Obviously feeling the pressure from the newly-arrived Austin circuit (of which more later), the owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have announced that the infield section will be resurfaced before the GP to be held there later this year. Expected to break ground June 9th, The Brickyard will be repaving the 1.5 mile section of the infield track between Turn 5 and Turn 16. The news is a boon to MotoGP fans and riders, as the latter has been complaining about track surface conditions since the word ‘go’, and the prior group has been concerned about the conditions prompting MotoGP to take its toys and play elsewhere.
This announcement means that the infield will be repaved for the first time since its construction in 2000, as no surfacing was done when the road course was created in 2008 for MotoGP. Piecing together a mix of sections that had varying types of asphalt, the inconsistencies in the design have been the Midwest track’s biggest flaw, making it impossible for teams to setup a motorcycle for a consistent response through the infield corners. Belaying any worry that the infield would have different conditions than the oval section, IMS says the new asphalt will be consistent with the other sections of the course.
Despite the Austin track to stage a GP from 2013, Indy management is hanging tough saying that they “wished the Texas track all the best” and were pushing ahead with the negotiations for an extension of their MotoGp contract past the end of 2012. I wish them luck, but I’ve made my thoughts about this matter clear many times before. There is NO WAY that DORNA is going to sanction THREE MotoGp events (minus the supporting classes) in the USA, it just won’t happen. Given the appalling state of the motorcycle industry, the invisibility of motorcycle road racing in the USA (except to the cognoscenti) and the expense involved in hauling the teams over there, it’s just not feasible.
And now for something completely different.
A V8 two stroke 1500cc motorcycle engine. Based on two siamesed TZ750 engines, it was built (apparently) in Britan (where else) and destined for a drag racing bike.
Scary, eh?
Still in the USA, Kevin Schwantz has released some stuff about the Austin circuit, claiming that it “won’t be like a normal Tilke circuit”. I certainly hope so, but I’m not convinced. Read his full statement here.
And, still on MotoGp, rumours starting to circulate that Thomas Luthi is destined for MotoGp in 2012, probably with the Interwetten team.
