Casey Stoner crushed ’em at the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP, establishing a lead early, extending it and then slowing his pace ever so slightly to win from Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa by 4.8 seconds. Third, 10.6 seconds out of first, was American Ben Spies, with current MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo fourth, both on Yamahas.
The early concern from the first practice laps was the new surface, which extended from Turns 5 to 16. Its smoothness was a much-appreciated departure from the bumpy, old pavement, which produced many falls last year, but it was slippery. Normally, a solvent, such as diesel oil, is part of new aggregate, enabling it to be mixed, applied and rolled more easily. But as Friday and Saturday passed, rubber was deposited on the racing line and the brown dust all could see on the surface was blown out and grip improved. On Friday morning, the normally amazing MotoGP angle of lean could be seen only in Turns 1 through 4, with bikes visibly less-leaned-over elsewhere. But by Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session, much improvement could be seen.
But not all was well. Stoner said he had “destroyed a front tire in four laps.” The new pavement is sharp, with many edges still sticking up to abrade sliding tires. Even with fresh rubber on the surface and less dust, the slippery new aggregate was allowing tires to slide more easily, making the pavement into a tire-eating belt-grinder.
Through early practice, the Yamahas of Lorenzo, Spies and Colin Edwards were high up the list, and it was looking as though their “softer” engines (in the race, Spies’ M1 would be 4-mph slower on top-end than Stoner’s Honda) were better able to use the kind of grip that was available. But as time passed, the Hondas advanced up the practice leader board. Their crews were finding settings that improved grip, and at the same time, the improving track was eroding any possible Yamaha advantage.
Spies performs well at this track, which, rather than being Stoner’s favorite kind—“fast and flowing”—has many tight turns that require fast direction changing and an ability to keep throttle on and accurately modulated throughout. When asked after the race how Lorenzo, on the same bike and with similar settings, could have early tire trouble that slowed him, Spies joked, “I guess he should gain some weight or something.”
Sadly, Ducati’s day at the races was a disaster. When Saturday night well-wishers asked Nicky Hayden why he wasn’t in his garage, he replied, “It’s gettin’ pretty hot in there.” The intense effort to make the new “GP11.1” carbon chassis hook up and finish corners was not succeeding despite continuing detail and setup changes. In the race, Valentino Rossi finished 10th after running off once, and Hayden went backward fast with tire fade after lap 10, finally pulling in. He alone in the 17-rider field had gambled on a “medium” front Bridgestone, and it did not last. He was credited with 14th.
It was interesting to listen to the Hondas upshifting and downshifting with their new “zero-delay” gearboxes. At each upshift, there was an audible pop, indicating that an ignition cut is still being used to reduce pressure on the engaging surfaces. Stoner’s downshifts at the end of the infield straight were amazing—three rapid-fire engine blips as the shifts went through. The aim of such gearboxes (major factories either have such a gearbox now or will shortly) is not to reduce engine-off time in upshifts, but rather to reduce the thump that the chassis receives when the shift goes through. The more that upshifting disturbs the chassis, the less throttle the rider can use, lest the upset cause a slide.
Rumors always abound in the MotoGP paddock. Sunday’s talk was that chassis-builders FTR have now finished a first-try twin-beam aluminum chassis for Ducati, which will now be evaluated by the factory’s test riders.
With six races remaining, Stoner leads Lorenzo in the points, 243 to 199.
