Cycle News

CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE T he Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix has been off the MotoGP calendar for a couple of years now. Midwestern racing fans still lament the loss of what many viewed as the friendliest of all MotoGP events. But it was a great eight-year run from 2008 to 2015. One of the untold stories of how motorcycle racing was even considered for the tradition-bound Indianapolis Motor Speedway can be traced back to a quiet test conducted on the old IMS Formula One road course by AMA Superbike riders Vincent Haskovec and Jake Zemke back in October of 2003. Haskovec and Zemke's test ride at IMS was his- toric and got the ball rolling in what would ultimately result in MotoGP coming to the legendary racing facility five years later. It was a crisp and sunny fall day in Indianapolis. Perfect conditions for the bikes to take to the track. Haskovec opened up the throttle on the Austin Ducati Superbike and the sweet sound of Italian V-Twin power filled the cavernous environs of IMS. The smooth rumble of the Ducati echoed off the eight-story tall main grandstands and the fire- engine red bike disappeared down the long front straightaway at an astounding rate of speed. One of the surprises at Indy at that time was just how many of the staff of the Speedway were avid motorcyclists. Former President and CEO Tony George was a rider and it turns out that Mel Harder, right-hand man to George, rode motocross and enjoyed taking his sportbike out to track days at nearby Putnam Park Road Course. Ron McQuee- ney, then director of Indy's world-renowned photo department, was a long-time AMA member. Many of the staff came out to watch Haskovec and Zemke on the circuit and there were a lot of wide eyes. The IMS staff seemed very happy to have mo- torcycles on the track for that initial test. AMA Pro Racing staffers and the racing crews of the Austin Ducati and Erion Honda teams were treated like honored guests. They were given tours on the road course, fed first-class catered meals, and afterward Haskovec even got out on the road course with one of the track's Mercedes sports cars. He came back with a huge smile on his face after a dice with AMA Pro Racing's boss Scott Hollingsworth, who drove an Audi. For AMA Pro Racing, the dream was to have an AMA Superbike event at Indy, but the track was used to hosting very large spectator events and was likely thinking about the possibility of MotoGP from the very start. The very notion that AMA Superbike was making a bid at running an event at IMS showed just how strong the status of the series was at that point. Even though AMA Superbike was at an all- time peak in 2003 and was going to ever-better venues, the staff of AMA Pro Racing had never seen a racetrack with the kind of state-of-the-art infrastructure boasted by IMS. The track's facili- P124 ZEMKE AND HASKOVEC: UNSUNG HEROES OF

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