MotoGP riders to race on newly paved Indianapolis Motor Speedway – MotoGP news
The 2011 MotoGP season’s Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix will be held on a freshly paved tarmac.
The infield section of the track’s road course will get a new surface this summer before the event takes place on August 28, 2011.
The project is to give a fresh ground for the star riders to compete in the premier class category. The IMS track will get a 1.5-mile facelift. The re-pavement will be done form turn 5 to turn 16 and the project will start on June 9, 2011. The turn
5 is the corner where the down-slope ends, continuing from turn 1-2 of the oval track. The turn 16 is where the track exits the infield and enters the front stretch until the turn 4 where it starts again.
The fresh asphalt surface will run consistently with the other sections of the tarmac.
“This project is an example of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway providing competitors the finest racing facilities in the world,” said Mel Harder, IMS senior vice president, operations. “We had a very long, hard winter this year, which exacerbated the
bumps and cracks in this aging section of the track.”
This is the first time the track will bear a new surface after its modification and introduction of the new turns added in 2000. The section travelling from turn 1 to turn 4 residing inside the turn 1’s curve was developed in 2008 will not be re-paved
during this process. This section was created just before the inaugural race of the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.
The track officials decided to run the re-paving project this year, due to the feedback received by the MotoGP riders after the run at IMS in 2010. The new surface is expected to give a closer encounter between the riders which will increase the interest
of the fans gathered at the venue.
The project will be started with a pace to finish all the development procedures by the end of June.
Nicky Hayden, MotoGP World Champion of the 2006 season, who rides for the Ducati GP team, said, “I'm happy to hear the infield section is being repaved at Indy, it's already a great track, and I'm sure this will make a smoother, more consistent racetrack
for everybody.”
Hayden also feels that it expresses the concern of the people who maintain the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to keep every point of the track in proper racing condition. This determination has helped the track to live through 100 years. Since it is the
home track for the Ducati factory, the rider is desperately awaiting the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix on August 28.
The next upcoming round of the MotoGP calendar, the bwin Grande Premio de Portugal will take place on May 1, 2011.
Tags: