Story and photos by Vicki Schouten
The AMA Pro Vance and Hines XR1200 has been invited to race as part of the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix taking place August 26-28. Canadian Harley Davidson XR1200 champion Steve Crevier is suiting up this weekend, alongside XR1200 runner-up Cody Matechuk. They will be joined by fellow Canucks John Ross MacRae, Darren James, Olivier Spillborghs, Chris Harmon and Samuel Proulx.
Riders wasted no time getting up to speed on the newly repaved 16-turn, 2.621-mile track with a 25-minute practice session Friday morning, which will be followed by a 45-minute qualifying session Friday afternoon. The Canadians will have their work cut out for them as they struggle to learn a new track, with fresh pavement and Dunlop spec tires that differ significantly from the Pirelli tires used in the Canadian series.
According to Steve Crevier, "there's different grip in different areas of the track", as the new pavement has cured differently in certain areas of the racetrack. While some of the American riders had the opportunity test the new surface on August 18, the Canadians riders are seeing the layout for the first time and are having to get up to speed quickly.
Steve Crevier works on set-up on his XR1200 at the famous Brickyard
Cody Matechuk, who admits the track is a lot of fun, also suggests he has his work cut out for him in terms of learning the track in time for Saturday's race.
AMA regular Jason DiSalvo was fastest in Friday morning practice with a time of 1:57:313 while Crevier was the fastest Canadian in 14th position with a time of 2:03:327. John Ross MacRae was 15th fastest with a time of 2:03:849, Darren James was 19th (2:05:779); Olivier Spillborgs 20th (2:06:283); Cody Matechuk 22nd (2:06:829); Samuel Proulx 23rd (2:06:939) and Ontario's Chris Harmon rounding out the Canadian's in 25th place out of a total of 30 entries with a time of 2:07:863.
The AMA Pro Vance and Hines XR1200 series double header takes place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on with Race 1 taking place on Saturday, August 27 at 4:2opm and on Race 2 on Sunday, August 28 at 3:30pm.
Inside Motorcycles is on site and will continue reporting live from Indianapolis.
Cody Matechuk sets up to overtake Pete Demas at Indianapolis
