The current championship leader, Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner finished in second place and extends his lead to 28 points at the top of the MotoGP 2011 Championship.

Repsol Honda Team’s Andrea Dovizioso took third place, while Yamaha Factory rider Jorge Lorenzo managed to claw his way back through the field to finish in fourth place, ahead of Ducati’s seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi.

British rider Cal Crutchlow was passed fit to race after fracturing his left collarbone in five places no less than two weeks ago in the qualifying for the British MotoGP at Silverstone.

With his Assen Dutch MotoGP victory, Ben Spies’ becomes the first former World Superbike rider to win a MotoGP race since Troy Bayliss in 2006.

Round 7: Dutch MotoGP
1 Ben Spies (US) Yamaha 41min 44.659 secs
2 Casey Stoner (Aus) Honda 41:52.356
3 Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 42:12.165
4. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Ducati 42:15.343
5. Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 42:27.831
6. Jorge Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha 42:29.195
7. Colin Edwards (US) Yamaha 42:52.771
8. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jpn) Honda 42:55.412
9. Marco Simoncelli (Ita) Honda 43:09.584
10. Toni Elias (Sp) Honda 43:10.875

After seven rounds, Ben Spies victory lifts him to joint sixth position with Ducati’s Nicky Hayden in the MotoGP 2011 Championship.

MotoGP 2011 Championship
1   Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda Team) 136
2   Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) 108
3   Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda Team) 99
4   Valentino Rossi (Ducati Marlboro Team) 81
5   Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team) 71
6   Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) 61
=   Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) 61
8   Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 51
9   Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) 46
10 Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 39

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In a race that only twelve riders would complete, motorcycle fans were treated to an afternoon of thrills along with plenty of spills through the course of the race at the wonderful Jerez circuit in Southern Spain.

Casey Stoner led the race from the start followed closely by Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli and it was the Italian who appeared to be the surprise package of the afternoon when he breezed past both Lorenzo and Stoner early in the race, opening a gap between himself and the championship rivals.

Valentino Rossi was another Italian finding the wet conditions working in his favour aboard the Ducati and he quickly moved up the field passing Lorenzo and closing in on Stoner.

On lap eight Rossi attempted to pass Stoner into turn one, but he lost the front end of the Ducati, taking out Stoner’s Repsol Honda which slid into the gravel trap on top of the Ducati.

While the accident ended Stoner’s race, Rossi was able to get back aboard his bike and complete the rest of the race, finishing in fifth position.

Meanwhile Simoncelli continued to impress from the front for a few laps before losing the front end of his bike going into turn one allowing Lorenzo to take the lead.

Following an uncharacteristic slow start from the line Dani Pedrosa had by now found some pace to move up to second place, but he too was being threatened by Ben Spies. The Yamaha rider eventually passing Pedrosa only to lose his bike several corners on.

By now Lorenzo had built up a significant advantage over the field and Pedrosa looked certain to complete a Spanish one-two on home soil.  Colin Edwards who had moved up to third following the loss of Spies became a victim of the track himself late on riding into the gravel and allowing Nicky Hayden to pass and take the final podium position.

Another fantastic MotoGP race in which reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo claimed his first wet weather win while the weather also played it’s part in levelling the playing field amongst this years Championship hopefuls.

2011 MotoGP World Championship Round 2- Jerez Results:

1 25 1 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 141.0 50′49.046
2 20 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 140.1 +19.339
3 16 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 139.7 +29.085
4 13 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 139.6 +29.551
5 11 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 138.2 +1′02.227
6 10 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 137.9 +1′08.440
7 9 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 137.7 +1′14.120
8 8 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 137.4 +1′19.110
9 7 24 Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 136.4 +1′42.906
10 6 21 John HOPKINS USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 136.2 +1′48.395
11 5 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 136.0 +1′51.876
12 4 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 133.6 1 Lap

Predictably it was Dani Pedrosa who shot into the lead from the start of the race, making the early running before being passed by fellow countryman Lorenzo. A tasty battle between the pair ensued which drew in Stoner and the three riders jostled for supremacy in the first half of this Grand Prix.

