Pedrosa and Spies were providing a entertaining battle at the front
in the early stages, as Lorenzo was unable to close the pair down.
Meanwhile, Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner, riding with a pain killing
injection due to his fractured right ankle with torn ligaments, forced
his way past San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista with a strong
move. With 24 laps remaining Pedrosa made a move stick down the home
straight to take the lead. A lap later, Stoner was a man on a mission as
he also took LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl to go fifth.
It was misery for Ben Spies with 22 laps left as the American’s
engine blew down the straight, causing the oil flags to come out, with
the Yamaha rider immediately pulling off the racing line. This affected
the following group, as Stoner dropped back behind Dovizioso and Bradl.
San Carlo’s Michele Pirro and Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci
were also robbed of any good luck as then had to retire with technical
issues. Three laps later, Tech 3’s British rider Cal Crutchlow lost the
front end of his bike in turn 4, unfortunately putting an end to his
charge. In the meantime, Stoner had fought his way back past his group
into third, while Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet had to pull
in with a mechanical issue.
With 12 laps to go Pedrosa, who was on record breaking pace, had a
big wobble, yet managed to stop himself running onto the grass. This did
not stop the Spaniard however, and he soon rediscovered his rhythm.
Five laps on, Dovizioso was all over the back of Stoner, who was
fighting fearlessly with his injury, and took him for third.
In the end it was Pedrosa whose dominant performance resulted in his
second win of the season ahead of Lorenzo and Dovizioso, taking his
fifth podium this year. Lorenzo retains his championship lead, though it
has been cut to 18 points by his Spanish rival. It was however Casey
Stoner that arguably put in the best ride of the day, having gritted his
teeth to finish a tremendous fourth despite injury. Bautista came in
fifth, ahead of Bradl, Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi and Cardion AB
Racing’s Karel Abraham. Top CRT wet to Avintia Blusens’ Yonny Hernandez
in ninth, ahead of De Puniet’s teammate Aleix Espargaró.
Speed Master’s Andrea Iannone took the
holeshot ahead of Pons 40 HP Tuenti’s Pol Espargaró and Technomag-CIP’s
Dominique Aegerter. And it was Aegerter who was fastest in the early
laps as he took and held the lead. Márquez, who did not have a good
start made his way aggressively past Iannone and Espargaró in the first
two laps to hunt down the Swiss rider, whom he overtook with 23 laps
left down the home straight.
With 22 laps reaming, Espargaró, who had dropped down the order, went
past Blusens Avintia’s Julián Simón, as he looked to claw back space in
Márquez at the front. Two laps later Iannone and Espargaró both went
past Aegerter, who looked to be slowing, down the home straight. And it
was the Spaniard who was soon finding the pace he displayed all weekend
as he went past the Italian to take second. Simón took advantage of this
to slip into third. On the same lap it was disappointment for QMMF
Racing Team’s Elena Rosell, as she crashed out of the race. In the
meantime, Iannone looked to be slowing, as he was also passed by Marc
VDS Racing Team’s Mika Kallio and Aegerter. With 15 laps remaining
S/Master Speed Up’s Alessandro Andreozzi crashed out of the race, though
fortunately walked away unscathed.
With 11 laps left, Márquez had pulled out of gap of over six seconds,
whilst Iannone had been handed down to tenth. Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom
Lüthi was however starting to find some form as he battled with Kallio
for fourth. On the same lap, NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Yuki Takahashi
was forced to pit for a new front tyre. Four laps on, Tech 3 Racing’s
Xavier Siméon slid into NGM’s Alex de Angelis, taking both out of the
race, with de Angelis reacting angrily. Both were however unhurt. Six
laps before the end, Aegerter’s teammate Roberto Rolfo also had his race
ended with a tyre issue and pain in his recently operated knee.
In the final few laps, the Moto2 front runners had spread out
significantly, with Márquez keeping his nerve after a faultless ride to
extend his championship lead with an emphatic victory, ahead of
Espargaró in second and Simón in third. Márquez now holds a 39-point
over Espargaró in the championship, while Simón recorded his firs podium
since Portugal 2011. Mika Kallio won the battle for fourth, ahead of
Lüthi, Marc VDS’ Scott Redding, Aegerter, Came IodaRacing Project’s
Simone Corsi, Iannone and Italtrans Racing Team’s Claudio Corti.
Moto3: Salom storms to first-ever victory at Indianapolis
In a Moto3™ race with drama until the end at the Red Bull
Indianapolis Grand Prix it was RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom who stormed to
his first-ever victory ahead of Sandro Cortese and Jonas Folger, as
Maverick Viñales crashed out in the final turn.
Red Bull KTM-Ajo’s Danny Kent, RW Racing GP’s
Luis Salom and Kent’s teammate Sandro Cortese got off to the best
start, leading the pack in the early bends. There was however a big
crash early on as JHK Laglisse’s Adrian Martín took out TT Motion Events
Racing’s Niklas Ajo, whilst Moto FGR’s Jasper Iwema was collected by
San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Niccolò Antonelli. Ajo, who got back on track
was black-flagged shortly after for "unsporting behaviour" after
confronting Martín after the crash.
With 17 laps to go, Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins and Blusens
Avintia’s Maverick Viñales were swapping positions in second place, as
AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin tried to pull out a gap at the
front. Whilst the scrap at the front was going on, Ambrogio Next
Racing’s Alex Márquez crashed out of his first ever Moto3 race. JHK’s
Efrén Vázquez, who was in the pursuing group behind the top three, slid
off track with 12 laps to go, ending a frustrating weekend for the
Spaniard. Meanwhile, Salom’s teammate Brad Binder had retired with an
engine problem, and Cortese and Salom had fought past Khairuddin to
chase down Viñales. With only seven laps remaining Technomag-CIP-TSR’s
Alan Techer lost the front of his bike, putting an end to his race. He
walked away from the incident unscathed.
The last lap was a nail bighting affair with Cortese, Viñales and
Salom swapping positions fiercely with fairings touching throughout. Yet
it was Salom who judged it perfectly to take his first ever Grand Prix
victory ahead of Cortese, while Viñales provided last minute drama by
falling in the final turn, unable to get his bike re-started. Folger
benefited from this to take his first win of the season on his first
race with the Aspar team. This now gives Cortese a 29-point lead at the
top of the championship. Rins’ teammate Oliveira was the first
non-podium finisher in fourth, in front of Team Italia FMI’s Romano
Fenati, Khairuddin, Rins, Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta’s Jakub Kornfeil,
Andalucia JHK Laglisse’s Alberto Moncayo and Caretta Technology’s Alexis
Masbou.
Folger’s teammate Hector Faubel was absent from the race due to
injuries sustained in a crash yesterday, as was Caretta Technology’s
Jack Miller, after breaking his left collarbone for the second time this
season yesterday. Mahindra Racing’s Danny Webb was another withdrawal,
having fractured his right wrist in qualifying.
