Moto GP , Marc Marquez continues to lead in FP4 at Indianapolis

The fourth and final free practice at Indianapolis saw lap times slighty higher due to the warmer track temperatures and Marc Marquez continued his domination on the American circuit, as he laid down a best lap of 1.38.986, but Cal Crutchlow and Stefan Bradl were much closer to the rookie, separated by just 0.151s.

Stefan Bradl leaned his Honda a little to much and he slid out with five minutes to go, but his previous lap time was good enough for third.

Jorge Lorenzo was fourth fastest in front of his rival Dani Pedrosa and Alvaro Bautista. Valentino Rossi was just seventh, as he did the entire session on used hard tires concentrating on race pace rather than chasing hot laps.

Tech3’s Bradley Smith followed in 8th, with the two Ducati riders Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden paired up again in 9th and 10th.

Aleix Espargaro suffered a highside out of final turn. The Spaniard walked away from the crash and down the pitlane, but he was very dazed and later went to the medical center for a suspected hand injury.

2013 MotoGP Indianapolis FP4 results:

1 MARQUEZ M. Repsol Honda Team 1:38.986
2 CRUTCHLOW C. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +0.128
3 BRADL S. LCR Honda MotoGP +0.151
4 LORENZO J. Yamaha Factory Racing +0.331
5 PEDROSA D. Repsol Honda Team +0.514
6 BAUTISTA A. GO&FUN Honda Gresini +0.595
7 ROSSI V. Yamaha Factory Racing +0.796
8 SMITH B. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +0.992
9 DOVIZIOSO A. Ducati Team +1.185
10 HAYDEN N. Ducati Team +1.387

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Ben Spies ruled out of Indianapolis GP

Ben Spies has been ruled out of this weekend’s MotoGP round at Indianpolis. The hapless Pramac Ducati rider suffered a horrific looking highside during the third free practice, hitting his shoulder first on his Ducati as it pitched him forward, and then on the asphalt, dislocating his left shoulder.

Indianapolis was supposed to be Spies comeback, finally fit after missing the last seven races due to shoulder and pectoral muscle issues, and he finished 11th and 13th in the first two sessions, but apparently Indy is not a Spies friendly track, as he also hurt his shoulder in last year’s qualifying session, even if he did race, but DNFd.

Spies will be returning to Texas to see the doctors that performed the surgery on his right shoulder last year and see if he will need another operation.

Unfortunately for the American, the new injury comes when MotoGP will have a set of back-to-back races, because after Indianapolis, there will be Brno next week and Silverstone, the week after.

Pramac Racing will therefore be fielding only Andrea Iannone, who is still painfully recovering from his own dislocated shoulder that he sustained at Sachsenring, which kept his out of the Laguna Seca round.

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Oschersleben 8 Hours: a handsome lead for SERT at halfway point / 8 Heures d’Oschersleben : le SERT caracole en tête à mi-course

With four hours of the eight hours of the FIM Endurance World Championship’s penultimate round completed, the SERT Suzuki has pulled one lap clear of the N°99 BMW-Michelin and the N°7 Yamaha-Michelin.

Après quatre heures de course, le SERT est en tête des 8 Heures d’Oschersleben, avant-dernière épreuve du Championnat du monde d’Endurance FIM (EWC). La Suzuki n°1 compte un tour d’avance sur la BMW-Michelin n°99 et la Yamaha-Michelin n°7.

SERT took advantage of its position at the front of the grid to lead for the first 18 laps before handing top spot to YART. Broc Parkes (N°7 Yamaha) followed up his record qualifying time of 1m26.147s with a series of quick laps in an attempt to pull out a gap over the SERT bike. However, the Austrian Yamaha was the first front-runner to refuel and, in doing so, put SERT back into first place.

The combination of an excellent second stint by Julien DaCosta and some slick pit-work enabled SERT to re-join in front after its third stop.

BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent and YART have since been trading second place as a function of the timing of their respective pit stops. BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent, which has been running longer stints, is second overall at the halfway point but has made one less stop. This could be the key to a silver medal later this evening, but the YART bike trails by just 25 seconds.

Team R2CL and Bolliger Team Switzerland round off the top five, two laps down but separated by only 18 seconds.

There are currently four Superstock runners in the top 10. Their ranks are led by Suzuki Junior Team (6^th), a lap clear of Team Motors Events, DG Sport Herock and Penz13.com Franks Autowelt Racing Team.