Around the midway point Stoner gradually pulled out a lead on his rivals as he sensed a possible victory with Pedrosa struggling to maintain the pace  despite battling bravely with Lorenzo for second position.

In a race where the first six riders were always in with a shout for the podium places, the third Honda factory rider, Dovizioso was in another brilliant battle with Marco Simoncelli throughout the race for fourth position.

Meanwhile Lorenzo’s new team mate at Yamaha, Ben Spies was caught up in the pack following an early exit from Randy de Puniet who high sided his bike, and found himself battling against Rossi on the Ducati for sixth place.

Having lined himself up for a couple of moves on the multiple world champion to no avail, Spies eventually launched past Rossi to claim the place for himself, with a spectacular overtake.

It was fantastic to get the season up and running and the signs are that we should be in for yet another season of exciting motorctycle racing. The Honda’s will take some beating but Lorenzo has already proved that the task is not impossible.

Other tracks will favour different manufacturers, but right now Stoner has thrown down the gauntlet to his rivals and it is down to them to respond.

Qatar MotoGP result:

1 C Stoner (Aus) Honda 42:38.569
2 J Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha @ 3.440
3 D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda @ 5.051
4 A Dovizioso (It) Honda @ 5.942
5 M Simoncelli (It) Ducati @ 7.358
6 B Spies (US) Yamaha @ 10.468
7 V Rossi (It) Ducati @ 16.431
8 C Edwards (US) Yamaha @ 26.293
9 N Hayden (US) Ducati @ 27.416
10 H Aoyama (Jpn) Honda @ 28.920
11 C Crutchlow (GB) Yamaha @ 34.539
12 H Barbera (Sp) Ducati @ 34.829
13 K Abraham (Cz) Ducati @ 37.957

Germany’s Bradl was the runaway winner in the 600cc Moto2 class, leaving Iannone and Luthi fighting each other for the runners up spot throughout the race. Iannone eventually grabbed second place, crossing the line less than a second ahead of Luthi and over 4 seconds behind Bradl.

Bradley Smith was best of the Brit’s, earning himself a ninth place finish on his first outing in the class, while Scott Redding finished the day in 31st place.

Moto2 race result:

1 S Bradl (Ger) Kalex 40:38.549
2 A Iannone (Ita) Suter @ 4.330
3 T Luthi (Swi) Suter@ 5.137
Other riders:
9 B Smith (GB) Tech3 @ 18.910
31 S Redding (GB) Marc VDS @ 1:23.743

125cc race result:

1 N Terol (Sp) Aprilia 38:28.687
2 S Cortese (Ger) Aprilia @ 7.710
3 S Gadea (Sp) Aprilia @ 9.147

Spies Chasing Lorenzo At Silverstone 2010

Current MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo believes that the atmosphere in the Yamaha garage will be much better than last year following the departure of Valentino Rossi to Ducati and the arrival of Ben Spies as his team mate for this coming season.

While holding the utmost respect for former team mate seven time world champion Valentino Rossi, there was no love lost between the two riders during their two seasons riding together for Yamaha.

The pair enjoyed a reasonable relationship when Lorenzo arrived from the 250cc class, looking up to Rossi as one of his heroes, but things soon turned bitter as Lorenzo became a serious threat to Rossi and were helped along by the Spaniard’s immature behaviour.

Regardless of whatever circumstances you might like to throw up, Lorenzo won the MotoGP championship last year by being the most consistent and best rider on the circuit and the young Spaniard is a better person for it.

He has grown up an awful lot during the last year or two and he says he is more relaxed going into the 2011 season, not just because he is world champion but because he is older and wiser and has more experience.

“Every year I try to be more relaxed, and with a championship on your record you see things a bit differently” says Lorenzo.

Of his new partner Ben Spies, Lorenzo said; “I think Ben is going to fight for the championship. He is very fast and has already shown he can fight to the front of the pack and was the best satellite rider last year. Ben’s serious on the track like me but we have no problems and I don’t think we will in the future either. It’s good to have a good relationship, not just for us but to help Yamaha to develop the bike.”

