Indy MotoGP

Riders for Health's supporters in the USA have raised an incredible $15,000 at the recent US MotoGP at Indianapolis to support our work in Africa.

Almost 1,000 motorcycle racing fans had the chance to see their heroes as the leading stars of MotoGP appeared on the main stage, raising $13,000 in just a few hours.

The American riders were always going to be crowd favorites and Colin Edwards raised $1,000 by auctioning a pair of signed boots, while a Motocourse book signed and auctioned by Ben Spies added $400.

American Nicky Hayden and his Ducati teammate, Casey Stoner, were on stage to auction signed team caps with the World Champions both raising $350. HCR Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso raised a total of $600 with the sale of signed team shirts.

One of the most popular items at all of our auctions this year has been the weekend VIP experience donated by the Suzuki MotoGP team. The package includes grid access before the motorcycle race, VIP hospitality and the chance to watch a session from the pitwall.

The item raised over $3,000 at Indianapolis, which brings the total raised from the sale of the packages to over $23,000 in 2010.

Valentino Rossi raised an amazing $1,800 from the auction of a signed team hat and a book by Norm DeWitt, with his team mate and championship leader, Jorge Lorenzo, raising $1,000 towards our work when he auctioned a Dainese jacket worn at the Isle of Man TT 2010.

Hiroshi Aoyama , Aleix Espargaro, Marco Melandri, Marco Simoncelli, Hector Barbera and Randy de Puniet all gave their time to appear at the auction and be interviewed on stage, giving fans an insight into what it is like being a MotoGP rider. They added $1,525 to the total.

Over the weekend volunteers from the Riders for Health Chicago Chapter used our stand at the Vendor Marketplace to promote our work and raise awareness of the need for reliable transport to deliver health care in Africa. Donations received at the stand totalled just over $2,000.

Lisa Johnson-Bakker says: "I'd like to thank everyone who came to support our work over the weekend, and everyone who bid on something at the auction. We received a huge amount of interest and support and I think people really understand the importance of the work we do."

The Riders for Health's US development director continued: "We are all very grateful to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway staff and to all of our volunteers in the Chicago area volunteer chapter for making it such a successful weekend."

The great weekend at Indianapolis comes just a month after the Day of Stars event at the MotoGP in Laguna Seca. The volunteers in the USA have had an incredibly successful summer raising tens-of-thousands of dollars to help get more health workers on the road in Africa.

If you would like to take part and volunteer for Riders for Health in the USA, you can contact lbakker@riders.org to learn more about your local volunteering group. If you would like to help in the UK, please email edunn@riders.org.