Bikes at Indy

[Redneck]

I recently attended the USGP and there were rumors that they were trying to bring the FIM bikes there too. I have not seen anything to substantiate this, has anyone here heard anything?

[Lazy Boy]

Haven't heard anything about bringing them to Indy.... but there has been plenty of talk about bringing them to Road America (a bit NW of Milwaukee Wis).... in fact I believe they even spent a lot of money already making mod's to the track to conform to the FIM track reg's... but something fell thru for the 2001 date.... it is a great facility... the original track was 4 miles (6.5 km) in a beautiful setting.

I couldn't really imagine them holding a bike race at Indy..... it's a big oval with no infield, how can you do that?.... and if they did put an infield in it would mess up the golf course.... and it would be like Daytona... the FIM would never approve.

[KC]

Obviously Lazy Boy does not follow F1. Indianapolis does indeed have an FIA approved road course and paddock area and could easily hold a FIM GP bike as well as a SBK event. The circuit is big enough to garner a lot of attention and would probably do a very good job of holding a FIM event.

[Lazy Boy]

Sorry...OK... educate me... what kind of track did they have for the F1 cars at Indy?

How long was it?
How much of the oval did they use?... 3 turns?
Know the average speed for a hot lap?
Did they put in this infield just for this race?
Did the F1 drivers like it? (I already know the answer to that one!! ..LOL!)

That's kind of interesting... cause they could use it for a US Superbike race too...... Maybe Indy would treat the people better than the Gestapo at Mid-Ohio!

Bet the FIM would never go for the "oval with an infield" for a GP or WSB race.... Take it to Road America!

Haven't followed F1 much in the last few years... don't watch much TV now either.... but when I do I ride my "Lazy Boy".

[Crash Test]

I would absolutely loathe to come off at the last turn at Indy....aarrggghhhh!

[elephino]

Indy uses the first turn as the last corner of the road course. It is reasonably tight in the infield with a sweeping corner onto the oval between turns 1 and 2 and then around turn 1 (ie run reverse direction to normal oval running). It could work for bike racing.

[Valentinik]

Whilst the World Superbikes race at Laguna Seca and Brands Hatch neither track can get approval for MotoGP due to the lack of run off at some of the fast corners. This being the case I cant see Indianapolis having a chance of hosting an event. Solid concrete on the outside of the fastest corner would cause a riders boycott.

[Redneck]

I am sure the last turn would get considerable attention towards safety. They would never leave it bare. Lots of hay bales and air fences could bring it to within reasonable safety. The F1 car guys were very apprehensive about the turn despite Jacque Villenueve's assurances that they would never get up enough speed to push traction. Afterwards, they all conceded that it was not that much of an issue and refered to it as a high speed kink wiht little challenge. I do not see it being a very dangerous turn for the bikes either. The rest of the course is perfect, with plenty of run-off and kitty litter boxes.

Lazy Boy- check out http://www.usgpindy.com for more info. They spent something like $175 million renovating the track for the USGP.

I think that Indy is likely to get the nod before Road America. Probably would have something to do with Tony George and Bernie E's new found relationship. The FIM and FIA have never considered the fan, it has always been about $$$.

[elephino]

Actually this is all a bit of a moot point as I recall that the track will be altered for next year's F1 race.