Meanwhile Ben Spies says that he feels under less pressure with the Yamaha factory team than he did last season

“Last year I needed to prove something which I did. Now I’m on the factory team I feel I worked hard last year to get there and deserve it. Now I need to keep giving 100%, I’ve got a great crew behind me and am riding for a great manufacturer. We should have a great bike this year and I’ve got a world champion team-mate so I’ve got the best of the best. This is the last step, MotoGP on a factory bike, the only thing left to do in a rider’s career is win a MotoGP race and win a MotoGP championship and that’s not impossible.”

Lorenzo had somehow managed to regain control of his bike early in the race following a coming together with Marco Simoncelli, that looked as though the Yamaha rider was certain to crash out, but he hung on to his machine against all odds to eventually mount his challenge for the lead.

At that point Casey Stoner looked comfortable for another win on the Ducati, but Lorenzo eventually caught and passed the Australian on lap 22 and pulled out a lead of almost five seconds at the chequered flag. Team mate Rossi finished his last race for the Fiat Yamaha team with third place on the podium.

Dani Pedrosa showed short bursts of the form he had been in before his injury, during a constant battle with team mate Dovizioso, Simoncelli and Ben Spies for fourth place.

It was rookie of the year Spies who passed them all to claim fourth place in the race, Pedrosa settling for seventh in the race, but second in the championship some 138 points adrift of fellow Spaniard Lorenzo.

And so with the season drawing to a thrilling finale attention will immediately be switched to the testing programme at Valencia where Rossi and Stoner will be in the lime light with their respective testing of the Ducati and Honda bikes .

Ben Spies and Cal Crutchlow will also be testing for their new teams in what will undoubtedly be a much talked about session this week.

Valencia MotoGP result:

1 J Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha 46:44.622
2 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 46:49.198
3 V Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 46:53.620
4 B Spies (USA) Yamaha 47:02.265
5 A Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 47:03.782
6 M Simoncelli (Ita) Honda 47:05.296
7 D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda 47:11.419
8 H Barbera (Sp) Ducati 47:13.910
9 A Bautista (Sp) Rizla Suzuki 47:14.073
10 R de Puniet (Fra) Honda 47:14.482
11 A Espargaro (Sp) Ducati 47:16.383
12 C Edwards (US) Tech 3 Yamaha 47:18.226
13 M Melandri (It) San Carlo Honda Gresini 47:21.244
14 H Aoyama (Jpn) Interwetten Honda 47:23.590
15 C Checa (Sp) Pramac Racing 47:40.791

Britain’s Bradley Smith ended his 125 career with a fantastic win in Valencia and now heads off to pastures new in Moto2 next season.

Spain’s Marc Marquez finished fourth in the race, enough to secure him the world title, and a clean-sweep of titles in all three categories for Spain.

125cc race result:

1 B Smith (GB) Aprilia 40min 25.648sec
2 P Espargaro (Sp) Aprilia @ 2.786
3 N Terol (Sp) Aprilia @ 3.149
4 M Marquez (Sp) Derbi@ 8.326

Moto2 race result:

1 K Abraham (Cze) FTR 43:49.499
2 A Iannone (It) Speed Up 43:50.021
3 J Simon (Sp) Suter 43:50.082

Because of the dreadful weather over the weekend qualifying for the race had to be cancelled and Lorenzo lined up in pole position courtesy of having set the fastest time in practise, where he was surprisingly joined by Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi on the front row.

It was Hayden who took the advantage as the race got underway sneaking ahead of Lorenzo into the first corner and holding his own briefly before the Spaniard took over the lead, relinquishing his place to Rossi on lap four following a mighty charge from the Italian.

Casey Stoner’s race ended early again as he crashed out on lap five while in third place and despite a strong challenge from team mate Nicky Hayden early on, the Ducati rider drifted back as the race progressed, playing his part in a thrilling battle for the final podium place as the Fiat Yamaha’s pulled clear of the rest of the field.

Rossi looked in great shape having muscled past Lorenzo through the chicane and started putting some space between himself and Lorenzo who appeared to have already conceded the win.

Meanwhile fans were treated to some excellent thrills and spills between the chasing pack of Hayden, Dovizioso, Simoncelli, De Puniet, Edwards and Pedrosa all swapping places time and again in a thrilling side show to the main event out front.

