Nicky Hayden will partner with Valentino Rossi in
Ducati’s factory
MotoGP squad in 2011. News of the American’s contract renewal has been anticipated for several weeks and official confirmation came in Indianapolis on Saturday night.
Ben Spies snagged his first MotoGP pole position of his career at Indianapolis ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden.
“I am very proud to be signing for Ducati again,” said Hayden. “Last year I felt like I rode for Ducati but now I really feel as if I am a Ducati rider. The team, sponsors and Ducati fans have really taken me in and supported me a lot and I really hope to pay them back with the results they deserve. Next year I'll be teamed with some guy named Rossi who knows a little something about bikes! We're going to have a strong squad - I won't predict results but I have no doubt this team will have some real passion, real worth ethic and a lot of fun. It is the start of a new era at Ducati and it is an honor for me to be a part of it."
Hayden has scored one podium finish for Ducati when he was third in Indianapolis a year ago. He claimed his first front row start for the Bologna factory in qualifying yesterday and has improved significantly after a tough debut campaign. The Kentucky rider is currently sixth in the overall standings and has claimed six top-six finishes in the opening 10 races so far in 2010.
Ducati Corse Director Filippo Preziosi said: “We are really pleased that Nicky will be staying with us for the next two years. It is no secret that he is a rider who never gives up; his whole racing history shows it. As a person his tenacity is an example for us all because he shows us that nothing is impossible if you truly believe. His progress since arriving at Ducati has been impressive and I am sure this trend will continue in the future. Nicky is also a special rider because of his attention to every detail and for him having Valentino as his teammate means a huge contribution towards the development of an even more competitive motorcycle. I think it is these characteristics that have won the hearts of all the Ducatisti and that is the reason why a Ducati is the bike for him right now.”
Ben Spies said his first MotoGP pole position was a ‘dream’ after he produced an outstanding qualifying performance on home soil at Indianapolis. The Texan’s already impressive rookie campaign got even better when a lap of 1.40.105 secured him a stunning maiden pole position in baking hot conditions at the world famous Indianapolis track. The reigning
World Superbike champion first jumped to the top of the timesheets with 12 minutes remaining when he surged up the
Despite running second in qualifying, Lorenzo believes Ben Spies is perfectly capable of taking the victory at Indy.
leaderboard from ninth. Jorge Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden relegated him back down to third spot, but his brilliant lap in the final two minutes saw him edge out Spaniard Lorenzo by 0.220s. Spies became the first non-factory rider to claim a pole position since Monster
Yamaha Tech 3 teammate Colin Edwards topped qualifying in Shanghai in 2008.
“It's a dream,” Spies said. “To have a pole position at any time in MotoGP is great and to be able to do it in the first season on the Monster Tech 3 bike in front of the American crowd, it's great. It's kind of ticked all the boxes this weekend. I’ve just can’t get ahead of myself. The conditions were difficult with the track, not just because it was hot, but a lot of sliding around. It gets greasy and through a couple of the turns you're almost kind of twiddling your thumbs, spinning the bike and playing around with it. It was difficult for everybody. We put together a good lap. It wasn't the perfect lap in the world, but we finally didn't make too many mistakes. Like I said, it gives us confidence for the race, but we've also got to find some more race pace. These guys are going fast. So we'll try to get a good start to stay there in the first few laps and try not to make mistakes and see what happens.”
Spies only scored his first front row start at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic earlier this month, and he admitted that final confirmation of his move to the factory Yamaha squad in 2011 had eased some pressure.
It kind of took the pressure off with the announcement on Friday and just knowing what's going on. I really want to repay the Tech 3 team because they've helped put me in a place to be there. To be able to get a pole for them and hopefully end the season good and keep being consistent and progress is what I’m looking at. But we'll just savor the moment right now and try to put a hard 45 minutes and see what happens in the race.”
American Nicky Hayden will start Sunday's race from the front row after qualifying in third-place.
Asked if he could contemplate winning the race and becoming the first non-factory rider to be victorious in MotoGP since Toni Elias snatched a last gasp win over Valentino Rossi at Estoril in 2006, the 26-year-old added: “There were a bunch of boxes to be ticked this year, but the problem is there's really only one left. We've had top-fives, a podium and now a pole. I mean, why not? You always go for it. A racer is there to win but it's not always to be had. If we get a good start we've got to hang in there, and if we're there we'll try to win the race. We won't be thinking of that the first few laps, we'll just try to stay clean, and a good start's really key here with the first lap and first few turns. Just try to be consistent and give him (Jorge) a race at least. If we don't he's going to be having a cappuccino with two races to go and not even going to be here.”
Jorge Lorenzo reckons Ben Spies can become the first non-factory rider to win a MotoGP race since Toni Elias triumphed at Estoril back in 2006. The Texan produced a brilliant display in Indianapolis to claim his first premier class pole position, a lap of 1.40.105 in the final two minutes comfortably beating Spaniard Lorenzo by 0.220s. Spies became the first satellite team rider to claim pole position since Monster Yamaha Tech 3 teammate Colin Edwards topped qualifying in China back in 2008. And dominant world championship leader Lorenzo has backed the reigning World Superbike champion to pose a serious threat in tomorrow’s 28-lap race. Lorenzo is bidding for an eighth win in 11 races from second on the grid, having preserved his impressive front row starting record in 2010. The 23-year-old hasn’t qualified off the front row yet and he’s yet to finish lower than second in a race.
