Motoracing: Indianapolis awaits MotoGP

The second ever world championship visit to Indianapolis Motor Speedway takes place this weekend.

In 2008, Valentino Rossi took maximum points at the 'Brickyard', leading by six seconds when the scheduled 28-lap race was curtailed on the 20th lap because of the remnants of Hurricane Ike, with Nicky Hayden and Jorge Lorenzo placing second and third respectively.

Rossi and his MotoGP rivals will be hoping for good weather this time out, with the Italian star striving to increase his current 50pt championship advantage, on the back of yet another success story in the Czech Republic at the last round.

Rossi's Fiat Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo, who has just announced he will be remaining at the team for 2010, finished just in front of him on the timesheet in the second and final post-race test of the year on the Monday after the Czech race and the Spaniard will aim to bounce back from his two DNFs at Brno and Donington Park, as he attempts to claw his way back into the title battle with six grands Prix remaining.

In the continued absence of the recuperating Casey Stoner, who remains in Australia and is expected back on track at Estoril early in October, the bookies' favourite to feature on the podium with Rossi and Lorenzo is Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa - who was second in the Brno race and sits fourth in the general classification, 77pts adrift of Rossi.

For Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards the second U.S. visit of the year gives him the chance to consolidate his top five championship position as he attempts to improve on a disappointing 15th place finish in last year's Indy race.

Edwards' fellow American Hayden - 14th in the championship at present - would love to repeat his 2008 Indianapolis result and get on the podium for the first time with Ducati.

Also aiming for the same goal is Pedrosa's teammate and Hayden's replacement at Honda, Andrea Dovizioso, who just missed out on the rostrum again at Brno and was fifth in the inaugural MotoGP Indianapolis contest last September. Dovizioso lies sixth in the standings, just ahead of Honda satellite counterpart Randy de Puniet who has ridden consistently in 2009 and is due to make a decision soon on where he will ride next year.

Eighth placed Marco Melandri will compete at Indianapolis safe in the knowledge that a ride with San Carlo Honda Gresini has been secured for next year, whilst his fellow top 10 representatives Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen of the Rizla Suzuki team are also likely to confirm their future plans in due course, with both hoping for strong Indy performances.

"I'm looking forward to going to Indianapolis, as it is such an amazing venue and a really well organised event," said Vermeulen, whose career at Suzuki hangs in the balance.

"We didn't really get the best out of the place last year as the race was hit by a hurricane and had to be stopped early, so I hope the weather is a lot better this year.

"We made a big step with bike at Brno in the last GP and although the result wasn't what we wanted, we certainly have a clear indication of how the new engine will work in the remaining races. We need to be on the pace as quick as possible at Indy and see what we can do."

The weekend will see Finnish rider Mika Kallio continue in the factory Ducati team as Stoner's temporary replacement, while young Spaniard Aleix Espargaró gets an exciting chance to ride for the Pramac Racing team on the satellite Ducati Desmosedici GP9 vacated by Kallio.

Meanwhile, American Kevin Schwantz is to cur some demonstration laps at Indianapolis on his 1993 championship-winning Suzuki RGV500, just before the start of the MotoGP race.

"I'm looking forward to it. I've sat on it a couple of times," said the garrulous Schwantz.

"We've got some new Michelin tyres for it. I'm not going to try and throw down a qualifying lap, that's for sure, but I'm really looking forward to riding it. Hearing that V-four two-stroke running around out here is going to be special."

Also, a demonstration of a new Moto2 class will take place on Saturday.

Click on the following link for the current MotoGP standings.