Indianapolis 2009 - MotoGP Race Highlights
The battle for the 2009 World hampionship was blown wide open on Sunday at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix as Jorge Lorenzo scored a great win and his Fiat Yamaha colleague Valentino Rossi suffered his first DNF of the year.
Lorenzo eventually crossed the line with a 9.5s winning margin to cut Rossi1s championship lead in half, as the deficit dropped from 50 to 25 points, with five races remaining.
Behind Lorenzo there was a great ride from San Carlo Honda Gresini1s Alex de Angelis who did his quest to remain in MotoGP no harm at all in second place, gaining his first ever premier class podium from fourth on the grid. Nicky Hayden also rode brilliantly after qualifying sixth, repeating his 2008 Indianapolis podium, this time in third position his best result to date with Ducati. Hayden got the better of Andrea Dovizioso, despite a stiff challenge from the man who replaced him in the Repsol Honda team, the Italian yet again having to settle for fourth on the last lap. World Champion Valentino Rossi hit the ground on lap nine when battling for the race lead with Lorenzo, the Italian able to remount and try to continue only to have to retire a couple of laps later due to the damage his M1 machine sustained. It was the first time Rossi has failed to finish a race since Valencia in 2007.
Earlier in the race there was also a crash for Dani Pedrosa on the fourth lap when the pole man was leading the race. He bravely picked up his RC212V and rejoined in last place, doing well to finally finish in 10th position. Adding to the American representation towards the front Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3) finished in fifth place, whilst there was a late crash from Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) when battling with James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) for sixth. Melandri1s mishap left the Englishman to again equal his best ever MotoGP result.
The top ten also featured Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Mika Kallio (Ducati) and Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini). A special mention must go to Pramac Racing1s temporary replacement rider Aleix Espargaro who earned three points in 13th place on his MotoGP debut.