SPEEDWAY, Ind. —
Dani Pedrosa led a sweep for Spain of the three MotoGP events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on a day when American Peter Lenz died in a warmup lap crash on Sunday.
Despite the clear summer sky and Americans Ben Spies and Nicky Hayden starting on the front row, the attendance for the race weekend was down by approximately 10,000 over the 2009 event. Figures released showed 62,794 people on Sunday and a weekend total of 136,184,
Pedrosa recorded his third win of the year and first in the Red Bull Indianapolis GP. Along with Toni Elias and Nicholas Terol, riders from Spain swept the three events at Indy.
Pedrosa took the lead from fast qualifier Spies on Lap 7 with an inside move entering Turn 1. At one point Pedrosa opened up a lead of more than 5 seconds before settling for a win by 3.5 seconds.
Favorite Jorge Lorenzo dropped back to fifth on the opening lap and started his climb to the front on the third lap by passing Hayden and moving into the third position on Lap 12.
Valentino Rossi finished fourth followed by Andrea Dovizioso and Hayden.
Australian Casey Stoner crashed on Lap 8 while running sixth and retired from the event. Texan Colin Edwards retired and was not classified at the finish.
“It was most difficult,” Pedrosa said of the race conditions with temperatures above 90 degrees. “The track was slippery, but I kept my rhythm throughout the whole race.”
For Spies, who won his first pole position on Saturday, it was the second podium finish of the year and the best of the season.
“It was big,” he said of the second-place run. “It was a good race, not perfect, but I didn’t make too many mistakes.”
Spies said the track was greasy and Pedrosa was just too fast on Sunday.
Points leader Toni Elias battled with fast qualifier Julian Simon for much of the first half of Indianapolis’ first Moto2 race before finally taking the lead on Lap 12.
The start of the race was red-flagged when eight drivers went down in Turn 2. It appeared that American Roger Lee Hayden jumped the curb and rode up across the track and collected three other drivers. Behind that group four others went down in the corner.
Elias, starting from the sixth position, vaulted into the lead followed by Scott Redding and Simon.
On the second lap, Hector Faubel crashed while running fifth. Simon took the lead from Elias and along with Redding staged close racing until Elias reclaimed the top position.
From there Elias and Simon pulled away from Redding, who finished third. Andrea Iannone rode to a fourth-place finish after starting 26th in the 39-bike field, with Simone Corsi recovering after starting from the pit lane to finish fifth.
It was Elias’ third consecutive win in Moto2 competition.
Spain’s Nicolas Terol recorded his second 125cc win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in three starts when leader Marc Marquez crashed on the ninth lap.
Terol led Bradley Smith by more than 7 seconds when Smith slid off the course in Turn 11, which gave the second position to Sandro Cortez.
At the finish, Terol won by 4.9 seconds over Cortez followed by Pol Espargaro, Efren Vazquez and Esteve Rabat. Drivers from Spain took four of the top five positions.
Through an interpreter, Terol said it was a difficult race after not getting a good start. After Marquez crashed, Terol said he wanted to remain focused and concentrate until the end of the race.
Lenz, the pole sitter for the United States Grand Prix Racers Union, crashed with Xavier Zayat on the warm-up lap. The 13-year-old from Vancouver, Wash., was transported to Methodist Hospital with traumatic injuries, where he was later pronounced dead. He started racing motorcycles at the age of 5 and won several national and regional championships.
“Peter Lenz passed away this morning from injuries sustained from a racing accident,” a statement from his family said. “On behalf of the Lenz family, we would like to thank Peter’s friends and supporters for all their help throughout the years. We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss, but know that Peter is racing even faster in the sky.”
The MD250 class, which uses Honda motorcycles, was running as a support class for the MotoGP weekend at IMS.
Auto Racing
Related Photos
-
Dani Pedrosa, center, of Spain, center; second-place finisher Ben Spies, left, of the United States; and third-place Jorge Lorenzo, of Spain, celebrate after Pedrosa won the Indianapolis MotoGP motorcycle race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) Michael Conroy
-
Dani Pedrosa, of Spain, (26) and teammate Andrea Dovizioso, of Italy, head into the second turn during the Indianapolis Moto GP motorcycle race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday. Michael Conroy
Discussion
Pedrosa leads Spaniard sweep
- Auto Racing
-
-
Indy 500 in the books, but heat isn't a record
Fans sought shade under the grandstands and beneath umbrellas. Misting stations got a healthy workout. But Sunday's Indianapolis 500 won't go down in the record books as the hottest in the 101-year history of the race.
-
Kahne keeps Hendrick success rolling at Charlotte
Kasey Kahne powered to victory in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night, taking NASCAR's longest race for the third time for his first win with Hendrick Motorsports.
-
Quintin Harlan: If you want to honor a fallen driver just keep on racing
There are a myriad of reasons to love the Indianapolis 500. This year’s race was inundated with the emotion from the family, friends and colleagues of two-time Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon.
-
This is Indy
Fans of the Indianapolis 500 took time on race day to remember Dan Wheldon, the popular driver who died in a crash last year at Las Vegas Speedway. Wheldon, the 2011 Indy 500 champion, was honored by the thousands of fans who were asked to wear special sunglasses patterned after the shades that he always wore. Fans wore the sunglasses on the pace lap, Lap 26 and Lap 98, which were Wheldon’s car numbers when he won at Indy.
-
Franchitti wins his third Indianapolis 500
For the second consecutive year the Indianapolis 500 was decided by a last-lap crash Sunday, but this time Takuma Sato crashed while battling for the win and allowing Dario Franchitti to score his third win.
-
Tyler runs away with second Little 500 win
Deuces were wild at the 64th running of the Pay Less Little 500 as Brian Tyler recorded his second win and brought team owner Larry Contos win No. 2 at Anderson Speedway.
-
Rick Teverbaugh: Spectacle lacking on local TV
The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, on television, is a myth in its own backyard.
-
96th Indy 500 is wide open
Marco Andretti knows how much heartache his family has suffered at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He needs no reminders that IndyCar could use an American superstar, and with his famous last name, he is quite aware of the hope that maybe he can be the one to elevate this attention-starved series.
None of that matters to Andretti as he heads into the Indianapolis 500. -
Junior hopes to end slump
At first Dale Earnhardt Jr. was relieved he didn’t fall further back than seventh at last year’s Coca-Cola 600. Then he realized what he had lost for just about a gallon of gas.
“After a while, you start thinking about, ‘Oh, yeah, we really came close to winning a race,’” Earnhardt said this week. “It was really unfortunate there wasn’t just a little bit more gas in the car.” -
Litt’s gamble pays off
Ryan Litt gambled that track conditions at Anderson Speedway were better on the second day of qualifying for tonight’s running of the Pay Less Little 500 and it paid off in a big way.
- More Auto Racing Headlines
-
Indy 500 in the books, but heat isn't a record
