MotoGP:Lorenzo grabs the win; championship leader Rossi crashes at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP

Ron Lieback
AllAboutBikes.com Content Editor/Staff Writer

Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo grabbed his third win of the season after teammate Valentino Rossi and native-rival Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda crashed during Round 12 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I’ve had two crashes in a row but now I’ve won, and my closest rivals have crashed instead,” said Lorenzo, who didn’t finish the last two races. “Of course I’m sorry for them but these are the highs and lows of racing and it’s an amazing result for me…once Dani had gone I knew it would be a hard fight between me and Valentino and in fact when he crashed I didn’t realize for a while, because I misread my pit-board and thought it said +0! The championship was almost gone but in one day things have changed a lot. It will be hard but we won’t give up!”

With only five races remaining, the Spaniard Lorenzo dropped Rossi’s point lead from 50 to 25; Rossi crashed during lap nine, suffering his first DNF of this season. The Italian was able to remount, but had to retire after a few laps due to the damage on his M1.

Rossi, who started third at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, now has a tougher shot at his seventh Moto GP Championship title. It was the first time No. 46 rider has failed to finish a race since Valencia in 2007.

“Today is a disappointment of course,” Rossi said.  “We struggled here with the setting all weekend but we made an improvement today and I got a good start and was able to stay in touch with Pedrosa. Once he fell, I knew it would be between Jorge and I but I honestly don’t know how it would have finished, because Jorge was very fast today. Of course, it would have been better to have finished second than not to finish at all! Unfortunately I ran wide on to a dirty part of the track at turn one and lost the front. I tried to carry on but there was a problem with my throttle and it wasn’t possible.”

Joining Lorenzo on the podium was San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alex de Angelis, who finished 9.43 seconds behind Lorenzo, and American Nicky Hayden. De Angelis’ finish was his first podium in the premier series after starting fourth on the grid. Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso finished fourth.

The Ducati Marlboro Team rider Hayden, who qualified sixth, had his best finish of the season, and also his second-straight podium finish at Indy; Hayden, who grew up in nearby Kentucky, was runner up to Rossi at last year’s inaugural Indy GP race.

“It feels great to be on the podium here at Indianapolis…I pushed hard and in the middle of the race I went as fast as I have all weekend, but I didn’t have any more than that. Dovizioso came on strong at the end so I gave myself a little pep talk and made sure I was ready for whatever he had. He was going to have to come up with something special to keep me off the podium here at Indy! Thankfully I kept it together and brought it home. We don’t have long to the next race at Misano but I’m in the mood for a little party tonight. My buddies have seen the sun come up every day since Friday but hopefully they’ve got something left in the tank for me!”

Tech 3 Yamaha riders Colin Edwards and James Toseland finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

"It wasn't as much fun as thought it was going to be, to be honest with you, I had hopes of better result at my home race,” Texas-native Edwards said. “I did the same times I did all weekend but I struggled with some grip issues, it just felt like everything was pivoting on the rear, it was like speedway, as soon as I got the bike on the side the rear came around and that is not the fast way. I couldn't put any load on the rear. At the end of the day we had the same tires as the guy who won the race so whether it was something in our set-up or riding style, I don't know. All I could was watch Nicky and Andrea walk away from me and I took some big risks on the brakes. Once Nicky got by it became hard to manage and I think we turned a tire on the rim, I had a lot of vibration over the final ten laps."

The other Spaniard, Pedrosa, who started on the pole, took the holeshot with Rossi and Lorenzo not far behind. But on turn 15 during the fourth lap, Pedrosa slid out, dropping his bike. He got up, joining the field in 17th position, and after some hard racing he finished 10th, 45 seconds behind Lorenzo.

Lorenzo is now a mere 25 points behind Rossi. The No. 99 Yamaha had nothing but clear track before him after Pedrosa and Rossi crashed. But now it’s off to next week, where Lorenzo has to challenge his teammate at Misano in Italy, the second of Rossi’s home races.

Round 12 Results, Indy:

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), 28 laps,
2. Alex De Angelis (Honda), -9.435 seconds
3. Nicky Hayden (Ducati), -12.947
4. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda), -13.478
5. Colin Edwards (Yamaha), -26.254
6. James Toseland (Yamaha), -32.408
7. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki), -34.400
8. Mika Kallio (Ducati), -34.856
9. Toni Elias (Honda), -45.005
10. Dani Pedrosa (Honda), -45.377, crash
11. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki), -45.478
12. Randy De Puniet (Honda), -52.294
13. Aleix Espargaro (Ducati), -63.552
14. Gabor Talmacsi (Honda), -75.086
15. Marco Melandri (Kawasaki), -3 laps, DNF, crash
16. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati), -4 laps, DNF, mechanical
17. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), -19 laps, DNF, crash

World Championship Point Standings (After 12 of 17 races):

1. Rossi, 212 points
2. Lorenzo, 187
3. Casey Stoner, 150
4. Pedrosa, 141
5. Edwards, 123
6. Dovizioso, 120
7. De Angelis, 88
8. Capirossi, 86
9. De Puniet, 84
10. Melandri, 79
11. Vermeulen, 77
12. Hayden, 73
13. Toseland, 72
14. Elias, 70
15. Kallio, 42
16. Canepa, 32
17. Sete Gibernau, 12
18. Talmacsi, 10
19. Yukio Takahashi, 9