CASEY STONER triumphed at Indianapolis in a dominant victory that saw his title rival Jorge Lorenzo finish off the podium again, further extending his lead in the championship table.
Dani Pedosa took an early lead in the race, looking to carry over his success at Indy from last season, until teammate Stoner passed the Spaniard on lap seven to pull out a gap that saw the Australian unchallenged for the remainder of the race.
Pedrosa finished a comfortable second and third was taken by Ben Spies. The factory Yamaha rider had a bad start from second on the grid, dropping back to ninth position into the first corner, the Texan's poor start was made worse when he and Andrea Dovizioso touched going into the first turn, pushing the Yamaha rider wide. Spies worked his way back through the field and moved into his podium finish on lap sixteen.
After ridlng as high as second in the early stages Jorge Lorenzo would eventually succumb to tyre problems that marred his performance at the previous round at Brno, finishing off the podium in fourth. Dovizioso would round out the top five.
Tyre issues would befall Ducati as both the factory effort of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden along with the privateer entries struggled to maintain their pace. The factory riders would soldier on to salvage some points in the race, with Hayden pulling into to pits to then be sent back out to claim 14th and Rossi running off the track on a few occasions but pulling himself back for tenth position at the flag. The top Ducati finisher was Randy de Puniet, the Frenchman held off the advances of Hector Barbera as the Spaniard crashed out on the final corner.
The win for Stoner sees the Australian move further ahead of Lorenzo in the championship, increasing his lead to 44 points.
1. Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team 46'52.786 151.086
2. Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 46'57.614 150.827 4.828
3. Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing 47'03.389 150.518 10.603
4. Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing 47'09.362 150.200 16.576
5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team 47'09.988 150.167 17.202
6. Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 47'23.233 149.468 30.447
7. Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 47'32.476 148.983 39.690
8. Randy DE PUNIET FRA Pramac Racing Team 47'46.202 148.270 53.416
9. Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 47'46.576 148.251 53.790
10. Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team 47'48.131 148.170 55.345
11. Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 47'49.970 148.075 57.184
12. Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 47'52.927 147.923 1'00.141
13. Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP 47'54.955 147.818 1'02.169
14. Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team 47'38.936 138.029 2 laps
Not Classified
Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP DUCATI 46'03.510 148.287 1 lap
Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing DUCATI 34'36.516 146.183 8 laps
Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Pramac Racing Team DUCATI 27'47.440 145.637 12 laps