Surprisingly Lorenzo clawed his way back up to Rossi and took the opportunity to pass the Italian on lap 17 with a top out braking manoeuvre that Rossi could do nothing about.

Even more surprising was the fact that Lorenzo made the move stick, consistently putting in faster times than his team mate and opening up a comfortable gap to which even Rossi could not reply.

By the end of the race Lorenzo had pulled out a lead of 8.629 seconds on Rossi, the biggest MotoGP victory margin of the year. Third place went to the ever improving Dovizioso who appears to have come into his own since the recent injury to Honda team mate Dani Pedrosa who completed his comeback with an eighth place.

Dovizioso just shaded third from his fellow countryman Simoncelli, another rider who seems to be getting to grips with the premier class after an indifferent start to the season.

Ducati’s Nicky Hayden claimed fifth from De Puniet and Edwards, all who finished within a whisker of one another.

Ben Spies did not take part in the race at Estoril after crashing his bike on the warm up lap and dislocating his right ankle. The American rider is determined to be back in contention for the final race of the season at Valencia next week.

Portugal MotoGP Results;

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 46mins 17.962secs
2. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 46:26.591
3. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 46:44.437
4. Marco Simoncelli (Italy) Honda 46:44.496
5. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Ducati 46:45.116
6. Randy de Puniet (France) Honda 46:46.259
7. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 46:48.071
8. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 47:02.909
9. Marco Melandri (Italy) Honda 47:31.611
10. Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati 47:35.683
11. Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Suzuki 47:35.870
12. Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) Honda 47:50.987
13. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Suzuki 47:57.714

DNF Carlos Checa (Spain) Ducati 13 Laps
Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 4 Laps

Moto2

1. Stefan Bradl (GER) Suter 46min 59.723sec
2. Alex Baldolini (ITA) ICP at 0.068sec
3. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Motobi 2.830
4. Scott Redding (GBR) Suter 2.842
5. Kenan Sufuoglu (TUR) Suter 2.947

125cc
1. Marc Marquez (Spain) Derbi 16mins 27.878secs
2. Nicolas Terol (Spain) Aprilia 16:28.028
3. Bradley Smith (Britain) Aprilia 16:28.090

It truly was a terrific sight watching the Australian sliding the Ducati around this incredible track on Saturday in qualifying,  setting himself up perfectly for race day.

And once the race got under way on Sunday, the Australian left the other riders in his wake, with only new world champion Jorge Lorenzo able to keep anywhere near his pace, but even the Yamaha rider was 1.5 seconds back after only one lap.

With the race clearly in Stoner’s pocket barring the unthinkable and Lorenzo himself riding a lonely second throughout the race, it was left to former champion Valentino Rossi to spice things up for the third race running, albeit in a fight for third place.

Rossi, again bogged down off the start line, began one of his infamous charges fighting through the field and putting himself into the dogfight for the final podium place.

Andrea Dovizioso compounded Honda’s awful weekend when he had to withdraw early on with a brake lever problem, team mate Dani Pedrosa who had previously announced himself fit conceded that he was not ready for the race after qualifying in 15th on Saturday.

Spies, Simoncelli, Hayden and Rossi swapped places frequently as the race progressed with Rossi and Hayden eventually breaking from the group in the race for third position.

When Nicky Hayden put a pass on Rossi with only a couple of laps remaining, you sensed that he had made the move to early with the Italian rider in his current mood, and it turned out just that way as Rossi came back at the American and nicked third place on a thrilling last lap.

Casey Stoner finished the race 8.598 seconds ahead of Lorenzo to claim his fourth win out of four attempts at the Phillip Island circuit, back on top form with a fluent and faultless ride on his home track.

