Superbowl of racing at the time. As a kid growing up with that it left me with great memories of Indy.´
Stoner wants to Enjoy whats left of the Season
Though Casey Stoner has only an outside chance of retaining his MotoGP title he is determined to enjoy the rest of the 2008 season.
Determined not to let his nagging scaphoid injury and the 75-point World Championship deficit to standings leader Valentino Rossi affect his confidence, the MotoGP title holder Casey Stoner remains positive about the rest of the season.
The Australian has crashed out of the last two Grands Prix at Brno and Misano, allowing Rossi to surge ahead in the title fight, but the consistently competitive performances of his Ducati Desmosedici GP8 mean Stoner is still upbeat about what he can achieve in the remaining five rounds of the year – starting with the exciting first MotoGP visit to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Stoner always enjoys travelling to the United States and commented, `I can´t wait to go back to America and race at Indianapolis, a circuit nobody knows but where I am sure our bike and tyres will work just as well as they have done at the last few races.´
`Obviously I´m not happy with the results of the last few races,´ continued the talented 22 year-old. `We have proved that we are consistently fast but that clearly isn´t enough. I know that I have got the support of a great team and a bike I have a great feeling with. I´m going to try to enjoy riding it over the final few races, which all take place at circuits I like a lot.´
Acknowledging the possible distraction his wrist problem could cause, however, Stoner explained the dilemma he faces with the injury, which could become aggravated as the season concludes.
He admitted, `I have to think about the scaphoid that we thought had healed back in 2003, but is still giving me problems. For the time being I have to deal with it but we´re talking to the doctors about what to do with it in the future.´
Ducati´s MotoGP Project Director Livio Suppo is certainly backing Stoner to do a good job, but also sounded a note of caution about the troublesome injury.
`Casey has an incredible ability to adapt to new things so I think he can do really well on a circuit that is unknown to everybody,´ declared Suppo. `We´re hoping that the problems he had with his wrist at Misano don´t prevent him from riding at his maximum this weekend. Casey underwent a CAT scan last week, which showed that the scaphoid he fractured and had operated on back in 2003 has never completely healed. With the support of a pool of doctors over the next few weeks, Casey will decide if another operation is going to be necessary.´
Hayden on the Move
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden had plenty to say on Thursday ahead of his home race at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Having done so much work to promote the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix this year, with two demonstration rides at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway undertaken in April and May, Nicky Hayden is determined to enjoy the experience this weekend despite his injury problems.
Hayden has not ridden since Laguna Seca in July due to a heel injury and still need crutches to walk, but he is excited about racing in Indiana, so close to his hometown of Owensboro, in the neighbouring state of Kentucky.
On the build-up to the historic MotoGP Indy date Hayden commented, `It just doesn´t seem real. Yesterday driving up here from home I was half way here by the time I would normally just be getting to the airport to fly off somewhere else. I have never really road-raced so close to home in my life. It is an awesome opportunity for me and for MotoGP.´
Confirming that he would be leaving Honda at the end of the current campaign, Hayden noted that he had achieved a great deal with his current team and stopped short of naming who he will be riding for in 2009, despite huge press speculation linking him with Ducati.
`I know it´s going to be a big change for me, and hopefully the announcement will be coming soon,´ he commented. `But still, there´s five races to go this season. That´s a lot of racing. I have had a long history with Honda. We´ve had a lot of good races together, won championships in the AMA, and obviously the World Championship was the big one. But I think it´s time to move on, try something different.´
Meanwhile, when asked for his thoughts on his team-mate Dani Pedrosa´s sensational mid-season switch from Michelin to Bridgestone tyres Hayden revealed, `It is quite a touchy subject. I was shocked when I found out. I wasn´t asked and I kind of heard on the street. In Misano they told me before the race and I couldn´t believe it like everyone else.´
`I doesn´t really change a whole lot for me,´ added the 2006 World Champion. `I mean it is one less rider on Michelins which I think hurts. It is getting close to being a `spec´ tyre now as there are only five or six of us left that are not on Bridgestone.´
`Obviously there will now be a wall down the middle of the pit-box, but to be honest there was already a bit of a wall there. So it doesn´t change a whole lot. I guess it is a bit of a drama and in MotoGP there is never a dull day!´
Hayden was also asked if there was any truth to a rumour that he could split with Honda before the end of the current campaign, but denied the suggestion and responded, `I do not have any intention not to do the rest of the season with Honda. That seems crazy. That was what some people thought after Misano but I owe it to Honda to go out and race. I think they know that, or at least the guys in my team do. I am not going to lay down until the very end at Valencia. Unless they lock the door over there on me I am going over there and getting on the bike!´
`It could happen,´ quipped Hayden light-heartedly. `There are probably people in that box that if I didn´t show up would probably never notice! But no, I plan on going to race.´
The 1st round of Free Practice is not for a few hours yet so until then some light reading for those interested.
So go the Aussies.
Rossi Biting at the Bit to get out on the Track
MotoGP World Championship leader Valentino Rossi was excited about the weekend ahead of him in the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix press conference on Thursday.
Speaking to the media in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway media centre on Thursday afternoon, on the eve of MotoGP´s historic first ever Indianapolis weekend, standings leader and motorsport icon Valentino Rossi was excited about getting a first sample of the new layout at the famous American venue.
