Yamaha MotoGP preview - Indianapolis

The MotoGP World Championship heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time in its history this weekend, fittingly with the equal most successful rider of all-time leading the groundbreaking pilgrimage to one of motorsport's most iconic venues. Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi leveled Giacomo Agostini's record of premier-class wins with his 68th career success at Misano, extending his championship advantage over Casey Stoner to 75 points, whilst his rookie team-mate Jorge Lorenzo made it a team one-two, It means that Rossi needs to outscore Stoner by a single point at Indy to set up his first title match-point in the following round at Motegi, Japan. The legendary American circuit, which plays host to two of the largest-attended sporting events in the world - the Indy 500 and Allstate 400 car races - now welcomes the two-wheeled phenomena of Rossi-mania and the 'Lorenshow', with the pair keen to make their mark with a dazzling performance in front of the fanatical east-coast crowd.

Much will hinge on the adaptability of bikes and especially tyres at a circuit the engineers have no previous data for. A crucial factor will be track temperature, although it looks certain to be much cooler than recent events at Laguna Seca, Brno and in particular Misano, where the late European summer sunshine brought ambient temperatures of 35ºC, heating the asphalt to 48ºC. At Indianapolis average temperatures in September range from highs of around 25ºC to lows touching 13ºC.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the largest spectator sporting facility in the world, with 257,000 permanent seats. Originally constructed in 1909 with a 2.5-mile oval, an exciting 16-turn motorcycle road circuit, which includes part of the historic oval, has been purpose-built for this weekend's event. Action will get underway an hour earlier than usual, with the first practice session scheduled for 9.30am on Friday and running until 11am, allowing the riders an extra half hour to get to know the track. Sunday's race is also scheduled for later than usual, with the red lights set to go out at 300pm.

Valentino Rossi - A different challenge:
"I am still on a high from Misano, which was an amazing day, but now we are facing a different challenge. It's very exciting to be going to Indianapolis, such a famous and historical place for motorposrt, but it's obvious from reports that it's going to be quite a difficult race for everyone. Of course we have no data but we're also expecting the surface to be quite tricky for the tyres. I hope the track is safe, we know the walls are quite close in some places but hopefully it won't be a problem. We will find out on Friday! It's fun to be going to a new place in America and I hope there will be a lot of fans, even if it's not quite as many as at the Indy 500!"