Australian MotoGP result:

1 Casey Stoner (Aus) Ducati 41:09.128
2 Jorge Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha 41:17.726
3 Valentino Rossi (It) Yamaha 41:27.125
4 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 41:27.163
5 Ben Spies (US) Yamaha 41:31.339
6 Marco Simoncelli (It) Honda 41:34.145
7 Colin Edwards (US) Yamaha 41:44.296
8 Aleix Espargaro (Sp) Ducati 41:55.322
9 Marco Melandri (It) Honda 41:55.422
10 Randy de Puniet (Fr) Honda 42:08.763
11 Mika Kallio (Fin) Ducati 42:08.792
12 Alvaro Bautista (Sp) Suzuki 42:08.860

With Pedrosa confident of a return in Portugal and Spain the race for second place in the championship has started to heat up into a three way battle between Pedrosa, Stoner and Rossi. Here are the current standings;

1 Jorge Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha 333* world champion
2 Dani Pedrosa (Sp) Honda 228
3 Casey Stoner (Aus) Ducati 205
4 Valentino Rossi (It) Yamaha 197
5 Andrea Dovizioso (It) Honda 179
6 Ben Spies (US) Yamaha 163
7 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 152
8 Marco Simoncelli (It) Honda 102
9 Randy de Puniet (Fr) Honda 100
10 Marco Melandri (It) Honda 93

Moto2 race result:

1 Alex De Angelis (SM) 39:51.102
2 Scott Redding (GB) 39:53.274
3 Andrea Iannone (It) 39:54.076

125cc race result:

1 Marc Marquez (Sp) 38:13.008
2 Pol Espargaro (Sp) 38:19.070
3 Nicolas Terol (Sp) 38:24.584

Casey Stoner 2010

Casey Stoner did everything right in the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, getting off the line superbly from his third place on the grid and easing past Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso into the lead, where he finished for the second time in as many races.

Stoner had commented before the race that the Motegi track was not among his favourite circuits and he was not expecting too much from the race, but his performance in Japan was nothing short of amazing, finishing almost 4 seconds ahead of Dovizioso.

Given the performance of Dovizioso on the Honda, racing on their home track, you can’t help but wonder what might have been if Dani Pedrosa had not been injured in practise, considering his recent blistering performances.

It would only have added to what was to be one of the most exciting races of the season with the Yamaha riders Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo involved in perhaps the most thrilling scrap of all, fighting for third place.

With no love lost between the team mates, they swapped places several times during the final five laps pf the race with neither rider prepared to yield.

Repeatedly pushing each other and with both riders determined to out brake the other, they provided the most breathtaking riding witnessed for a very long time.

The pair touched bikes on more than one occasion as they fought side by side with two laps to go. Eventually it was Rossi who held the upper hand into the final straight to claim third place.

Champion in waiting Lorenzo was left without a podium place for the second consecutive race, although without Pedrosa in the frame he will only need to finish ninth or higher in Malaysia to claim his first World Moto GP title.

After the race Rossi said that he was determined to beat Lorenzo after the Spaniard had passed him earlier in the race but congratulated Lorenzo on ‘a great battle.’

Lorenzo meanwhile questioned the tactics of the Italian claiming that he did not think Rossi was ‘completely fair.’ Either way both can be congratulated for lighting up the final laps of the Japanese Grand Prix and lets hope for more of the same in the closing stages of the season.

Japan MotoGP results:

1. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 43:12.266
2. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 43:16.134
3. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 43:17.973
4. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 43:18.487
5. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 43:39.358
6. Marco Simoncelli (Italy) Honda 43:42.287
7. Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Suzuki 43:44.092
8. Ben Spies (U.S.) Yamaha 43:47.838
9. Randy de Puniet (France) Honda 43:59.830
10. Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) Honda 44:01.864
11. Marco Melandri (Italy) Honda 44:02.265
12. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Ducati 44:02.969
13. Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati 44:03.688
14. Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Ducati 44:05.109
15. Mika Kallio (Finland) Ducati 44:26.934

Moto 2 race:

1. Toni Elias (Spain) Moriwaki 43:50.930
2. Julian Simon (Spain) Suter 43:51.245
3. Karel Abraham (Czech Republic) FTR 44:00.769
4. Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Motobi 44:01.108
5. Scott Redding (Britain) Suter 44:02.167

125cc race:

1. Marc Marquez (Spain) Derbi 39:46.937
2. Nicolas Terol (Spain) Aprilia 39:49.549
3. Bradley Smith (Britain) Aprilia 39:55.333
4. Pol Espargaro (Spain) Derbi 40:05.810
5. Alberto Moncayo (Spain) Aprilia 40:18.910

Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro 2010

The Ducati rider Casey Stoner took his first win of the season yesterday when he crossed the line at the Aragon MotoGP.

