MotoGP: Back Home (Indy Spoiler Thread)

Spies ready to return at Indianapolis

[SIZE=-1]FOX SPORTS 1 LAUNCH WEEKEND OFFERS LIVE & ENHANCED COVERAGE of MOTOGP FROM INDIANAPOLIS

Rare Sit-Down Interview With Superstar Valentino Rossi
Highlights In-Show Features

Indianapolis - FOX Sports 1, America's new 24/7 sports network launching Aug. 17, is poised for LIVE and ENHANCED coverage of the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, round 10 of the 18-race MotoGP World Championship, the globe's premier motorcycle racing series.

Starting at 11 a.m. on Aug. 18, the second day of FOX Sports 1's ?Launch Weekend,' all three categories of the MotoGP World Championship take to the 2.62-mile, 16-turn road course situated within America's most historic racing facility - Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Motor sports broadcast veteran Bob Varsha hosts the show from a stage located behind the famous front-stretch pagoda, and the live telecast begins with Moto 3 at 11 a.m. ET, Moto 2 at Noon ET and the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix at 2 p.m. ET.

Calling the race is long-time racing voice Ralph Sheheen, while AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame member and former grand prix motorcycle competitor Scott Russell provides color commentary. Series expert Greg White is patrolling pit road for the latest news and insights.

For more information on FOX Sports 1, please visit: HERE and follow us on Twitter at @FOXSports1 and @FOXSportsPR

"Long-time MotoGP fans will love what we have planned for our first race on FOX Sports 1," said Pete Richards, FOX Sports 1 coordinating producer. "We're also going to spend a lot of time introducing the sport to a new fan base. We hope people get hooked on a sport that's as intense as anything you'll see in racing. These are the most talented, fastest motorcycle racers in the world, going toe-to-toe on the most technologically advanced bikes ever built."

FOX Sports 1 Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix Schedule...

· MotoGP Moto 3 (11 a.m. ET, LIVE)
· MotoGP Moto 2 (NOON, LIVE)
· MotoGP Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix (2 p.m. ET, LIVE)

In addition to calling the race, Varsha and the FOX Sports 1 crew welcome special guests and dignitaries throughout the broadcast. The audience will also be presented segments on the sport's long history, its pure-bred racing bikes, iconic racers and the 2013 season storylines that shape the current landscape.

A Rare Opportunity...

MotoGP super star Valentino Rossi, considered by many as the greatest modern-day motorcycle racer to ever live, is doing a rare sit-down interview with FOX Sports 1 to talk about his legendary career. Currently fourth in points, the 34-year-old Italian is gunning for his eighth-overall MotoGP World Championship - tying him with the great Giacomo Agostini for the all-time mark.

Other on-air highlights include a segment on American Ben Spies returning to competition at Indianapolis, after a lingering elbow injury had kept him off track; and a trip to Owensboro, Ky., to catch up with 2006 titlist Nicky Hayden - the last U.S. rider to win a MotoGP World Championship in the sport's premier category. He recently lost his ride when Ducati made a switch prior to last month's round in Monterey, Calif.

Three Storylines Heading Into the Second Half...

· Can 20-year-old Marc Marquez become the youngest rider to ever win a MotoGP World Championship? Indianapolis starts the second half of the 2013 racing season, with Marquez currently holding a 16-point championship advantage over the sport's perennial ?bridesmaid' Dani Pedrosa. He's also ahead of defending MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo who resides 26 point behind in third.

American rider Freddie Spencer was the youngest to ever hoist a World Championship trophy at 21 years and 258 days of age. The California racing legend won six races for Honda in 1983, recording the first of two titles. His second came in 1985, dominating the field by scoring seven victories, 10 pole positions and 10 podium appearances in the Series' 12 races.

· Is Cal Crutchlow championship material? Ducati seems to think so, as the 27-year-old rider just signed a two-year factory backed deal to replace American and 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden. With three, full-factory operations currently running in MotoGP, this was a big move for the British rider who had sought a similar spot with Yamaha.

Crutchlow, who currently sits fifth in points 47 behind Marc Marquez, began his career in MotoGP's premier class in 2011. Despite breaking his collarbone at the Grand Prix of Silverstone that year, he still claimed the MotoGP Top Rookie Award. Last season, he grabbed two podiums finishes and wound up seventh in final points.

· Tennessee native and MotoGP regular Ben Spies returns to competition at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. Riding one of the Pramac Racing Ducattis, Spies is currently only one of two U.S. riders competing in the series, as 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden recently lost his ride at Ducatti. Veteran campaigner Colin Edwards is the other.

Starting in the late 1970s, American riders have been big influences in grand prix motorcycle competition. Seven different riders - the most of any country - have combined for 15 overall World Motorcycle Championships in 500cc/MotoGP competition.
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The greatest modern-day motorcycle racer to ever live? Wow, that was really poorly written!

And isn't Ben from Texas? Was he born in Tennessee and never told anyone?

Born in Memphis, home to Elvis and the ancient Greeks.

One very surprising thing about this is binning such an evocative name like SPEED and changing it to something bland like Fox Sports 1 in the name of promoting such a tawdry brand as Fox.

Let's hope some entity like Velocity can capture a good portion of the non-NASCAR gearhead content.

Fox's rationale (if you want to call it that) was that they needed a Fox-branded general sports network, ala ESPN. Speed had the most viewer penetration and was easiest to implement.

Wild prediction. If Ben is healthy he will beat all the other ducatis. You heard it here. first.

rationale

I may as well be the first:

1 - Rossi
2 - Marquez
3 - Lorenzo
4 - Crutchlow

Ok, it's just a wild guess.

Time for Pedrosa to turn it up a notch. He's walking away with this one.

I think MM will be the fastest every session and win by 5 seconds over Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Rossi.

He goes good there. Ben goes good there too, but on a Yamaha.

Great article. Thanks for the link.

Troll lighter my friend.

1. Pedro
2. MM
3. J low.


Pedro has dominated this track the past few years. He will again this year.

Ben goes very well here even when he was on the Tech 3 bike. 2nd place his first year at the track.

Espargaro for the win.
















CRT.

MM
Bradl
Lorenzo

I'm excited to see how Rispoli does in Moto2.

so that means he'll finish 9th or 10th!!! AND behind Esp!!

Meanwhile, in the real world, I'd have to put my money on pedro given his past performances, but I really hope that MM and Jorge, and hell, even Rossi can stay up there and keep it from becoming a parade. and then there's Bradl, he keeps getting faster.

Wild guess or insider information?


If I were a betting man:

MM- healthy and hungry
Rossi- healthy and trying hard for another win
Lorenzo- not fully healed, still in damage control
Pedrosa- not fully healed, fragile and in damage control
Bradl- fast and trying hard
Dovi- out to prove a point
CC- no more fast bits from Yamaha
Esp- trying to make the ART an MSMA bike
Someone else

I'm not a betting man so it's anybodies guess really, I'm just hoping they all get through healthy and make a bit of a race of it.

If I were a betting man I would vote that three out of that list go down during the race.

The track is going to be hopelessly green (again) there is only the Rolex series race there (this week if I'm not mistaken) held on the infield circuit all year. Indy bites everyone, and Pedro and Jlo are already on the mend.

I want to see Lorenzo and Pedrosa complete the race weekend without crashing and reinjuring their collarbones. First wish. Second wish, some great close racing right down to the last corner, don't really care who it's between!