Casey Stoner was the clear victor at the 2011 Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, crossing the finish line nearly five seconds ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Ben Spies.

Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) took the early race lead, until team mate Stoner overtook the Spaniard on lap seven and stretched his lead in front of the pack to remain unchallenged for the remainder of the race. Stoner extends his Championship lead to 44 points ahead of reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) with this win, his first ever podium at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A bad start for Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) from second on the grid found the Texan down in ninth position, after his poor start was made worse when he and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) touched heading into turn one, pushing Spies wide. The 25 year-old methodically made his way back through the field and into third position by lap 16. The pace set by Spies would have been quick enough to fight for second position, though his start kept him from catching Pedrosa, who crossed the line second in front of the American.

Lorenzo had seen second position in the early laps, but was overtaken by Stoner and then eventually Spies to finish in fourth position. Dovizioso tussled with Nicky Hayden early in the race for fifth, until the American from the Ducati Team fell back with tyre problems, leaving the Italian to chase Lorenzo.

Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) finished a lonely sixth after starting tenth on the grid. The Spaniard crossed the line nine seconds in front of American Colin Edwards on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine. Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) crossed the line in eighth, giving the French rider his best finish of the season so far.

Ninth spot went to Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini), who crossed the line a second and a half ahead of Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team). Rossi’s tenth place was of note in that on lap eight the Italian fell back into 17th position with what appeared to be tyre issues. At one stage it looked like Rossi would enter the pits, but the Italian kept riding and made his way back up to finish tenth in front of rookie Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3).

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) had seen as high as third position in the race but the Italian slowly dropped back down the order, finally finishing in 12th. Toni Elías (LCR Honda) and Hayden completed the race finishers, with Elías ahead of the American. Hayden had pitted in earlier with an issue and rejoined the session to salvage some points, finishing 14th. A disappointing end was had for Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar), who crashed out of eighth place in the final corner.

Moto2

Marc Márquez headed up an all Spanish podium in the Moto2 race with Pol Espargaró and Esteve Rabat joining him on the rostrum.

Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing Project), who started from second on the grid, led the outset but it was Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol rider Márquez who took the control of the Moto2 race, making his pass on Italian rider on lap eight and riding unchallenged thereafter. The Moto2 rookie now stands 28 points behind his German rival Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) in the Championship.

Moto2 rookies Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX) and Pol Espargaró (HP Tuenti Speed Up) both claimed their first podiums in the category following a half race chase for second, with 20 year-old Espargaró riding across the finish in front of his fellow countryman in second position.

Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing) took fourth position, with fellow Brit Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) behind him in fifth after making his way from 11th on the grid into sixth in the first four laps, then briefly leading in front of Smith on lap 14 of the race.

Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) skilfully made his way through the field after starting from 22nd on the grid to take sixth, thus collecting further valuable Championship points in his quest for the title. Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) followed in seventh, with Mattia Pasini (Ioda Racing Project), Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing) and Aleix Espargaró (Pons HP 40) completing the top ten finishers. Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) placed 11th.

American rider Kenny Noyes (Avintia-STX) had an early crash and was unable to rejoin the race, while fellow countrymen JD Beach (Aeroport de Castello) finished 29th and wildcard Jake Gagne (GPTech) finished in 31st.

125cc

World Championship points leader Nico Terol took his sixth win of the season, charging to victory ahead of Maverick Viñales and Sandro Cortese.

Bankia Aspar’s Terol had an amazing start off pole position, clearly determined to take a win following his DNF at the Czech GP when a mechanical forced his retirement out of the lead of the race. The 22 year-old pulled an immediate gap and led the race unchallenged, winning the race and extending his Championship lead to 26 points over Johann Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo).

Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing) picked off his competitors one by one to make his way up to third place to fight it out with Zarco. The French rider then had a huge moment, dropping him back into seventh with10 laps to go, allowing Viñales to push on and finish second.

Viñales appeared to have second in the bag, until with five laps remaining his tyres started to go, letting Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany) and Sergio Gadea (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) catch back up to the youngster. Viñales came out on top of that skirmish to cross the line second, with Cortese finishing third and Gadea fourth.

Frenchman Zarco worked his way back through the field to cross the line fifth, getting the better of team mate Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) who finished sixth. Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar) crossed the line a clear seventh, with Miguel Oliveira (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica), Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) and Jakub Kornfeil (Ongetta-Centro Seta) completing the top ten. Brad Binder (RW Racing GP) made an impressive showing in his very first GP, finishing in 17th position.

Source: motogp.com

Scott’s performance in the 26-lap was worthy of the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway after he launched a stunning attack from 11th on the grid. The British rider demonstrated the blistering speed that saw him dominate Free Practice as he quickly forced his way into the top six by lap four.
Scott’s confidence grew with every lap and a brilliant overtake on Andrea Iannone moved him into fifth on lap 20. The 18-year-old then became engaged in an enthralling fight with compatriot Bradley Smith, the British pair superbly closing on Spanish duo Esteve Rabat and Pol Espargaro in the hunt for second place.
But with track temperature hitting 45 degrees, Scott was unable to maintain his pace in the crucial final stages and after suffering a small drop in grip he opted to take the safe option and collect 11 valuable points to strengthen his challenge for a top 10 position in the World Championship rankings.

