Australian Casey Stoner rode away from the pack at the Indianapolis Moto Grand Prix on Sunday for his third consecutive victory and seventh overall this year. The Aussie pole sitter completed 28 laps over the 2.621-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 46 minutes, 52.786 seconds. “We have had a really good setup all weekend,” Stoner said.
Stoner, making his seventh start of the year from the pole, finished 4.828 seconds ahead of runner-up and defending champion Dani Pedrosa of Spain to extend his win streak. “Those last two races have been difficult,” Stoner said. American Ben Spies, who began the race on the middle of the front row, finished third.
Jorge Lorenzo of Spain, who began the race in second place behind Stoner for the world championship, was fourth, the Yamaha rider missing the podium at Indy for the first time in the race’s four-year history. Stoner’s win extended his lead in the title chase from 32 to 44 points at 243-199.
Pedrosa pulled ahead of Honda teammate Stoner at the start of the race and held him off until the Aussie moved inside him in the first turn on the seventh lap.
Stoner led by about a half-second at the end of the lap and built his advantage from that point on a hot day. “I struggled a little bit the first few laps, but once we got going, we managed to get the lap times we sort of thought we could get,” Stoner said.
“With the heat, it made the race very hard. It was a lot of hard work out front, trying to stay consistent, trying not to make mistakes and trying not to run wide onto that greasy part of the track.” Pedrosa was unable to mount a challenge. “To finish second is unbelievable for me here,” Pedrosa said. “We did a good job from yesterday (qualifying) to today. We did a good rhythm. I think the bike was working quite well.
Seven-time series champion Valentino Rossi finished 10th, his worst showing of the season. Rossi overshot the first turn on the seventh lap and fell to the back of the pack. Italy’s Andrea Dovizioso ranks third on 174 with fellow Honda rider Pedrosa on 130, Yamaha’s Spies on 125 and Ducati rider Rossi sixth on 124.