Starting from pole position, the Australian dominated the race from the off, finishing the race 5.148 seconds ahead of second placed man Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa dropped back to fifth place after getting shuffled out of the pack in the opening corner but had soon fought his way back to slot in behind Stoner.

The battle for the final step of the podium went down to the line between the second Ducati of Nicky Hayden and the current leader of the championship Jorge Lorenzo.  After several attempts, Hayden managed to make his move on the Yamaha rider stick finally passing him on the final lap to take his first podium finish this season.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Ben Spies crossed the line in fifth place after and exciting race for fifth place against the second Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso.  The Honda rider unfortunately crashed out on the final lap after pushing for the place.

Valentino Rossi finished in sixth place on the second Fiat Yamaha ahead of Marco Simoncelli and Alvaro Bautista with Marco Melandri in ninth position followed by the Pramac Racing rider Alex Espargaro.

The LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet, was lucky to have escaped injury after spectacularly crashing out on lap 16 of the race.

The teams and riders of MotoGP assembled on the circuit on Sunday morning to pay their respect to Shoya Tomizawa who died two-weeks ago at the Misano circuit.  The popular Japanese riders bike was placed on the starting grid and it was announced that his number 48 would be retired from the Mot02 World Championship.

Here are the results;

1.  Casey Stoner  AUS Ducati Marlboro Team  42m 16.53s
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 42m 21.678s
3. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 42m 26.026s
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 42m 26.11s
5. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42m 30.301s
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 42m 43.86s
7. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 45.041s
8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 42m 51.784s
9. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 51.923s
10. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 42m 51.997s
11. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 42m 52.052s
12. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43m 1.89s
13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 43m 4.849s
14. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 43m 14.577s

DNF:
Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team
Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP

Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda 2010

The Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa crossed the line to take the victory at the Indianapolis MotoGP yesterday after qualifying in fifth place.

It was pole sitter Ben Spies on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 that led the pack into the first corner followed by the Marlboro Ducati of Nicky Hayden and the Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso.  Pedrosa followed in fourth place ahead of the two Fiat Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.

By lap 2, Pedrosa had moved into second position, quickly passing his team-mate and Hayden as he began to chase down the leading man.

On lap 7, Pedrosa passed Spies to take the lead while Nicky Hayden was dropping back down the pack after his kneeslider became loose when he hit a drain cover, allowing Lorenzo and Rossi the chance to get past.

Lorenzo eventually managed to get past Dovizioso on lap 12 of the race although the Italian didn’t let him get away easily.  The Honda rider soon began to lose grip on his tyres following his impressive ride allowing Rossi to also get past, losing his chance of a podium finish.

Dani Pedrosa took the win ahead of Ben Spies in second and Jorge Lorenzo in third.  Rossi completed the race in fourth place followed by Andrea Dovizioso in fifth, Nicky Hayden in sixth, Marco Simoncelli in seventh, Alvaro Bautista in eighth, Aleix Espargaro in ninth and Hector Barbera in tenth.

Casey Stoner lost the front end of his Marlboro Ducati on lap 8 of the race while Colin Edwards was forced to retire on lap 17 after developing rear tyre problems.  Mika Kallio crashed out on lap 18 after hitting a bump on the track and was out of the race,  Marco Melandri was the only other rider who failed to finish the race.

Here are the results;

1.  Dani Pedrosa  ESP Repsol Honda Team  47m 31.615s
2. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 47m 35.190s
3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 47m 38.427s
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 47m 44.248s
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 47m 53.500s
6. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 48m 6.753s
7. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 48m 8.355s
8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 48m 8.440s
9. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 48m 16.52s
10. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 48m 22.983s
11. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 48m 27.001s
12. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 48m 29.518s
13. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 48m 35.754s

DNF:
Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing
Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team
Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini