Jorge Lorenzo took advantage of crashes by Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi and coasted to victory in the second annual Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Lorenzo of Fiat Yamaha built up double-digit leads over the rest of the field after Pedrosa and Rossi went down before letting up and finishing 9.435 seconds ahead of Alex De Angelis of San Carlo Honda Gresini and American hero Nicky Hayden earned his first podium of the season on his Ducati just 31/2 hours from home. Monterey County Herald
Just before the finish line, he kicked his legs out wide to punctuate his moment of glory as a runaway winner of the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.
“Six laps to go, I was thinking, ‘Oh no, maybe on the straight I may not be able to do the wheelie,’ ” Lorenzo said. “But every lap I see, I say, ‘OK, maybe I will try.’
“So I try and I thought, ‘OK, I’m going to do 100 meters only or 200 meters, but I did almost one kilometer (more than half a mile).”
His exuberance could be understood for several reasons, not the least of which was what happened to teammate and six-time world champion Valentino Rossi. The man MotoGP riders always have to chase, the legend who never seems to make a mistake, did. Indianapolis Star
Race Result - Round 12
1 99 Jorge Lorenzo SPA YAMAHA
2 15 Alex De Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA
3 69 Nicky Hayden USA DUCATI
4 4 Andrea Dovizioso ITA HONDA
5 5 Colin Edwards USA YAMAHA
6 52 James Toseland GBR YAMAHA
7 65 Loris Capirossi ITA SUZUKI
8 36 Mika Kallio FIN DUCATI
9 24 Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA
10 3 Dani Pedrosa SPA HONDA
11 Chris Vermeulen AUS SUZUKI
12 Randy De Puniet FRA HONDA
13 Aleix Espargaro SPA DUCATI
14 Gabor Talmacsi HUN HONDA
UPDATE: August 31, 2009 12:29 pm
A championship didn’t slip from Valentino Rossi’s hands Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but his grip on it loosened when his motorcycle slid from underneath him in the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.
What could be the pivotal moment in the season happened on lap 10 of 28 as Rossi followed race leader and Fiat Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo through the first turn.
All seemed well for the six-time world champion until the bike appeared to shake briefly. In an instant he was down, banging his right elbow off the pavement as he slid to the grass.
Rossi shook his head in disbelief.
“Unfortunately I ran wide onto a dirty part of the track and lost the front end,” he said in a statement released by his team. Indianapolis Star
“His misfortune was good for me. It makes a difficult thing for me a little more possible,” said Lorenzo, who has five more races to catch his teammate.
“This is fantastic for me,” he added. “I’ve had two crashes in a row, but now I’ve won and my closest rivels have crashed instead. I’m sorry for them, but these are the highs and lows of racing and it is an amazing result for me.”
Lorenzo, who was the series rookie of the year in 2008, won the 28-lap, 118.104 km race by more than nine seconds over runner-up Alex De Angelis of San Marino. AFP
Championship standings
S.No. Riders Points Team/Sponsor 1 Valentino Rossi 212 pts Fiat Yamaha Team 2 Jorge Lorenzo 187 pts Fiat Yamaha Team 3 Casey Stoner 150 pts Ducati Marlboro Team 4 Dani Pedrosa 141 pts Repsol Honda Team 5 Colin Edwards 128 pts Tech 3 Yamaha 6 Andrea Dovizioso 120 pts Repsol Honda Team 7 Alex De Angelis 88 pts San Carlo Honda Gresini 8 Loris Capirossi 86 pts Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 9 Randy De Puniet 84 pts LCR Honda MotoGP 10 Marco Melandri 79 pts Hayate Racing Team 11 Nicky Hayden 73 pts Ducati Marlboro Team 12 Chris Vermeulen 72 pts Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 13 James Toseland 72 pts Tech 3 Yamaha 14 Toni Elias 70 pts San Carlo Honda Gresini 15 Mika Kallio 42 pts Pramac Racing 16 Niccolo Canepa 32 pts Pramac Racing 17 Sete Gibernau 12 pts Grupo Francisco Hernando 18 Yuki Takahashi 9 pts Scot Racing Team MotoGP 19 Gabor Talmacsi 3 pts Scot Racing Team MotoGP 20 Aleix Espargaro 3 pts Pramac Racing
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