The fans were the most important thing at the MotoGP at Indianapolis last weekend – as Toby Moody explains in his regular round-up of the less-reported goings-on in the sport, that means the ones that cool you off…
Brickyard Grill open for business
The riders cooked for the entire weekend at Indianapolis while holding onto MotoGP bikes that were on the verge of burning their legs through the leathers. Hydration was the order of the day as ambient temperatures hit 35ºC, while the track sent the mercury to a sausage-grilling 56º. “This was close to one of the hottest days in Malaysia or Qatar in the daylight," Dani Pedrosa commented, while championship leader Jorge Lorenzo said, "I guess in Malaysia it's worse, but today I'm more tired than in Malaysia."
A very tall order
Interesting pre-race PR events are usually a bit thin on the ground, but the guys from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway turned that on its head on Thursday when some of the riders had a get-together with former basketball player Rick Smits from the Indiana Pacers. If you thought that Ben Spies was a tall guy, then just look at this picture! Dani Pedrosa said that he could put his foot in Rik's shoe without even taking off his own. Hand to hand, Pedrosa's fingers only just covered the palm of Smits' enormous paws.
Toby Moody
“You ain't been racin' till you got dirt in your beer!”
The Indy Mile Dirt track, once again, was a massive event that is becoming more and more part of the MotoGP weekend at Indianapolis. Held at the Indiana State Fair Grounds, the AMA championship round was, as always, full of the MotoGP paddock that wrestled their way to the front of the barriers inside of Turn 1. Nicky Hayden got on a 69 Ducati-powered Dirt Tracker for the first time in eight years, wowing the crowds with what he really used to do before his passage to ride in MotoGP in 2003. After King Kenny Roberts rode there last year, it was another amazing night to set us all up for race day.
'This was close to one of the hottest days in Malaysia or Qatar in the daylight' – Dani Pedrosa
How absolutely super
Jorge Lorenzo may have had his 'worst' result of the year in 3rd, but he still had a theme to his crash helmet after the Captain America get-up he had last year. This time around it was the Iron Man superhero helmet.
Could he do it? Of Corsi could
But was ride of the weekend Simone Corsi, who had to start from the back of the grid after the aborted Moto2 race? He started essentially from 40th position on the grid, cutting through 18 positions on the very first lap, then going on to finish an incredible fifth at the flag. Now there’s a superhero.
Toby Moody
Great Scott
Scott Redding (pictured, top) clinched his first ever Moto2 podium in the same race and was nearly unable to get to the podium, such was his exhaustion. The lad is super-fit with his boxing training, but even the heat of midday sun was a little too much for the Englishman. Mind you, if a Spaniard was suffering in the heat such as race winner Toni Elías was, then what chance have we more ‘northern’ European types got?
Holding a piece of history
Jay Leno from The Tonight Show (pictured, above, with former Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya on the right) presented the trophies for the big race, which are made with a brick from the original track surface that so famously gave this place its Brickyard name. The bricks themselves are full of history, in that they are worn on one side where millions of wheels ran over them before a tarmac surface was laid down. There are still many of the precious bricks underneath sections of the modern track.
Toby Moody
Spanish theme
It was a pleasure to commentate once more at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the MotoGP weekend, helping out on the mic with the regular trackside guys who do the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 NASCAR races. Running up and down the pitlane after the red-flagged start to the Moto2 race got me well and truly warmed up, but it was great to be involved. Maybe one of the easiest parts to the job was working with Dorna and the guys in charge of the national anthems for each of the three podiums – they never had to change the MP3 track from one race to the next… it was Spain winning all three races.
For more on happenings at the sweltering Indianapolis Motor Speedway, visit our event page
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