2015 INDIANAPOLIS MotoGP WRAP-UP

It was two perfections, so equal for so long. Jorge Lorenzo moved into 1st on the inside from the start, and a tense nose-to-tail contest with Marc Marquez began. Whose process of creating perfection would be first to weaken? On and on they went, making every move as one man. Synchronized racing. It was wonderful.

There’s always more to it. Clearly, Marquez was (a) not confident initially that he could pass and pull away, and (b) decided to stay where he was and wait for developments. Lorenzo’s pace was faster than expected, allowing him to pull a small gap in mid-race.

But, as Lorenzo said, “I threw away all my energy in keeping ahead of Marc.” In addition, the overhead view of the track showed Marquez closing a bit in right-handers. Lorenzo  noted that his rear tire fatigued, especially on the right side.

No set-up is ever perfect; it is only the best a team can come up with in the short time available in a race weekend. This is why, when there is a test following a race, the times are always quicker than the race times. More time equals more speed.

Marquez noted, “It was impossible for Jorge to make a gap, so I waited to the end.”

Waited for what? Because turning is constant on this track, the greatest passing opportunity is into turn 1, at the end of the straight.

After commenting that the Honda riders were small ("Especially Dani "), Valentino Rossi noted that while "the Yamahas' acceleration is very good, horsepower on top is not so good." Marquez was therefore able at the end of lap 24 to pull alongside Lorenzo and go ahead into turn 1. The tire situation became clear as Marquez created a gap and went on to win by 0.688 seconds, while Lorenzo's times were slowing at the end.

Initially, the Lorenzo and Marquez, the “two perfections,” pulled away from Pedrosa in 3rd and from Rossi, the series leader, a distance behind him in 4th. But by lap 8, Rossi showed an ability to close. By lap 13, he was there and two laps later, Pedrosa had a couple of visible slips. On lap 18, Rossi feinted one way and darted the other; he was through into 3rd on the inside.

On lap 22, Marquez visibly took aim at Jorge in the infield but held his fire, and on the next lap, Pedrosa re-passed Rossi into Turn 1, then obligingly went wide in Turn 10, letting Rossi through for good.

Marquez was clearly impressed by Lorenzo’s race pace, and by the transformation that took place between qualifying–when Marc on paper on paper looked like a sure winner—and the race itself, which was so equal for so long. He said more than once in the post-race press conference that “We must work a lot” to overcome the “really good pace” of the two Yamaha riders in the next races.

Rossi said, “We improved a second in warm-up. In the race, I gave the max and I could catch him . When I arrive on Dani, I had some trouble and made some mistakes.”

Pedrosa commented, “It was difficult today because Valentino was way faster than in practice.” Rossi, for his part, explained: “I always suffer a bit in braking and in direction-changing.”

“To improve that much,”, Pedrosa continued, “is quite impressive.”

As I noted earlier, Dennis Noyes predicted this outcome in mid-weekend, when Rossi was so persistently in the dumps,  10th and 11th in practices, almost a second shy of Marquez. Rossi has done this so many times in his career-to become mysteriously competitive on race day. Fear him!

Rossi lost only 4 points to Lorenzo and 9 to Marquez. The tracks coming up tend to favor the Yamahas, with long, flowing corners that stop the Hondas from using their strength in stop-and-go turning. It will be dramatic. Let's phone our flight crew now and have them gas up the Gulfstream, we don't want to miss it.

RESULTS: 2015 RED BULL INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX