Indy MotoGP: Crash extends Casey Stoner’s winless run

Casey Stoner’s winless run in the MotoGP world championship extended to 12 races after he crashed out of the top six in yesterday’s Indianapolis MotoGP race.

The Australian made a shocking start and found himself in ninth place at the end of the first lap.

Using a new set of 2011 spec Ohlins front forks in a race for the first time, Stoner quickly passed Marco Simoncelli on the second lap and was promoted into seventh spot a lap later when Marco Melandri crashed out.

Stoner then passed struggling factory Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden for sixth on lap six. But just as he was poised to mount an assault on reigning world champion Valentino Rossi, he lost the front-end of his GP10 machine.

It was Stoner’s third race crash so far in 2010 following costly mistakes in the season’s opening clash in Qatar and Le Mans.

His latest fall relegated him back down to fourth place in the overall standings with Andrea Dovizioso’s hard fought fifth place putting him seven-points in front of Stoner.

Stoner is now only ten points clear of American Hayden in seventh position and he said: “I am very disappointed because it was a nothing crash but obviously it was enough to leave me out of the race.

“I know a lot of people have had front end crashes but apparently here at Indianapolis we have gone back to the situation we were in at the start of the season and we’ve struggled to find front-end feel in the corners.

“It is a real shame because we had good pace and I think we could have been on the podium.”