`This track is a bit strange because it was built for cars and has been modified so everybody is quite curious to try it with our MotoGP bikes,´ commented Rossi. `The complex is fantastic, this place is full of history and it is fascinating to see a track with hundreds of thousands of seats to see a race.´
Still buzzing after his superb victory on home territory at Misano Rossi summarised the championship situation saying, `I am coming here after a very good race, a very good result for me. I am in good shape, I am riding quite well and I have been very fast recently so I am very happy about that. My advantage in the championship is quite big after these recent races, but there are five to go and it is still a long way until the end of the season.´
Having arrived in the United States last weekend Rossi has been enjoying his latest `American adventure´ and told the press, `This week I have launched the new Yamaha R1 in Las Vegas and then I have been in New York for two days. Not many people recognised me there so it was almost like having a normal life! But of course our target is to try and improve the popularity in the U.S. and you can see when we go to Laguna that it is already much bigger than when we went there three years ago.´
Rossi´s former Fiat Yamaha team-mate, Colin Edwards, the Texan rider who now represents the Tech 3 Yamaha team, was alongside the Italian on Thursday´s rider panel and provided his own thoughts on the mystique of Indianapolis.
`It is hard to explain how big Indianapolis is in the States,´ said Edwards. `I mean when I was a kid on Indy 500 weekend the country just basically shut down! It was like the Superbowl of racing at the time. As a kid growing up with that it left me with great memories of Indy.´
Stoner wants to Enjoy whats left of the Season
Though Casey Stoner has only an outside chance of retaining his MotoGP title he is determined to enjoy the rest of the 2008 season.
Determined not to let his nagging scaphoid injury and the 75-point World Championship deficit to standings leader Valentino Rossi affect his confidence, the MotoGP title holder Casey Stoner remains positive about the rest of the season.
The Australian has crashed out of the last two Grands Prix at Brno and Misano, allowing Rossi to surge ahead in the title fight, but the consistently competitive performances of his Ducati Desmosedici GP8 mean Stoner is still upbeat about what he can achieve in the remaining five rounds of the year – starting with the exciting first MotoGP visit to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Stoner always enjoys travelling to the United States and commented, `I can´t wait to go back to America and race at Indianapolis, a circuit nobody knows but where I am sure our bike and tyres will work just as well as they have done at the last few races.´
`Obviously I´m not happy with the results of the last few races,´ continued the talented 22 year-old. `We have proved that we are consistently fast but that clearly isn´t enough. I know that I have got the support of a great team and a bike I have a great feeling with. I´m going to try to enjoy riding it over the final few races, which all take place at circuits I like a lot.´
Acknowledging the possible distraction his wrist problem could cause, however, Stoner explained the dilemma he faces with the injury, which could become aggravated as the season concludes.
He admitted, `I have to think about the scaphoid that we thought had healed back in 2003, but is still giving me problems. For the time being I have to deal with it but we´re talking to the doctors about what to do with it in the future.´
Ducati´s MotoGP Project Director Livio Suppo is certainly backing Stoner to do a good job, but also sounded a note of caution about the troublesome injury.
`Casey has an incredible ability to adapt to new things so I think he can do really well on a circuit that is unknown to everybody,´ declared Suppo. `We´re hoping that the problems he had with his wrist at Misano don´t prevent him from riding at his maximum this weekend. Casey underwent a CAT scan last week, which showed that the scaphoid he fractured and had operated on back in 2003 has never completely healed. With the support of a pool of doctors over the next few weeks, Casey will decide if another operation is going to be necessary.´
Hayden on the Move
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden had plenty to say on Thursday ahead of his home race at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Having done so much work to promote the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix this year, with two demonstration rides at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway undertaken in April and May, Nicky Hayden is determined to enjoy the experience this weekend despite his injury problems.
Hayden has not ridden since Laguna Seca in July due to a heel injury and still need crutches to walk, but he is excited about racing in Indiana, so close to his hometown of Owensboro, in the neighbouring state of Kentucky.
On the build-up to the historic MotoGP Indy date Hayden commented, `It just doesn´t seem real. Yesterday driving up here from home I was half way here by the time I would normally just be getting to the airport to fly off somewhere else. I have never really road-raced so close to home in my life. It is an awesome opportunity for me and for MotoGP.´
Confirming that he would be leaving Honda at the end of the current campaign, Hayden noted that he had achieved a great deal with his current team and stopped short of naming who he will be riding for in 2009, despite huge press speculation linking him with Ducati.
`I know it´s going to be a big change for me, and hopefully the announcement will be coming soon,´ he commented. `But still, there´s five races to go this season. That´s a lot of racing. I have had a long history with Honda. We´ve had a lot of good races together, won championships in the AMA, and obviously the World Championship was the big one. But I think it´s time to move on, try something different.´
Meanwhile, when asked for his thoughts on his team-mate Dani Pedrosa´s sensational mid-season switch from Michelin to Bridgestone tyres Hayden revealed, `It is quite a touchy subject. I was shocked when I found out. I wasn´t asked and I kind of heard on the street. In Misano they told me before the race and I couldn´t believe it like everyone else.´
`I doesn´t really change a whole lot for me,´ added the 2006 World Champion. `I mean it is one less rider on Michelins which I think hurts. It is getting close to being a `spec´ tyre now as there are only five or six of us left that are not on Bridgestone.´
`Obviously there will now be a wall down the middle of the pit-box, but to be honest there was already a bit of a wall there. So it doesn´t change a whole lot. I guess it is a bit of a drama and in MotoGP there is never a dull day!´
Hayden was also asked if there was any truth to a rumour that he could split with Honda before the end of the current campaign, but denied the suggestion and responded, `I do not have any intention not to do the rest of the season with Honda. That seems crazy. That was what some people thought after Misano but I owe it to Honda to go out and race. I think they know that, or at least the guys in my team do. I am not going to lay down until the very end at Valencia. Unless they lock the door over there on me I am going over there and getting on the bike!´
`It could happen,´ quipped Hayden light-heartedly. `There are probably people in that box that if I didn´t show up would probably never notice! But no, I plan on going to race.´
