A clear and sunny day opened the first practice session for the premier class upon their return to the United States, with a newly paved track welcoming them to the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix weekend. While lap times would be expected to be quicker thanks to the resurfacing, it seems the track was slightly dirty and still needs a bit more rubber the help with the grip.
Last year’s pole man and second place race finisher Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) took the top spot with 18 minutes remaining, after progressing through the ranks at the beginning of the session to post a final time of 1’43.260.
Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) had moved into the lead with a minute and half remaining with a lap of 1'43.552, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Spies, and the Australian finished the session sandwiched between two Americans on Yamaha’s when Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) stepped into third with a time of 1’43.574.
San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli is fresh off his first premier class podium in Brno and full of confidence. The rider’s time of 1’43.582 put him fourth in the timings, but the Italian had led much of the practice session.
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) was the third American in the top five times, his lap of 1’44.236 was 0.126s ahead of his team mate Valentino Rossi. Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) was sixth fastest with a time of 1’44.551, followed by Mapfre Aspar rider Héctor Barberá and Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) in ninth.
Last year’s Indianapolis race winner Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) placed tenth in the session with a time of 1’45.192 after entering his box several times in the practice.
MotoGP rookie Karel Abraham (Cardion ab Motoracing) had an issue with his machine on the first lap, the Czech rider was able to rejoin the session but had another mechanical problem and retired to his box in the remaining 5 minutes.
