It is tradition that Indy opens in the month of May, but this is a year of reviving old traditions, and that means bikes on the track in April to prepare for the inaugural MotoGP event to be held this Fall on the newly redesigned road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
IMS planned to kick the season off with a rumble by having MotoGP Champion Nicky Hayden lap the newly minted circuit aboard the same vintage Indian that blasted across the tar and gravel of the then “new” Speedway in 1909.
Having been major Speedway fans for many years, we were excited to hear that the “Month of May” would come a bit early in 2008. That it would be arriving on two wheels was the icing on the cake, so we took the day off to go watch motorcycles at the Brickyard on sunny spring April morning. We took a few pics, hope you enjoy...
By the time we arrived, there were quite a few bikes and cars in the parking lot, and the mounds were beginning to be dotted with devoted racing fans... IMS 2008-04-07 bikes.jpg
This was an unofficial event, but by late morning, the crowd had grown to be several hundred people. The local news trucks were filtering in to catch the press conference. IMS 2008-04-07 crowd.jpg
Work is still going on at a fast pace to get things ready for September, the work crews paused long enough to watch the goings on. IMS 2008-04-07 work.jpg
The new track looks great, the curbing is in, but they are still smoothing things and laying out the runoff areas. This is T1 and T2. IMS 2008-04-07 track.jpg
After a sighting lap in a BMW, Hayden came out on the track on the 1909 Indian preceded by a track rig full of photogs... IMS 2008-04-07 1909 T1.jpg
He actually looked a bit surprised to see so many fans "outside the ropes" and hollered to crowd. Luckily there were a couple of Kentuckians in our midst to translate for us reglar' Hoosiers... That old Indian sounded the bomb...it cackled, kicked and bucked as only a race motor being held at 40mph can do... IMS 2008-04-07 1909 T2.jpg
After a short break he came back out on the track aboard a tarted up CBR1000. It sounded good too, but not nearly as good as that old Speedway bike... IMS 2008-04-07 CBR T1.jpg
He spent several laps out on the track, even built up a bit of speed a couple of times. We had to leave during the press conference, but I understand he went back out on the CBR to do some "survey" work for the track...
It was a great day for the Speedway, and a really great day for Indiana racing fans. It's going to be a long wait til September...
Between the MotoGP race and the IRL/CART folks making friends again, things are looking good for the Speedway. Back in the pre-IRL Indycar days I was a regular attendee at the 500, haven't been there since - one F1 race the single exception.
I'm looking forward to making it back there this year.
Boy the stories I have about the pit! My college roommates's dad was the motorsports editor for the Detroit News back then so the 500 was an annual event for us.
He donated it? I would've thought that thing would be the queen of his garage.
It's on loan to promote the GP, then it goes back to OWB...
Originally Posted by RedRider
Boy the stories I have about the pit! My college roommates's dad was the motorsports editor for the Detroit News back then so the 500 was an annual event for us.
I've got a stack of vintage polaroids that I should put on eBay...
"Ten times more charming than that Arnold on Green Acres..."
After seeing bikes on the track it looks like the S.W. Vista seats will be really good. You will be able to see quite a bit of action as they brake from the straight into T1, all the way into the entrance of T5. The T2,3,4 section is very tight and should be fairly action packed...
After seeing bikes on the track it looks like the S.W. Vista seats will be really good. You will be able to see quite a bit of action as they brake from the straight into T1, all the way into the entrance of T5. The T2,3,4 section is very tight and should be fairly action packed...
You are probably right, the entrance is pretty gradual...plus if they miss it, they can jump up on the banking and run around the oval until they catch T5...
"Ten times more charming than that Arnold on Green Acres..."
But it looks like there is plenty of slowdown room.
I talked to a guy today that says the area of the oval above where roadcourse T1 turns into the infield will be completely covered in astroturf. They don't want it to look like a "cone course" on TV...
"Ten times more charming than that Arnold on Green Acres..."
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Originally Posted by ND4SPD
I would've thought that thing would be the queen of his garage.
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