Indianapolis, Indiana - After a month-long break the second half of the MotoGP season gets underway at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the United States this Sunday.
Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi leads the standings by 13 points from his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, with the fast and consistent Italian having amassed 179 points so far this year. The Doctor is bidding for his 10th world championship title this season, and will take confidence from the fact that he has never lost out on a premier class championship when he was leading the standings after nine races. Unfortunately for Rossi, Indianapolis is not such a happy hunting ground. Apart from his victory at the inaugural race in 2008, he has only managed to finish on the podium once since, his third placed finish last year.
Traditionally the track has been a Honda stronghold, with the Japanese firm winning at the circuit for the past five years in a row.
Lorenzo will be looking to bounce back from his third and fourth places at Assen and the Sachsenring respectively to try and close the gap on Rossi at the top of the standings.
MARQUEZ HAS NEVER LOST IN AMERICA
Honda’s Marc Marquez won last time out at the Sachsenring and will be heading to Indianapolis full of confidence having never lost a MotoGP race on US soil. He has dominated the previous two races at Indianapolis, winning from pole and setting the fastest lap in the process.
His victory at the German GP showed that Marquez has recovered from his poor start to the season, which saw him record three non-finishes in the first seven races. The reigning champion lies 61 points behind Rossi with nine races left.
Marquez’s team-mate Dani Pedrosa capped his comeback from the arm pump surgery that forced him to miss three races earlier in the season with second at the Sachsenring. That was the 96th time the Spaniard had stood on the podium in the premier class, moving him up to second on the all time list, ahead of Mick Doohan (95) and second only to Rossi (169). Like Marquez, Pedrosa has also tasted victory twice at Indianapolis.
Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone currently lies third in the championship and will be looking to build on an incredibly consistent start to the season that has seen him finish inside the top six at every race.
Star Motoring