After the 1-2 achieved by Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez’s second position, the Repsol riders arrive to the mythical American circuit where Dani Pedrosa won last year
The iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) will be this weekend the scene of the twelfth round of the Motorcycling World Championship. The centenarian American track will held for the fourth time a Grand Prix of the World Championship where Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso, in MotoGP, and Marc Márquez, in Moto2, arrive with the highest aspirations both for the race and for their overall standings positions.
Casey Stoner, who returns to the United States with good feelings after winning last month at Laguna Seca and get yet another victory at the Czech Republic, will try to keep increasing his lead. The Repsol rider leads MotoGP overall standings with an advantage of 32 points over his closest rival, Jorge Lorenzo. After finishing out of the podium in the three previous editions of the Indianapolis Grand Prix, Stoner will try to achieve a good result to reach his tenth consecutive podium of this season.
A place on the podium will also be the target for his team mates at the Repsol Honda Team, Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso. The Indianapolis track brings good memories to the Spanish rider after his triumph last year. Starting from the fifth place of the grid, Pedrosa was able to improve and sign an excellent result, also setting the fastest lap of the track. Andrea Dovizioso will arrive to the United States with another podium to his name —Czech Republic—, strengthening his third position in the classification and with the aim to get his first win of the year.
A victory that escaped Marc Márquez a fortnight ago at the Czech Republic. In his first year in Moto2, the Repsol rider is second in the overall standings and arrives to the United States after reducing the leader’s —Stefan Bradl— advantage by 39 points in the last four races. Indianapolis is a track that did not went well for him in the 125cc class, but he set the fastest lap in that category. After gathering three victories and one second place in the last four Grand Prix, Emilio Alzamora’s pupil will face a new challenge in the American track to keep learning and improving on his Moto2.
Dani Pedrosa,
“I’m heading to Indianapolis and really looking forward to the race. Last year we had a good race there and I hope I can repeat this again. The asphalt has changed, so we will have to adapt to the new surface, check how the tyres are working there and look for the best race setup possible. Physically I’m improving little by little; already in Brno I felt better than in the past months, so I hope I can be in good shape for the race. Obviously the last race result was very disappointing for me and my team after such a good weekend, but we take the positive things from it and move forward”.
Andrea Dovizioso,
“We arrive in Indy after a podium finish in Brno and I hope we can continue this momentum. The Indianapolis racetrack is a typical American venue with great facilities and huge grandstands, the track is not particularly interesting but all in all it’s a very nice event. This year the track has been resurfaced in some parts so for sure it will be much more fun to ride as in the past it was very bumpy and there were different kind of asphalts. Last year in the practice and qualifying sessions we were fast but we struggled in the race, finishing 5th. I’m confident we can be competitive again this year, we are very motivated and focused”.
Casey Stoner,
“In the past seasons the track at Indy has been extremely bumpy and also slightly dangerous so I’m looking forward to going there and riding the new surface. It will also be nice to ride the Honda there, as it took a lot of work to get the set up right on the Ducati at such a peculiar circuit. I’ve only ridden the circuit in 2008 and 2010 and we were pretty competitive there last year, but then I lost the front in the race, so it will be good to get there, test the new surface and get to work on the set up on my RC212V”.
Marc Márquez,
“The Czech Republic Grand Prix was an important race after the summer break —it is a circuit where we had always had trouble— and it was fun, very competitive and we showed a good level, so we get to Indianapolis eager to fight. Moreover, we get to one of the countries where I like to ride, because the atmosphere there is very special. It is an unusual track, completely flat, with lots of bumps and with many changes of surface. We will see how it goes with the new tarmac, because it is something we have to take into account. With the 125cc it was not bad, it is a fun track and you have to take the corners properly to be able to chain one after another without losing time”.
