Stoner wins Indy MotoGP race
A bad start for Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) from second on the grid found the Texan down in ninth position, after his poor start was made worse when he and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) touched heading into turn one, pushing Spies wide. The 25 year old methodically made his way back through the field and into third position by lap sixteen. The pace set by Spies would have been quick enough to fight for second position, though his poor start kept him from catching Pedrosa, who crossed the line second in front of the American.
Lorenzo had seen second position in the early laps, but was overtaken by Stoner and then eventually Spies to finish in fourth position. Dovizioso tussled with Nicky Hayden early in the race for fifth, until the American from the Ducati Team fell back with tire problems, leaving the Italian to chase Lorenzo.
�lvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) finished a lonely sixth after starting tenth on the grid. The Spaniard crossed the line 9 seconds in front of American Colin Edwards on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine. Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) crossed the line in eighth, giving the French rider his best finish of the season.
Ninth spot went to Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini), who crossed the line a second and a half ahead of Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team). Rossi’s tenth place was of note in that on lap eight the Italian fell back into 17th position with apparent tire troubles. It appeared he would be entering the pits, but kept circulating and made his way back up to finish tenth in front of rookie Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) .
Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) had seen as high as third position in the race, until tire trouble for the Italian saw him slowly dropping back, finally finishing in twelfth. Toni ElÃas (LCR Honda) and Hayden completed the race finishers, with Elias ahead of the American. Hayden had pitted in earlier with troubles and rejoined the session to salvage some points, finishing 14th.
A disappointing end was had for Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar), who crashed out of eighth place in the final corner.
Results
Pos. |
Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | 25 | 27 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 46'52.786 |
2 | 20 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +4.828 |
3 | 16 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | +10.603 |
4 | 13 | 1 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | +16.576 |
5 | 11 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +17.202 |
6 | 10 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | +30.447 |
7 | 9 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | +39.690 |
8 | 8 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | +53.416 |
9 | 7 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | +53.790 |
10 | 6 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | +55.345 |
11 | 5 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | +57.184 |
12 | 4 | 58 | Marco SIMONCELLI | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | +1'00.141 |
13 | 3 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | +1'02.169 |
14 | 2 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 2 Laps |
15 | – | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 1 Lap |
16 | – | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 8 Laps |
17 | – | 65 | Loris CAPIROSSI | ITA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 12 Laps |