MotoGP: Lap Record Falls During Qualifying for Indy GP

Lapping under perhaps the best conditions Indianapolis has to offer in late-August, MotoGP took to The Brickyard for the 2011 Red Bull Indianapolis GP. Though Indy’s newly paved track failed to impress riders with its first impression, as more rubber was put down on the racing line during the weekend’s sessions, the pavement increased its grip, making for some impressive lap times in the later practice sessions.

With Casey Stoner breaking Indy’s outright best lap time during FP3 with a 1’39.552 lap time (the previous “Best Lap Time” was set in 2009 by Dani Pedrosa with a 1’39.790), all eyes were on the Australian during qualifying to see if he could further push Indy’s outright top lap on two-wheels even further down on the stopwatch. Eyes were also on American Ben Spies, who has been consistently at the top of the timesheet all weekened.

Riding at a track he calls home, Spies said after the Free Practice that if he could get close to Stoner’s pace, he had a serious shot at a victory in front of his American fans. Was Spies within striking at the end of Qualifying, find out after the jump.

With Casey Stoner decimating Indy’s track record again, the Repsol Honda rider posted a 1’38.850 for the pole position, over half a second quicker than Ben Spies, who said his setup wouldn’t let him push the front tire any further than he was. Following Spies onto the front row was teammate Jorge Lorenzo, who overcame dismal practice sessions to round out the Top 3. With the two factory Yamahas up front, Stoner should have plenty to contend with if he doesn’t make a breakaway start.

Making bids from the second row are Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso, and Colin Edwards, as the Texas Tornado showed promise all weekend, and clearly knows his way around the Indy infield. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow’s race to see how it all sorts out, but it looks like it could be the fastest GP race at Indy ever held.

Qualifying Results from the Indianapolis GP at Indy:

Pos.	No.	Rider	Nation	Team	Time	Diff.
1	27	Casey STONER	AUS	Repsol Honda Team	1’38.850	–
2	11	Ben SPIES	USA	Yamaha Factory Racing	1’39.373	0.523
3	1	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Yamaha Factory Racing	1’39.629	0.779
4	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	1’39.947	1.097
5	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	1’40.024	1.174
6	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1’40.098	1.248
7	58	Marco SIMONCELLI	ITA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	1’40.204	1.354
8	69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	1’40.244	1.394
9	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	1’40.333	1.483
10	8	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP	1’40.360	1.510
11	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1’40.620	1.770
12	14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	Pramac Racing Team	1’40.815	1.965
13	7	Hiroshi AOYAMA	JPN	San Carlo Honda Gresini	1’40.925	2.075
14	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Ducati Team	1’40.975	2.125
15	24	Toni ELIAS	SPA	LCR Honda MotoGP	1’41.030	2.180
16	17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Cardion AB Motoracing	1’41.085	2.235
17	65	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Pramac Racing Team	1’41.092	2.242