Pedrosa Wins Indianapolis Grand Prix
Dani Pedrosa got his third victory of the season at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. Ben Spies achieved a surprising second place finish while Jorge Lorenzo remained third on the podium.
Pedrosa started the race from second row but displayed yet another of his trademark starts. He made his way through other riders and was soon in second place behind Ben Spies. After this, Pedrosa started to pick some pace, while he overtook Spies in the seventh lap. The rest of the race went smoothly for him and he finally finished well ahead of Spies. No real challenge was posed by Spies, once he was overtaken by the Spaniard.
On the other hand, Spies started from pole position which was his first of the career. He had a great start as he managed to retain his lead after the first corner. His bike was running smoothly, while the American made no mistake. However, he was beaten on pace by Pedrosa resulting in Spies finishing second at his home grand prix. This was his MotoGP career’s best result so far.
Talking of Lorenzo, he didn’t have a great race right from the start, as he fell from second position, on the grid, to fifth place after first lap. However, the Spaniard fought his way back into the grand prix finishing in third position behind Spies. This was his worst result of this season, as Lorenzo broke his streak of finishing in first two places in ten consecutive races.
Valentino Rossi had another rough weekend at Indianapolis but he managed to get the fourth place. After being third initially, Dovizioso fought hard with Lorenzo and Rossi but he could only manage a fifth place finish. Another upset of the race was Nicky Hayden, who started from first row but finished in sixth place. There were quite a few riders who could not finish the race but Casey Stoner was the most notable one. The Australian seemed to be having troubles with his bike, while he lost its front end during the eighth lap.
After this race, the Championship lead of Lorenzo has been reduced to 68 points, as Pedrosa closes in. The Spaniard was happy after the race, especially because the conditions were tough. The tack and air temperatures were high which made the conditions tough for riders. However, Pedrosa still managed to go through rather easily, as he did not face any real challenges throughout the race.
Lorenzo was critical of his race performance, as he believed that his poor start resulted in his third place. At the same time, Lorenzo was happy for the points he scored, which meant that he still holds an upper hand in this year’s championship.
Stoner and Rossi were the ones who failed to shine in this grand prix. Although, Rossi had a fourth place finish, but the Italian does not seem to be in good shape at all. Before his injury, he had finished on the podium in all his three races. But since his recovery, he hasn’t been achieving those kinds of results. Similarly, the bike issues with Ducati have started to trouble Stoner once again. If these problems persist, this would mean that the Australian would have yet another disappointing season.
The real success story of the weekend was Ben Spies, the local hero. The American has shown incredible form in his first season at MotoGP. On the basis of his talents, Spies would be replacing Rossi in Factory Yamaha team. The season is starting to get exciting, as Pedrosa is closing in on Lorenzo, while there is a new rider in the equation, in shape of Ben Spies. The next race is in San Marino, and everyone would be anxiously waiting for yet another exciting weekend.
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