By Paul Kelly
redbullindianapolisgp.com
Thursday, October 2, 2008
EVENT: Australian Grand Prix
WHERE: Phillip Island Circuit, Phillip Island, Australia. Circuit is 2.764 miles (4.448 km), with 12 turns. Race is 27 laps.
WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 5. It is the 16th of 18 events this season.
2007 RACE WINNER: Casey Stoner, by 6.763 seconds over Loris Capirossi
2007 POLE WINNER: Dani Pedrosa, 1 minute, 29.201 seconds
U.S. TV: 6-7 p.m. (ET), Sunday, Oct. 5, SPEED
THE AMERICANS: U.S. riders Colin Edwards (Houston, Tech 3 Yamaha), Nicky Hayden (Owensboro, Ky., Repsol Honda Team) and John Hopkins (Ramona, Calif., Kawasaki Racing Team) will compete in this race. Edwards is sixth, Hayden eighth and Hopkins tied for 16th in the MotoGP standings after 15 races this season.
•Colin Edwards: "It's everything here. The track, you've got fifth-gear corners, first-gear corners, camber, off-camber, elevation, and they've managed to squeeze all of that in 12 turns. It has a mixture of everything. The people here are great, the food's great, the scenery's great, the ocean is right there. I don't know what's not to like about the place. After the last few races I've had, which have been ultimate disasters, it feels good to come back (with seventh-place finish at Japan), just to get my toe wet again. I'm looking to end the year on a high note."
•Nicky Hayden: "I love Phillip Island. I don't think there's a better racetrack in the world, but I wish we could race there when the weather's a little bit better. Sometimes it can be more like Phillip Iceland than Phillip Island. A lot of tracks, they keep slowing them down, adding chicanes for safety, but this one you can really turn it on. There's some real fast stuff, so it's a track where you can get in a rhythm when the bike's working and go fast. And when the bike's not working, you can be pretty slow. You spend a lot of time on the edge of the tires, so it's probably the hardest track in the world for tires. I've had some good results there, a couple of pole positions, a second and a third, but I've never won one there. You need a bike setup that saves the tires, plus you need to be able to steer through the long corners and change direction. It's easy to lower the rear and soften things up to get traction, but then you lose the steering."
•John Hopkins: "I've not always had the best results at Phillip Island in the past, so it's certainly a track where I'd like to do well. We made a lot of changes to the bike in Japan, and although the race result wasn't what I'd hoped for, we definitely had a strong pace. We were able to lap a lot more consistently, and it was definitely a big improvement on our recent races. I really want to achieve some strong results in the last few rounds of the season, while also focusing on developing our Ninja ZX-RR for the 2009 season."
THEY SAID IT: "Phillip Island is one of my favorite tracks, and I can't wait to ride my M1 there. It's a place like no other and the only place we go where you can see the sea as you ride." - Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo, about the picturesque Phillip Island circuit
FAST FACTS: This is the home race for three riders on the MotoGP grid, 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner, Chris Vermeulen and Anthony West … Only two riders have won a MotoGP race from pole at Phillip Island, Australian legend Mick Doohan in 1998 and Valentino Rossi in 2003 … American star Colin Edwards will make his 100th MotoGP start at this event. Edwards has not missed a MotoGP race since climbing to the class in 2003. Edwards, a Houston native nicknamed "The Texas Tornado," has recorded 10 top-three finishes and three poles in his first 99 starts … This is a home race for American star Colin Edwards, whose father was born in Australia … Newly crowned MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi has finished in the top three in 10 of his 11 starts at Phillip Island across all classes. His only finish off the podium was sixth in 1997 on a 125cc bike. Rossi has seven career victories at Phillip Island, including five in the MotoGP class … Marco Melandri of the Ducati Marlboro Team is the only rider to win in all three classes at Phillip Island, capturing the 125cc race in 1999, the 250cc race in 2002 and the MotoGP race in 2006 … Toni Elias of Spain will return to the Honda Gresini team in 2009 as teammate to Alex De Angelis. Elias rode for the team in 2007 before moving to the Alice Team this year … Marco Simoncelli of Italy can clinch the 250cc World Championship at this event. He leads Alvaro Bautista of Spain by 32 points … Mike di Meglio of France can clinch the 125cc World Championship at this event. He leads Simone Corsi of Italy by 36 points … American Stevie Bonsey, from Salinas, Calif., is 14th in the 125cc standings for the DeGraaf Grand Prix team.
***
2009 Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets: The second annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 30, two weeks earlier than this year's date.
A three-day event ticket for a reserved seat or general admission can be renewed online at the Tickets section at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com. Fans also can request an upgrade of their reserved Race Day tickets at the Tickets section.
Ticket applications for new customers also are being accepted. New customers are encouraged to order early to secure the best available seats.
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