Pedrosa on top at Indy

The 2009 Indianapolis Grand Prix began today as the 2008 event finished - wet. Thankfully however, the hurricane force winds that played havoc with last year’s race at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway stayed away this time, and it was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa who made the best of the conditions to set the fastest time in the weekend’s first hour-long practice session.

In fact both Pedrosa and his Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso displayed impressive commitment on the wet track, with each rider spending time at the top of the timesheets as the famous “brickyard” welcomed MotoGP for a second year. For the first 20 minutes of the session as the track got increasingly wet, Dovizioso set the pace on his factory RC212V, displaying the peerless ability in tricky conditions that saw him win the British Grand Prix at Donington in July and lead the first two laps of last year’s race here. 

After Dovizioso’s early showing it was Pedrosa’s turn to take the lead, confidently using Bridgestone’s treaded wet tyres to maximum effect and achieving inspiring angles of lean on the track’s grippy surface. His fastest lap of 1m 51.507s was set in the first half of the session and, though some riders came close in the dying moments, his impressive mark remained unchallenged. 

In the final flurry, Dovizioso slipped to 9th but, with dry weather forecast for the rest of the weekend, today’s practice session could prove to be academic and both Repsol Honda riders are confident of another strong showing in tomorrow’s two sessions.  

DANI PEDROSA – 1st – 1m 51.507s 

“This was a very good start to the weekend and in wet conditions we are looking in good shape. It was raining for the whole session and we had good grip, even though there were some big patches of standing water around the track. I felt confident and was able to push hard - and actually it’s been a quite long time since I’ve felt that confident in wet conditions and been happy to push to the maximum. If it’s dry tomorrow, that’s also good for us, even though the only thing we can really take forward from today’s session is the gearing information. This track is unusual to ride because it’s been designed to run in the other direction and so the apex of some of the corners feels very strange. Still, even in the rain there is a unique atmosphere here and it’s a special place to ride.”  

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – 9th – 1m 53.151

“I was fast early in the session and overall I’m satisfied with how today went. It was a difficult practice session because it was raining a lot and the different types of tarmac at this track responded in a different way. There were also some big puddles out there which made things tricky. At the beginning I was riding with a good rhythm and going quickly, but I couldn’t improve my lap time at the end of the session because we decided to use only one tyre and spare our wet tyre allocation for the weekend. So by the end the tyres had become slick and it was difficult to control the bike, especially on the dark asphalt. I’m not worried about today’s position though. The conditions were particular for this situation and the weather forecast for tomorrow and Sunday is good, so I’m confident that I can improve.”

KAZUHIKO YAMANO - REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER

“Both riders did a good job this afternoon and we are looking quite strong in the wet conditions. For the rest of the weekend it looks like we may have dry weather so tomorrow’s two sessions will be very important. We had very little dry track time last year which means there’s still plenty of work to do to be fully prepared for Sunday’s race. The Repsol Honda team is very motivated at the moment and both riders are in good condition so we’ll be looking for a strong weekend for all the Honda fans here in America.” 

GOOD DEBUT FOR ESPARGARO AT INDY. CANEPA SEVENTEENTH 

Good debut for the new Pramac Racing rider, Aleix Espargaro, who has concluded his first practice session valid for the Indianapolis Grand Prix with the fifteenth fastest lap time. Rain has characterized today's session, but the Spanish rider, who has stepped on the Ducati Desmosedici GP9 Sat for the first time, has easily adapted to the bike conquering a good result. His teammate, Niccolò Canepa, has encountered some difficulties not making it to push to the limit as he didn't find the right feeling with the rear part of the bike. The Italian rider will try to make up for it tomorrow in the two hours of practice available.

Aleix Espargaro - Pramac Racing rider

"Tonight I think I woke up about one hundred times, I was so excited. Now I am a bit more relaxed. It has been a fantastic experience. It would have probably be better ride for my first time on the Ducati Desmosedici GP9 with dry track, but at the end things went well. I found my self at ease since the first laps. It has an impressive acceleration but tomorrow, when the track should be dry, I would have a clearer idea of what this bike can do. I am very happy to have this opportunity and I will do all I can to obtain the best result possible."

Niccolò Canepa - Pramac Racing rider

"Today's weather has complicated the work we have planned. Due to the limited number of tyres we have at our disposal, I preferred to use only one set of wet tyre today so that I would have more in case I would need them when it really counts. The left side of the rear tyre gotten worst and I couldn't manage to improve. Tomorrow I will surely be able to do better: this will be for me a really important race."

Capirossi on the pace at a wet Indianapolis

Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi recorded the seventh quickest time at a rain-soaked Indianapolis today as the MotoGP field began testing for this weekend's race.

Capirossi (1'52.928, 19 laps) used the wet track to full advantage as he was able to evaluate the new parts that were tested at Brno recently in completely different conditions. He set his quickest time on his penultimate lap of the session as he improved throughout the hour. Unfortunately for Capirossi, his session came to an abrupt halt as he high-sided his bike towards the end; he was uninjured and will be ok for tomorrow.

Chris Vermeulen (P12, 1'54.554, 20 laps) tried a new setting on his bike at the start of the practice, but had to come in to the pit-box early on to make some significant changes to the Suzuki GSV-R, causing him to lose valuable track-time. He continued to make several modifications to his bike and was quite satisfied that he has a good setting for Sunday's race if conditions are similar to today.

The weather intervened just before the start of this afternoon's session and heavy rain fell over the 4,216m Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Track and air temperatures were both in the mid 20ºCs as the rain cooled the surface dramatically from early warm and sunny conditions. Today's fastest time was set by Dani Pedrosa on a factory Honda.

Rizla Suzuki has one more free session tomorrow morning, followed by an hour of qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday's 28-lap race gets underway at 15.00hrs local time (19.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:

"It has been a quite positive day because we were able test the new chassis in the wet and the reaction was good straight away. I crashed right at the end of the session when I hit a big puddle of water and high-sided, but I am ok. I felt good on the bike today and that is very encouraging. From my point of view I really want some good weather for the rest of the weekend because I don't like riding in the rain and for us it will be better to work on the bike in the dry."

Chris Vermeulen:

"We tried something different at the start, but the setting just didn't work, I came straight in to get it sorted and we lost quite a bit of time as we made the changes. In the wettest part of the session the bike worked quite well and my lap-times in those conditions were quite good. Towards the end we made some fine-tune adjustments but I didn't get a clear lap in to improve my time. I am quite happy with the bike, but we do still have a bit of work to do to get it spot-on in the very wet conditions. I am feeling quite positive and looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow - hopefully in the dry."

Paul Denning - Team Manager:

"After a successful test at Brno with some of the new stuff that Suzuki had introduced, it was good to be able to test them at a completely different circuit and in such different conditions today. Loris has struggled to be competitive in the rain all year, but the bike was much better here and he set his best lap in the later part of the session when the conditions were less favourable. He was fortunate that he is completely ok after his high-side and his attitude is totally positive about the direction Suzuki has taken for the future.

"It is quite usual to see Chris near the front in the wet, but that wasn't quite the case today. His guys improved the bike throughout the course of the session and we're convinced that if we have to race in these conditions on Sunday he will be competitive. That said, the fans at Indianapolis deserve better than to sit in the rain and we hope that the sun comes out and this venue can experience MotoGP bikes being ridden to the maximum."

Overall Standing