The Indianapolis Grand Prix is a motorcycling event held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (in Speedway, Indiana) as part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. Its first edition took place on September 14, 2008 and was sponsored by Red Bull. The race was held again on August 30, 2009 and was sponsored by Red Bull again.
The layout is similar to the setup used for the Formula One United States Grand Prix between 2000 and 2007, but not identical. It has been reversed to a counterclockwise layout, with a new complex of corners just after the start-finish line, inside Turn 1 of the oval. This means that the bikes do not use any of the banked oval corners. The double-hairpin at the Hulman Straight was replaced with a traditional esses.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana (an enclave suburb of Indianapolis) in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race.
In 2009, the race was heavily affected by the arrival of the remnants of Hurricane Ike in Indiana. On race day, the weather was overcast and cold, with a 100% chance of rain during the event. The 125cc class started with dry track however, and went on until rain began to fall, with 7 laps to go. However, since two thirds of the scheduled distance had been run, the race was declared over and full points were given. Rain intensity then led the organizers to postpone the 250cc race until after the MotoGP race, hoping the winds and rain would stop. The MotoGP race was started at the scheduled time, with a very wet track but little rain. It ran until the 21st lap, when strong winds began again to blow. Fearing for the safety of the riders, the stewards red-flagged the race, which was declared over, and full World Championship points were given. The winds did not stop after the race, and safety concerns ultimately led to the cancellation of the 250cc race.
The Laguna Seca round has not been removed from the schedule, meaning that the United States now hosts two rounds of the championship. While Laguna Seca round has only MotoGP class competing, Indianapolis will host also 125 cc and 250 cc races. |
