Pedrosa dominant in Indy MotoGP

From motogp.com

Dani Pedrosa narrowed the gap on MotoGP Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo to 68 points with seven rounds of the 2010 season remaining by winning the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix on Sunday.

It was the Repsol Honda rider’s third win of the campaign, marking the first time he has achieved three wins in a season in the premier class.

With the temperature hitting a draining 35ºC (56ºC track surface) it was a tough 28-lap contest for all involved.

“I’m really happy with this win and it was an especially tough one because of the heat today," Pedrosa said. "I didn’t make the perfect start but I was quite quick through the first few tight corners and stayed close to the leaders. My rhythm was good today and even though [Ben] Spies was strong in front I was able to close him down and make the pass.

“I’m really pleased with the performance of my bike because it was fast on the straights and also was working well in the corners. When I was out in front it was quite hard to stay focused and at the end of the race I was really tired - but I’m very happy because last year I crashed when I could have won and now I have made up for it.”

Starting from the second row Pedrosa was on the pace early on and by lap two he was in second position, as he set his sights on pole holder Spies. On the end of the seventh lap the Spaniard overtook the rookie on the start/finish straight and never relinquished the lead, eventually crossing the line 3.575 secs. clear of Spies.

For the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider second place marked his best result to date and a second podium in what has already been a fantastic debut season. Spies started from pole – the first of his MotoGP career – and his race result capped off a great weekend which also saw him confirmed as a factory Yamaha rider for 2011.

“I'm really happy to have got my best result in MotoGP in front of the American crowd and at a track as famous as Indianapolis,” said the 26-year-old. “I always said I wanted my best result in my home race, so it's mission accomplished.

“After the pole position I got a great start and it felt good to be out front for the first time in MotoGP. But I didn't have the pace for Dani today and he rode a great race. I'm happy because I didn't make too many mistakes when I was out in front and I was consistent for the whole race. When Dani passed me I knew I couldn't follow him, so I let him go and concentrated on keeping a gap to Jorge in third and that's what I achieved.”

Completing the podium was Championship leader Lorenzo who had started from second on the grid but dropped to fifth at the start of the race. That failed to affect his concentration however and he battled his way past Andrea Dovizioso and into third just before the midway point of the race, finishing just over three seconds off Spies as his phenomenal record of having placed in the top two in every race this season was finally broken.

"Of course I shouldn't be disappointed with third place but at the same time I'm not happy with my race today, I didn't ride as well as I could have and I didn't get a good start,” said the 23-year-old Lorenzo. “The conditions were incredibly hard and I simply didn't have the physical strength to push as hard or do the same times I did in practice; it was like a race in Malaysia!

"The track was so slippery and it was very difficult to use the tires as you wanted to, I think honestly I'm quite lucky to have finished third today. The good thing is we took some points and now I have to concentrate on recovering before Misano because we don't have much time."

A complicated weekend for Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) ended with the reigning World Champion placing fourth in the race, as he won the battle of the Italians with Repsol Honda rider Dovizioso who took fifth.

Nicky Hayden was sixth having started from the front row for the first time in his Ducati career.

Rookies Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) impressed with seventh and eight places respectively, with Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing) and Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar) completing the top 10.

Loris Capirossi, Hiroshi Aoyama – on his return from injury – and Randy de Puniet were the final three riders to finish the race.

Suffering the disappointment of DNFs were Marco Melandri (lap two) on his 200th Grand Prix start, Casey Stoner, who lost the front end of his Ducati Desmosedici GP10 (lap eight), Colin Edwards who was forced to retire with rear tire issues (lap 17), and Mika Kallio who crashed in turn 10 when he hit a bump on lap 18.

Lorenzo moves onto 251 points with Pedrosa now on 183 in second in the standings. Dovizioso is third on 126, with Stoner now seven points behind in fourth. Rossi remains in fifth while Spies moves up to sixth.

Toni Elías won the Moto2 Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix with a characteristically measured ride on Sunday, taking a third consecutive GP win for the first time in his career as he tightened his grip on the inaugural title.

The Gresini Racing rider now leads the overall standings by 67 points after 10 rounds, having topped the podium ahead of pole man Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) and Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team).

Elías and Simón became involved in a duel for top spot with Redding watching from third as he kept tabs on the duo, and six laps from the end Elías made a superb overtake round the outside of Simón to assume the lead. He held that to the end, eventually crossing the line just over four-tenths of a second ahead of his compatriot.

Redding took his first Moto2 podium as he crossed in third, just under four seconds behind Simón having been strong throughout the weekend, with Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) fourth having started from way back on the seventh row.

Simone Corsi completed the top five having made an admirable recovery from the back of the grid.

Sergio Gadea (Tenerife 40 Pons), Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki), Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up), wild card Jason DiSalvo (GP Tech) and Anthony West (MZ Racing) completed the top 10.

Iannone remains second in the standings, with Lüthi and Simón level on 108 points in third and fourth.

Roger Lee Hayden finished 17th on his American Honda-backed, Erion-prepared Moriwaki.

Nico Terol’s first consecutive GP wins came with victory at Indianapolis on Sunday as the Bancaja Aspar rider won the 125cc contest, his third of the season and on the same track he won his first World Championship race in 2008.

Terol eventually crossed the line 4.995 secs. clear of Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo), with Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing) completing the podium in what was a typically eventful 125cc race.

Marc Márquez (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) looked to be pulling away to a dominant victory in the early part of the race and on lap seven he set a new lap record and was soon over 2.5 secs. clear of Terol. However, a crash at turn 10 with 15 laps remaining saw Márquez scrambling back onto his Derbi and he returned to the race in 14th place, as Terol assumed first position.

Terol’s win was the 20th successive 125cc victory for Spanish riders, and moved him into second in the overall standings on 168 points, with Márquez on 172. Espargaró is third on 167 points.

MotoGP Race Results
1. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda 47:31.615
2. Ben SPIES (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha +3.575
3. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha +6.812
4. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha +12.633
5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda +21.885
6. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati +35.138
7. Marco SIMONCELLI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda +36.740
8. Alvaro BAUTISTA (SPA) Rizla Suzuki +36.825
9. Aleix ESPARGARO (SPA) Pramac Ducati +44.905
10. Hector BARBERA (SPA) Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati +51.368
11. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki +55.386
12. Hiroshi AOYAMA (JPN) Interwetten Honda +57.903
13. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda +1:04.139
Not Classified
Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Ducati +10 Laps
Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha +12 Laps
Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati +21 Laps
Marco MELANDRI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda +26 Laps

MotoGP Point Standings
1. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha) 251
2. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 183
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 126
4. Casey STONER (Ducati) 119
5. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 114
6. Ben SPIES (Yamaha) 110
7. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati) 109
8. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 78
9. Marco SIMONCELLI (Honda) 63
10. Marco MELANDRI (Honda) 61
11. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 57
12. Hector BARBERA (Ducati) 54
13. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 41
14. Aleix ESPARGARO (Ducati) 39
15. Alvaro BAUTISTA (Suzuki) 33
16. Mika KALLIO (Ducati) 31
17. Hiroshi AOYAMA (Honda) 22
18. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 11
19. Roger Lee HAYDEN (Honda) 5
20. Kousuke AKIYOSHI (Honda) 4
21. Wataru YOSHIKAWA (Yamaha) 1