2011 MotoGP
This past Friday, Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden was the first MotoGP pilot to ride a bike on the refurbished Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit.
Hayden, teammate of nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi, conducted a few laps aboard a Ducati 1198 SP at IMS, which was repaved from Turn 5 to 16, an area that plagued the MotoGP grid with bumps. The video above shows Hayden in action.
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team MotoGP) says: “The new surface is just what I expected, it’s pretty much perfect. There are a couple corners that the riders requested to be redone and IMS went above and beyond, and actually the whole infield from Turn 5 to the finish is repaved, so I’m looking forward to getting back here on the race bike and laying some rubber down and cleaning up the racing line and trying it out.”
Crews began repaving the bumpy sections of the track (1.5 miles) June 9; on July 7 the FIM inspected and approved the repaved section.
The MotoGP grid will be on IMS Aug. 26-28 for the Red Bull Indy Grand Prix.
