More people are streaming into Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the weather warms up for the second day of the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. The sun is playing hide and seek with the fluffy clouds. While the grandstands are mostly empty, the ground is filling up with fans enjoying the attractions, racing and dry weather.
The fastest 250cc rider in Saturday morning practice was MARCO SIMONCELLI/Metis Gilera at 1:45.001. His time was fastest of the two sessions run so far.
Simoncelli traded the top spot with HECTOR BARBERA/Pepe World Team Aprilia and MIKE DI MEGLIO/Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc Aprilia, who ended up second and third. Fourth was RATTHAPARK WILAIROT/Thai Honda PTT SAG, followed by ALVARO BAUTISTA/Mapfre Aspar Team Aprilia.
There is no circuit lap record from last year as the 250cc race was cancelled due to the hurricane rains. Simoncelli had the 2008 pole with a time of 1:45.168
Wild Card rider ADAM ROBERTS/Rat Racing Yamaha was outside the 107 percent, as was Rookie SHOYA TOMIZAWA/CIP Moto-GP250 Honda. They still have qualifying to get faster.
The track temperature warmed up to 71+ F/22C, and the ambient temperature was 82F/28C.
Fourteen riders were on Aprilias with the remaining ten riders on motorcycles representing other manufacturers including Gilera, Honda, and Yamaha.
The 250cc riders qualify at 3:10 EDT, after MotoGP qualifying.