Indy MotoGP: Stoner cruises to 30th MotoGP win

Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner cruised to his 30th victory in the MotoGP class at Indianapolis, setting a new lap record on the way.

Team-mate Dani Pedrosa got the best start and led for a handful of laps before Stoner overtook him on the start/finish straight. Both Pedrosa and Stoner opened up a comfortable lead from the following riders, with Pedrosa making it two Repsol Honda’s on the podium in second place.

Spies, who qualified second, got a terrible start and was back down to 10th going into turn five, but the Texan rode an excellent race to claw his way back up to third place at his home grand prix, overtaking team-mate and reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo on the way, relegating him to fourth position.

Most of the Ducati rider’s struggled during the race, with both Loris Capirossi and Karel Abraham retiring mid-way through the race. Factory rider’s Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden both came into the pits but rejoined the race, finishing 10th and 14th respectively.

Hayden got an excellent start and looked like he could challenge for a podium finish at one point, but problems with his Ducati saw him move rapidly back down the field. 

It was a similar story for LCR Honda rider Marco Simoncelli, who was in third place at one stage, but after making a mistake on the exit of the final turn and allowing Lorenzo to retake third, his pace started to drop and he eventually finished 12th

Top Ducati was Randy de Puniet in eighth place. Hector Barbera was set to finish in ninth place but he crashed on the final turn of the last lap and was unable to finish.

Brit Cal Crutchlow, who has struggled all weekend, finished 11th.