Live Timing from Indy MotoGP test

[Randy]

Ben is clicking off some pretty good laps (has low lap time of the day as of this posting) and is getting some very valuable seat time. He's currently lapping quicker than the highly-talented Niccolo Canepa on the Xerox Ducati. This is going to be a HUGE advantage for Ben when the race comes to Indy.

https://scoring.indycar.com/2008/?site=ims

 

[feejer222]

With respect to Ben, he is not up against GP riders. Who are the other guys, testers or American wild cards?

 

[GunMD]

Testers...not wildcard guys, but actual test riders.

You may remember Oliver Jaques from GP a couple of years ago on a Kawasaki ZX-RR. Can't recall when he last raced. Was teamed w/ dePuniet, I think.

EDIT: Here is a link to a flattering photo of Jaques in '05 at Sachsenring.

 

[Randy]

By no means do I think this will allow Ben to cruise to the podium, but, it will be an adavantage. The full-time riders will be stepping foot on that track for the first time and will not only be learning a new track (not difficult for most of the riders), but, they'll also be trying to get the bike set up. Granted, they'll have the base set-up from the test riders, but, that doesn't always translate well. Ben will be starting off with a base set-up that he knows works for him and they'll just have to make some tweaks depending on the then-current conditions.

Another thing to consider....The Bridgestone riders were a full second quicker than the Michelin riders. Both Bridgestone and Michelin will be using the data collected during these sessions to formulate a tire for the track.

Ben said that he would love to be in the top 10 and getting a top 5 finish would be pretty tough.

 

[Randy]

After the 2nd day of testing, Nic Canepa bested Ben Spies by less than 9 hundreths of a second - 1:43.0069 to 1:43.0912.

Ben was able to click off 224 laps over the last 2 days. Very beneficial for his experience on the bike and very beneficial for the race at Indy.

As a point of comparison, riders get somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 laps before a race between the 3 practice sessions, the qualifying, and the warm up.

 

[feejer222]

Randy, this could be a no-win situation for Ben. If he gets top 5 the immediate feeling, taking into account his Donington ride will be, 'yeah, but it was only because he had been round the track a million times'. He will then have to live up to the performance when he does enter the GP circus. Or...If he can only manage 13th then people will say that he obviously can't hack it because he had so much time at the track and a distinct advantage, but still didn't perform.

Maybe his best option is to break down midrace lying 7th and leave us all wondering

Whatever happens it would be nice to see him in the mix, and certainly in there full time....a year late if you ask me.

 

[Randy]

Randy, this could be a no-win situation for Ben. If he gets top 5 the immediate feeling, taking into account his Donington ride will be, 'yeah, but it was only because he had been round the track a million times'. He will then have to live up to the performance when he does enter the GP circus. Or...If he can only manage 13th then people will say that he obviously can't hack it because he had so much time at the track and a distinct advantage, but still didn't perform.
Maybe his best option is to break down midrace lying 7th and leave us all wondering

Whatever happens it would be nice to see him in the mix, and certainly in there full time....a year late if you ask me.

I wholeheartedly agree. I think a better point of reference to see where his is will be Laguna Seca.