Indianapolis: Valentino Rossi makes rainy debut at the brickyard

The historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway had its first taste of MotoGP action today as the inaugural Indianapolis Grand Prix got underway, but it was a rain-hit debut for the sport at this most famous of racetracks. Nonetheless Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi made an encouraging start and is optimistic for the weekend, should the weather not become even worse.

After having some initial concerns on first sight yesterday, the Italian was pleasantly surprised with his first foray onto the track and found it more enjoyable to ride than he had expected, despite the areas of new asphalt lacking some grip. He was 11th fastest this morning but improved considerably this afternoon and finished the second session, which was much wetter, in fourth. Fastest on track today was Anthony West, whilst Rossi's team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was also happy with his first outing, finishing seventh in both sessions

Valentino Rossi - Position: 11thTime: 1'54.795Laps: 59
"So, after some worries yesterday it seems that the track is not so bad and in fact it's a lot more fun to ride than I expected; it's like Rio in places. There are some parts that have a few problems and we can definitely improve them for the future, especially turn five and turn one, but for now I think it is okay. The biggest problem is the difference in the asphalt, which changes too much, and the new asphalt doesn't drain so well; if this weather becomes worse things will be very difficult. I am really sad about the rain because it's fantastic to be here and I felt quite a strong emotion leaving the garage for the first time this morning, at such a historic place. I really hope that the weather improves so that we can have some crowds here on Sunday! I think we have good potential here and I feel like if it was dry then I could be quite fast as well, but it looks like this won't be the case at the moment. Anyway, the situation is okay, my bike and tyres are working well so far so we will try to improve again tomorrow."

Davide Brivio - Team Manager
"It's a great pity that the weather is so bad on our Indianapolis debut! We had hoped for better conditions but it's the same for everyone and we're working as hard as we can to find a good set-up for these conditions, because it looks like it may stay like this all weekend. This afternoon we improved our bike and in general things were much better, so now we will just continue like this. Being a new track there are many things to adjust, but I think it's fair to say that we have had a good first day in difficult conditions."