Yamaha Indianapolis GP Friday report

Ben Spies Attacks the Brickyard at Indianapolis

Ben Spies, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Yamaha Motor Racing

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies got straight down to business at the legendary Indianapolis circuit today in the first free practice sessions of the Grand Prix weekend. The Texan delivered an impressive performance in front of his home crowd, topping the timesheets in the morning session with a 1’43.260. The afternoon session saw the grip levels improve dramatically, allowing Spies to take nearly two and a half seconds off his time and record a best of 1’40.918. He led for the majority of the session, only dropping to second at the end, a mere 0.194 from provisional pole.

Jorge Lorenzo had a difficult start to the day along with the majority of the MotoGP grid, struggling to find grip on the newly resurfaced Indianapolis track. The 125cc and Moto2 classes helped to increase the grip level over the lunchtime period and some key set up changes by the team brought the World Champion out fighting in the second session. Lorenzo was straight up into the top three and was the only rider to contest the fastest spot with his team mate for most of the session. He ended the second session in fourth position, 0.737 from the front.

Ben Spies - 2nd

“I feel a lot better now, almost ok but when I’m off the bike I’m more in pain which is frustrating. It was a good start today, the first session I was waiting to see if the track was going to stay the same but in the end in the afternoon it improved a lot. We were able to be in the top three in both sessions which is great. The track is going to get even better for tomorrow so we're looking forward to making another step forward and seeing what we can do.”

Jorge Lorenzo - 4th

"I started today struggling with the new asphalt. The morning was not good, but FP2 was much better and my feeling was really good. I've got grip on the rear now but I still have some problems with the front. I think we can still improve a lot in some parts. Ben is riding very, very well and it means I can be closer. I will try tomorrow to be at the same level as him.”

Wilco Zeelenberg

“The second free practice was a big jump from the morning with much more grip available. We made some small changes and Jorge felt a lot better on the bike. The tyres are going down quite quickly as there is still a lot of dirt on the track so we need to find a way to ensure we can finish the race with enough grip. We compared two different set ups, one was clearly better so for tomorrow we know our direction. For today we are happy with the improvements we have made.”

Massimo Meregalli

“It’s definitely a good start today and the circuit conditions are improving. The bike behaviour is good so we are working to finalise the bike set up for Ben, overall he is happy so far. He still has a small issue with his arm but hopefully he will be ok for Sunday as he is proving that he can do a good job here. Jorge made a good improvement from the morning, the team found the right way to improve the bike. Tomorrow they will make another step and on Sunday I fully expect he will be up there.”