Rossi wins Indy MotoGP

From motogp.com

Valentino Rossi extended his lead in the MotoGP World Championship with victory at the first ever Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix Sunday, cut short with just seven laps remaining owing to safety concerns caused by high winds and a wet track.

The race got underway on soaking asphalt, the 125cc race having already been amended by the meteorological conditions.

Rossi was targeting 69 in two different forms in the early stages of the race, looking to claim the new record for premier class wins by chasing down the rider assigned to that same number.

Local hero Nicky Hayden, the man who had inaugurated the Indianapolis circuit back in April and who debuted the other American track on the calendar – Laguna Seca - with a victory back in 2005, was giving no quarter as he set a fearsome pace at the front. The Repsol Honda rider took the lead on the second lap, and set the fastest laps of the race in a continuous attempt at breaking free from Rossi.

The MotoGP series leader was, however, able to follow the 2006 World Champion all the way, and made the almost inevitable overtaking maneuver on lap 14. From then on it was a case of holding his nerve to take his fourth consecutive victory, the premier class milestone, the first Indianapolis MotoGP win and, most importantly, an almost insurmountable 87-point lead at the head of the standings.

"I think that those are the worst conditions in which I have raced in my career," Rossi said. "Together with the new track and the new surface, there was also a lot of water and at the end the bigger problem of the wind. I was in front, and all the bags and beer cans were getting thrown onto the track by the wind. It wasn´t consistent and was very strong, so you never knew what was going to happen in the straight.

"I was in front and didn´t want to put my hand up, because I was leading the race, but I was looking for the red flag on every lap and when it came I think it was a good decision. Good work was done on the track to prepare for the race because the rain was coming down strong."

Hayden returned to the podium on his comeback race after missing two Grands Prix with a foot injury. He held his nerve in spite of some wobbly moments to come home second and make his rostrum comeback – a first of the year for the `Kentucky Kid´. The American had lost almost all of a five-second advantage to second Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo on the 20th lap of the race, in which the decision was made to bring the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix to an early conclusion.

"I had nothing to lose here; I had to go for it," Hayden said. "The bike went good in the wet when it wasn´t so heavy in terms of water. It felt good to lead the race, as it´s been so long. Unfortunately Valentino came through, and had a little bit too much speed for me. I had a little run at him, but when the track had dried out we used a lot of rubber, meaning that when it rained again there wasn´t much tread pattern. Pushed to the maximum and really left nothing on the table."

Consultations with IRTA and Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta meant a few nervous moments before the official result was announced, with the decision made promptly to confirm the end of the American race.

Lorenzo took a podium for the second consecutive race, having been untroubled by the chasing pack during the middle stages. Almost 19 seconds behind, reigning titlist Casey Stoner came home in fourth place, albeit now with only the smallest of chances to retain his crown in 2008.

After leading a MotoGP race for the first time in his career, Andrea Dovizioso brought his JiR Team Scot Honda home less than a second behind Stoner, with home rider and AMA Superbike champion Ben Spies rounding off the top six.

Sylvain Guintoli, Dani Pedrosa, Chris Vermeulen and Alex de Angelis were the final riders in the top 10.

Race Results
1. V. ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team) 37:20.095
2. N. HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team) +5.972
3. J. LORENZO (Fiat Yamaha Team) +7.858
4. C. STONER (Ducati Team) +28.162
5. A. DOVIZIOSO (JiR Team Scot MotoGP) +28.824
6. B. SPIES (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +29.645
7. S. GUINTOLI (Alice Team) +36.223
8. D. PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team) +37.258
9. C. VERMEULEN (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +38.442
10. A. DE ANGELIS (San Carlo Honda Gresini) +42.437
11. A. WEST (Kawasaki Racing Team) +47.179
12. T. ELIAS (Alice Team) +55.962
13. R. DE PUNIET (LCR Honda MotoGP) +57.366
14. J. HOPKINS (Kawasaki Racing Team) +58.353
15. C. EDWARDS (Tech 3 Yamaha) +1:00.613
16. L. CAPIROSSI (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +1:05.620
17. S. NAKANO (San Carlo Honda Gresini) +1:05.854
18. J. TOSELAND (Tech 3 Yamaha) +1:07.968
19. M. MELANDRI (Ducati Team) +1:21.023

Point Standings
1. Valentino ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team) 287
2. Casey STONER (Ducati Team) 200
3. Dani PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team) 193
4. Jorge LORENZO (Fiat Yamaha Team) 156
5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (JiR Team Scot MotoGP) 129
6. Chris VERMEULEN (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 117
7. Colin EDWARDS (Tech 3 Yamaha) 109
8. Nicky HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team) 104
9. Shinya NAKANO (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 87
10. Toni ELIAS (Alice Team) 86
11. Loris CAPIROSSI (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 86
12. James TOSELAND (Tech 3 Yamaha) 85
13. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Alice Team) 56
14. Alex DE ANGELIS (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 55
15. Marco MELANDRI (Ducati Team) 48
16. Randy DE PUNIET (LCR Honda MotoGP) 43
17. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki Racing Team) 41
18. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki Racing Team) 41
19. Ben SPIES (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 20
20. Jamie HACKING (Kawasaki Racing Team) 5
21. Tadayuki OKADA (Repsol Honda Team) 2