Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies claims podium at Indianapolis Grand Prix – MotoGP news
Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies claimed a third place on the podium at his home event, the 2011 Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Meanwhile Spies’ teammate Jorge Lorenzo did try hard to at least finish on podium but in the last few laps, he was hunted by Spies. Earlier in the race, he challenged both Repsol riders Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa.
Spies said, “My actual start wasn’t too bad, just a couple of people got into turn one too hot and I got bottled in. I think Dovi came across in front of me in turn four and I was just glad to stay on the bike. I never even saw him.”
Explaining the start off, Spies said that he had a fine start in the race. Only Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo passed him in the first corner. In the fourth corner, he was struck by Andrea Dovizioso of Repsol Honda and merely escaped a crash. The Texan rider
said that he was glad to retain he position on the bike.
Following the contact with Dovizioso, he worked hard to sustain his pace. The first four turns of the track were troublesome for Spies but he managed to keep on going.
Every rider in the race expressed that overtaking on the track was very difficult and Spies also said the same problem hampered him from making passes. The straights were even harder to strike for passes as a different strategy needed to do so. Finally,
he did some overtaking to seat at second step on the podium.
The American’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo hit the start from third place on the grid and maintained his fight with Stoner and Pedrosa.
Lorenzo said, “It's a shame; I thought I could reduce my gap with Casey at Indy but since the first practice I have had many problems with the asphalt and the front tyre. I've tried everything with my team to fix it, but we couldn't.”
While expressing his views about the race he said that after the initial five laps the front slick was totally worn out as compared to other riders. He was clueless about the unexpected tyre wear out.
Now he is 44 points adrift from Stoner in the world championship rankings. Lorenzo is aiming to recover his gap at the next MotoGP round in Misano, Italy.
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