Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner rode a tactically brilliant race to win the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix and extend his championship lead heading into the summer break.
On a warm, sunny day in front of a crowd of nearly 53,000, Stoner ran down first his teammate Dani Pedrosa, then Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo, who he made a brilliant pass of in an unexpected spot.
Stoner took advantage of a slight bobble by Lorenzo out of the final turn 11 ending the 26th lap to pull next to him on acceleration. As the pair crested the elevated turn one, actually a kink in the front straight taken in sixth gear, Stoner made a bold move on the outside of the world champion, who clearly wasn’t expecting it. Then Stoner pulled in tight in the turn two hairpin left and sped away. Lorenzo couldn’t hope to match Stoner, who would later say he had more in reserve.
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The margin of victory was 5.634 secs., with Pedrosa third another three seconds later.
The win was Stoner’s fifth of the season and first since the rain-lashed British Grand Prix at Silverstone in mid-June. That was the last of three in a row and Stoner hadn’t won any of the last three races. But he’s been on the podium in every race he’s finished, which is why he has a 20 point championship lead on Lorenzo. Cycle News
Italy’s Respol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso finished fifth behind Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies of the United States. That was good enough to keep Dovizioso third in the standings with 143 points.
The Ducatis of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden finished sixth and seventh. Alvaro Bautista had pursued them until he crashed his Suzuki. Italy’s Marco Simoncelli and Britain’s Cal Crutchlow also failed to finish.
France’s Randy de Puniet didn’t start after suffering two broken vertebrae and a suspected broken pelvis when he crashed his Ducati in qualifying on Saturday. AFP
Pos. Points Num. Rider Team Time/Gap 1 25 27 Casey STONER Repsol Honda Team 43'52.145 2 20 1 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha Factory Racing 5.634 3 16 26 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 9.467 4 13 11 Ben SPIES Yamaha Factory Racing 20.562 5 11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSORepsol Honda Team 20.885 6 10 46 Valentino ROSSI Ducati Team 30.351 7 9 69 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 31.031 8 8 5 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 45.502 9 7 8 Hector BARBERA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP51.549 10 6 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA San Carlo Honda Gresini +1'08.850 11 5 17 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing +1'09.132 12 4 65 Loris CAPIROSSI Pramac Racing Team 1 Lap 13 3 24 Toni ELIAS LCR Honda MotoGP 1 Lap Not Classified 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 19 Laps 23 Ben BOSTROM LCR Honda MotoGP 24 Laps 58 Marco SIMONCELLISan Carlo Honda Gresini 26 Laps 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW Monster Yamaha Tech 3 29 Laps
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