Scott Redding #45: 5th Position
“That was a very difficult race but I’m really happy. Firstly, challenging for the podium is where we should have been all season, and it feels great to have been in a battle at the right end of the field. Secondly, conditions were very hot again and in the past I’ve struggled in extremely hot weather. But I got through the race with no problems and I still felt strong at the end, so that’s a big bonus for me. We’ve been at the front all weekend, so we knew we had the pace to fight for a podium. But today once again proved how important qualifying is because starting from 11th meant I had to abuse my tyres a lot more than I wanted to gain some places in the early laps. I made some hard moves and at the end I was closing on the battle for second, but I was right on the edge and having two-wheel slides without the brakes on. This result has given me a lot of confidence for the final part of the season and I’ve got to say a big thanks to the Marc VDS Racing Team because today is a good reward for all their hard work.”

Michael Bartholemy – Team Manager
“This was the performance from Scott and Mika that we hoped we would see right from the beginning of the season, but I suppose it is better late than never. When I signed with Scott and Mika for 2011, the goal was always to have one in the top five and the other in the top 10 and we’ve achieved that today. Both of them rode a fantastic race and I think they showed the true potential of the Marc VDS Racing Team and the Suter MMXI package. It is a shame that both of them got stuck in heavy traffic at the end of qualifying because had they been a bit further up the grid, we could be enjoying an even better flight to Misano. This is an important race for Arma Energy and I hope we have given them something to smile about today. I am also delighted for Marc van der Straten. Many people had stopped believing in our project but his support has been incredible. He never stops pushing and pushing and I hope we can deliver him more results like this in the last six races.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing

Not Classified
8 Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP DUCATI 46’03.510 148.287 1 lap
17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing DUCATI 34’36.516 146.183 8 laps
65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Pramac Racing Team DUCATI 27’47.440 145.637 12 laps

Not Classified
14 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda Singha SAG FTR 37’33.318 141.449 5 laps
31 Carmelo MORALES SPA Desguaces La Torre G22 MORIWAKI 27’34.978 137.563 11 laps
9 Kenny NOYES USA Avintia-STX FTR 13’34.667 130.413 19 laps
Time limit

Not Classified
77 Marcel SCHROTTER GER Mahindra Racing MAHINDRA 41’15.854 134.865 1 lap
26 Adrian MARTIN SPA Bankia Aspar Team 125cc APRILIA 38’05.345 132.825 3 laps
50 Sturla FAGERHAUG NOR WTR-Ten10 Racing APRILIA 20’54.716 133.060 12 laps
31 Niklas AJO FIN TT Motion Events Racing APRILIA 13’06.147 135.144 16 laps
21 Harry STAFFORD GBR Ongetta-Centro Seta APRILIA 13’49.158 128.133 16 laps

Scott was confident of challenging for pole position after he dominated practice in hot and humid conditions at the iconic American motorsport venue. He was the one and only rider to break into the 1.44 bracket in free practice and after the third and final session this morning, the 18-year-old was an impressive 0.340s faster than his closest rival.

But he was unable to continue that sparkling form in qualifying as each time he tried to push for a fast lap time, he encountered slower riders cruising close to the racing line. Redding had to settle for a frustrating 11th position on the grid with a best time of 1.44.865 leaving him less than 0.2s away from the second row.

Scott’s confidence with his Suter MMXI machine though has soared this weekend, with major improvements made to the front-end performance allowing him to show more of his usual aggression in the corners.

Scott Redding #45 – 1.44.865– 15 laps – 11th position
“To say 11th on the grid is below what I was expecting would be an understatement when you consider how brilliantly practice was. We’ve continually improved the bike and I’ve felt as confident as I have for a long time, yet we’re not even starting inside the top 10. Finishing more than 0.3s ahead of everybody else in practice showed how competitive we are but the end of the session was crazy again. There are so many guys just riding around slowly and waiting for a tow that I just couldn’t get in one clear lap. It is really frustrating because we’ve done all that hard work to get in a position to be challenging for the front row and it is all for nothing. The good thing is that I’ve shown in practice that I’ve got the speed to fight for the podium here again. The Suter MMXI has been working awesome all weekend, so I’ll just push as hard as I can from the start and try and get to the front as soon as possible.”

Pete Benson – Scott Redding Crew Chief
“Considering Scott was so fast in practice and looking really confident on the bike, we have to be disappointed to be starting 11th on the grid. Without doubt that is a bit of a false position because he just couldn’t get the lap in at the end that he was hoping for and that’s a pity. For some reason Scott loves this track and it was obvious yesterday when he clicked with it immediately again. We’ve made some changes to the bike that hopefully will set us up for a strong finish to the year. We’ve changed the bike balance a little bit and it is unfortunate it has taken us this long into the season to figure it out, but Scott feels much more confident with the front-end and that’s what he’s been missing. The new surface was really slippery yesterday but immediately he was fast, so that was a good sign that he was a lot happier with the bike. I think if he can get a decent start then he’s still in with a great chance of running at the front, which is where we deserve to be based on our speed in practice.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing