For 2014, Indianapolis Motor Speedway has reconfigured its infield track for its hosting of the Indianapolis GP for the MotoGP Championship — this much you should already know. I won’t rehash details, but the three-bullet primer to the changes afoot is that the track is slightly longer, has improved passing zones in three reworked areas (highlighted in yellow), and will be made of one consistent asphalt layer.
Astute motorsport aficionados may have noticed that Indianapolis Motor Speedway debuted a new infield layout for IndyCar’s new and upcoming GP of Indianapolis, which in turn begs the question whether the new infield changes for IndyCar will affect the course for MotoGP. We called up IMS to get the scoop, and the answer is yes…but also no.
UPDATE: MotoGP riders after finishing FP2 said grip improved on the track, though anything off the racing line was quite slippery.
With MotoGP riders getting their first taste of the newly paved infield section at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the talk this morning after the Free Practice 1 session was about how the new track surfaces faired under the GP riders’ scrutiny. Though weather conditions were pretty much optimal, there is a virtually unanimous opinion that even without the bumps and curbing issues, the IMS track has worsened since last year. While most riders took issue with the virtually glass like state of the asphalt, the problem at Indy really is two-fold. Not only is the freshly paved tarmac devoid of any rubber to help aid the grip, but the infield, which is used almost exclusively for the Indianapolis GP, suffers yearly from dirt and debris.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway has announced that it has begun repaving the infield section of its road course, which should finally resolve surface conditions MotoGP riders have complained about while racing at the Indianapolis GP. Repaving Turn 5 thorough Turn 16, Indy will lay over 1.5 miles of asphalt, and if the weather permits, the work should be done by the end of this week.
According to the circuit it is grinding the current tarmac flat, and then laying fresh pavement over the resurfaced track. The new asphalt will match existing pavement on the remainder of the GP circuit, thus eliminating any sort of surface inconsistency issues.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has just announced that it will be repaving its infield track section this summer, in-time for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, which is being held August 26th-28th. Expected to break ground June 9th, The Brickyard will be repaving the 1.5 mile section of the infield track between Turn 5 and Turn 16. The news is a boon to MotoGP fans and riders, as the latter has been complaining about track surface conditions from sicne the word ‘go’, and the prior group has been concerned about the conditions prompting MotoGP to take its toys and play elsewhere.
This announcement means that the infield will be repaved for the first time since its construction in 2000, as no surfacing was done when the road course was created in 2008 for MotoGP. Piecing together a mix of sections that had varying types of asphalt, the inconsistencies in the design have been the Midwest track’s biggest flaw, making it impossible for teams to setup a motorcycle for a consistent response through the infield corners. Belaying any worry that the infield would have different conditions than the oval section, IMS says the new asphalt will be consistent with the other sections of the course.