The Indianapolis Grand Prix is a motorcycling event held on the combined road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in

Speedway, Indiana Speedway is a town in Wayne Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 11,812 at the 2010 U.S. Census. Speedway, which is an enclave of Indianapolis, is the home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. History Speedway was ...

. From 2008 to 2015, it was held as part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season (MotoGP). The event was revived in 2020 with

MotoAmerica MotoAmerica is the organization that promotes the AMA Superbike Series since 2015. Sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), it features six classes of road racing: S ...

. The addition of a motorcycle race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway loosely coincided with the track's Centennial Era, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the opening of the track (1909) and the 100th anniversary of the first 500 (1911). The motorcycle race represented a "throwback" to the early days of the Speedway, as motorcycle races were in fact the first competitive racing events held on the track in August 1909.

Track layout

The circuit used is a modified version of the combined road course used for the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

from 2000 to 2007. The circuit was reversed to a counterclockwise orientation, and a new complex of corners was added inside the infield of oval turn one. The new "Snake Pit" section, as it became known, was nicknamed for its location where notorious revelry once took place during the 1970s. The new series of corners precluded the bikes from using any of the banked oval corners. The double-hairpin near the

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

and before the Hulman Straight was replaced with more traditional esses. Furthermore, the motorcycles stay low in the south short chute (approaching the Snake Pit section) between oval turn 1 and 2, using the pavement of the warm-up lane rather than the oval track's short chute. The circuit was re-profiled in 2014, with three new motorcycle-only sections: one in the Snake Pit (which has become a prime overtaking spot), a more open entrance to Hulman Straight, and the final esses leading to the pit straight was changed to be more open and flowing.

History

The inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP took place 99 years after the previous motorcycle race at the track, in 1909. The first motorsports event at the track consisted of 7 motorcycle races, sanctioned by the Federation of American Motorcyclists (FAM), on August 14, 1909. This was originally planned as a two-day, 15-race program, but ended before the first day was completed, due to concerns over suitability of the track surface for motorcycle use. The Rider with most victories at this grand prix is

Marc Márquez Marc Márquez Alentà (born 17 February 1993) is a Spanish professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, who has raced for Honda's factory team since his MotoGP debut in 2013. Born in Cervera, Catalonia, Spain, he is nicknamed the 'Ant of Cer ...

with three victories in MotoGP class and two victories in the Moto2, followed by Nicolas Terol with three victories in the 125cc two-stroke class, followed by Dani Pedrosa and

Álex Rins Álex Rins Navarro (born 8 December 1995) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer for the LCR Honda Castrol in the MotoGP class. He was the 2011 CEV Buckler 125 Junior GP Champion, and made his Grand Prix motorcycle racing debut in the Moto3 ...

with two victories each and all the others have only one victory. This grand prix has been won only by Spanish, Italian, Australian, Finnish and Belgian riders.

Motorcycles on Meridian rally

The race became part of a major motorcycle event organized by Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Motorcycles on Meridian

motorcycle rally A motorcycle rally is a gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts. Rallies can be large or small, and one-time or recurring. Some rallies are ride-in events, whereas some like the Iron Butt Rally involve days of riding and an actual gathering only at t ...

, held on Meridian Street near

Monument Circle The Indiana State Soldiers and Sailors Monument is a tall neoclassical monument built on Monument Circle, a circular, brick-paved street that intersects Meridian and Market streets in the center of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. In the years s ...

in downtown Indianapolis, attracting approximately 10,000 cyclists each night. Various dirt tracks held flat-track motorcycle races during the weekend which became analogous to

midget car racing Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on mos ...

's "

Night Before the 500 The Dave Steele Carb Night Classic is a United States Auto Club dirt track car race held near Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, which takes place in late May before the Indianapolis 500 at the nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Over its his ...

" held during the Indianapolis 500, often drawing star MotoGP riders in attendance. The event continues to be held, but with the 2020 Indianapolis 500 being moved to the August event of the Motorcycles on Meridian date, both the Motorcycles on Meridian and the

round will be changed.

MotoGP winners

Multiple winners (riders)

Multiple winners (manufacturers)

Notes

MotoAmerica winners

*2020 **Superbike:

Cameron Beaubier Cameron Charles Beaubier (born December 6, 1992) is an American motorcycle racer. He won the MotoAmerica championship 5 times. In 2022 he rode a Kalex in the Moto2 World Championship. Career Early career After competing in the 2007 Red Bull M ...

**Stock 1000: Cameron Petersen **Supersport: Richie Escalante **Twins Cup: Rocco Landers **Liqui Moly Junior Cup: Rocco Landers

References

External links

Official site
{{American motorcycle rallies Recurring sporting events established in 2008 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2015 2008 establishments in Indiana 2015 disestablishments in Indiana