David Checa (GMT 94) made a mistake on Lap 3 while trying to avoid the fall of Florian Marino on Team Louit Moto 33’s Kawasaki. The N°94 Yamaha-Michelin made a long stop before re-joining in 36^th position, five laps back. It has since climbed back to 10^th but is now six laps adrift.

The Honda TT Legends bike ran out of fuel just before its third scheduled stop and is currently running in 15^th place (+8 laps).

Qualifié en pole position, le SERT a conservé l’avantage au départ et a mené les 18 premiers tours avant de laisser le commandement au YART. Broc Parkes, au guidon de la Yamaha n°7, auteur d’un nouveau record en qualifications en 1.26.147, a enchaîné une série de tours rapides pour tenter de creuser un écart sur le SERT. Premier des top teams à plonger dans la voie des stands, le YART a cédé la première place au SERT.

Un excellent second relais de Julien DaCosta associé à des arrêts au stand optimisés ont permis au SERT de conserver la tête lors du troisième pit-stop. BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent et le YART s’échangent la deuxième place au gré des ravitaillements. Ayant opté pour une stratégie avec des relais plus longs, BMW Motorrad France Team Thevent, pointe en deuxième position avec un arrêt de moins à mi-course. L’équipe de Michael Bartholémy pourrait ainsi tirer profit de cette économie et accrocher la deuxième place. Mais le YART est seulement à 25 secondes derrière.

Le Team R2CL et Bolliger Team Switzerland complètent le Top 5 à deux tours du leader. Les deux équipes ne sont séparées que de 18 secondes.

Derrière, quatre équipes Superstock se hissent dans le top 10 général. Le Suzuki Junior Team, sixième, est en tête de la catégorie et possède un tour d’avance sur le Team Motors Events, DG Sport Herock et Penz13.com Franks Autowelt Racing Team.  

Ne pouvant éviter la chute de Florian Marino au guidon de la Kawasaki du Team Louit Moto 33, David Checa (GMT 94) est parti à la faute dès le troisième tour. La Yamaha-Michelin n°94 a rejoint la piste en 36^ème position à cinq tours du leader. A mi-course, elle est remontée à la 10^ème place mais compte six tours de retard

Victime d’une panne d’essence juste avant son troisième ravitaillement, le Honda TT Legends a dégringolé à la 15^ème place à huit tours du SERT.

Moto GP, Marc Marquez commands FP3 at Indianapolis as Spies dislocates left shoulder

Lap times tumbled in MotoGP’s third free practice this morning at Indianapolis as Marc Marquez once again headed the top of the timesheets.

The Repsol Honda rookie broke the the 1.39 barrier with a flying lap in 1:38.844, just 0.031s from Dani Pedrosa’s 2012 best lap, and leaving Stefan Bradl - who led for the most of session - in second and less than three tenths adrift.

Cal Crutchlow was the only Yamaha rider to break the Honda domination, as he was third fastest ahead of Alvaro Bautista who jumped to fourth and the Honda satellite rider was 0.031s faster than Dani Pedrosa.

Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Tech3 rookie Bradley Smith were 6th, 7th and 8th, respectively, even if the two Yamaha factory riders were right on Pedrosa’s tail, but more than seven tenths from Marquez.

Andrea Dovizioso completed the session in 9th while Nicky Hayden just made it into QP2 with his last flying lap demoting Andrea Iannone out of the top ten by a mere 0.017s.

After returning to track after missing almost the entire first half of the season an unlucky Ben Spies suffered a very ugly highside at turn four.

The Pramac rider was unable to take his helmet off as he held his left collarbone/shoulder (he had injured and underwent surgergy his right shoulder last year and had issues with his right pectoral muscle). Spies was later diagnosed with dislocated left shoulder, and it is unknown whether he can ride tomorrow.

Aleix Espargaro suffered an engine failure and had to return to track with his second ART machine where he had a frustrating moment with Karel Abraham who disturbed one of his flying laps while he was trying to enter Q2.

Unfortunately for the Spaniard he but missed out and will have to take part in QP1 behind an excellent Danilo Petrucci who was 12th fastest.

2013 MotoGP Indianapolis FP3 results:

01- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 1’38.844
02- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 0.281
03- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.597
04- Alvaro Bautista – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 0.694
05- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.725
06- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.753
07- Valentino Rossi – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.796
08- Bradley Smith – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.921
09- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 0.968
10- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.045

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