“Ben was very fast with the soft tire and I think he can be fighting for the victory,” Lorenzo said. “Now he's getting closer to the top guys and he made two very quick laps, so he deserves it, and I think if he can keep his level, he can fight for the win. But I think I can fight for the win also. I’m quite happy, not really satisfied but I think my race pace can be good. Obviously I pushed the maximum to get the pole position, but Ben's lap was quite quick for these conditions and I only could make second-place today.”
Valentino Rossi suffered two crashes during practice and qualifying at Indy, and felt that track condidtions were partly to blame. Below: Rossi's crew attempts to fix some of the damage of his accident during qualifying.
Nicky Hayden finally scored his first front row start for Ducati in Indianapolis with the American securing third-place on the grid for tomorrow’s 28-lap clash. Hayden has qualified on the second row of the grid five times in 2010 but briefly threatened to claim a shock pole position on home soil when he led qualifying in the final moments. But a lap of 1.40.336 was just 0.011s away from Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo in second-place and the 2006 world champion said: “It's my first front row since I've been on Ducati. So it's nice because qualifying was something I really struggled with last year and something we worked a lot on in the off-season. Getting on the front row is really important. I know with my race pace, if I'm going to fight at the front, I can't expect to start seventh or eighth and just kind of work my way up and pick guys off. The bike felt a lot better in qualifying and I'm happy to be on the front row. It's the first time for Ducati and it's a good little step for me.”
Hayden has never finished off the podium in Indianapolis and his third-place last season remains his solitary rostrum finish for Ducati. With compatriot Ben Spies claiming his first career pole position, Hayden said it was hugely important for the profile of MotoGP in America to have two home riders in the top-three on the grid.
“I think it's awesome for MotoGP here in America,” said Hayden. “A lot of people are pushing to help expose the sport to new people. At the moment it's all about how Spanish are dominating MotoGP in every class this year. We need to step our game up a little.”
Valentino Rossi struggled to recall the last time he crashed twice on the same day as the Italian’s hopes of a second podium in America in a month suffered a big blow. The Fiat Yamaha rider will start the Indianapolis MotoGP from a lowly seventh on the grid after he crashed in the decisive final minutes of qualifying. A front-end loss on a huge bump at Turn 6 dumped Rossi on the ground for the second time after he’d also suffered a similar crash during the morning’s second free practice session. Luckily for the 31-year-old, both were relatively innocuous falls and he didn’t suffer any damage to the recovering right leg he broke during practice for his home race in Mugello back in early June. Rossi’s qualifying crash came with just six minutes left on the clock and his 1.41.005 left him off the second row for the first time this season.
Rossi, who will quit Yamaha to join Ducati in 2011, said: “Two crashes in one day, I don't remember the last time that happened to me, maybe 1996 or maximum 2000 or 2001. But because I am a young rider I need to feel the limit! I am very lucky to be fit and not have a problem because it was just a small slide. But it was the worst moment to crash because I was out on the soft tire and I was very confident to improve my lap time. I lost the front in the f*****g bump at Turn 6 and I didn't have any chance to come back because it was the last tire.”
The nine-time world champion said he expected his final position on the grid to be much worse after he missed the stage of the session when most riders post their best times. He added: “I am seventh and I expected worse. It will be difficult from seventh-place but I have quite good pace for the race. I have started to be more confident with the bike and ride more in a normal way. There is still a lot of work to do so apart from this I'm happy. If I didn't crash and I made 40.3 and I would have been on the front row.”
Australian Casey Stoner took sixth-place on the grid after struggling with the Indy track surface.
Looking ahead to his chances in tomorrow’s 28-lap race, Rossi said: “For sure it will be difficult to start from the third row but our target is not the victory. Also it is a strange grid because Dani (Pedrosa), me and Casey (Stoner) are on second and third row and Ben (Spies) is in front.”
Rossi claimed his solitary podium finish since he returned from injury at the Laguna Seca round in California at the end of July.
Factory Ducati rider Casey Stoner vented his frustration on the condition of the Indianapolis track after he equaled his worst qualifying result of the season. The Australian will start the race from sixth on the grid after he could only log a best time of 1.40.664. That left the 24-year-old over 0.5s behind the impressive Ben Spies in pole position, and Stoner said: “It is definitely not where I expected to be. We thought the settings we had in the morning weren't too bad. But as the qualifying session went on we just started having more and more issues with the front end wanting to close all the time and especially in the last sector. So we've sort of gone in the wrong direction a little bit and we'll just have to correct that for the race. But it's a little bit disappointing.”
Stoner crashed out during the second free practice session at the notoriously bumpy Turn 6 that also caught out Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Spies and reigning world champion Valentino Rossi.
It was evident from TV replays that Stoner had no chance to keep control of his Ducati GP10 machine once he lost the front on a series of huge bumps. He’d already been critical of the track surface after Friday’s opening practice session and urged Indianapolis management to resurface 70 percent of the track ahead of the 2011 race.
“You can see by the amount of crashes that this track is atrocious,” said Stoner. “I wasn't here last year, so I've had a two-year break to really understand how much it's deteriorated and personally it's a huge difference. It looks like somebody has gone out there and done a bit of concrete work and a bit of tarmac work themselves. It doesn't look like a professional track in the slightest bit. It's definitely not up to the standard of what Indianapolis's name should hold. Like I said, 70 percent of this track needs to be resurfaced. It really needs to be ripped up, smoothed out again and resurfaced. I'm sure a lot of streets would be probably smoother than this one, so it’s not nice for a race track.”
Stoner wasn’t alone in condemning the track surface, with Rossi also expressing concerns that the bumpy surface was like riding on a public road in places.
