Marc Marquez (Honda) won his third straight MotoGP race earlier today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after passing both teammate Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), who was the early leader of the race. Ultimately, Pedrosa finished second and Lorenzo finished third. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) battled his way from ninth position on the grid to finish fourth.
American Ben Spies (Ducati) returned this weekend from a long period recovering from injury, but injured himself again during practice at Indy (his right shoulder was dislocated, and he has also injured his wrist). As a result, Spies did not race this weekend.
Marquez has a 21 point lead in the championship over Pedrosa as the series heads to Brno next weekend. For additional details, results and points, visit the official MotoGP site.
even more reason to get stoner back to keep this kid in check
Why would Honda want to keep Marquez in check? They’re smiling from ear to ear now. Looks like Stoner knew exactly the right time to retire.
re: “Why would Honda want to keep Marquez in check? They’re smiling from ear to ear now.”
exactly, the revolution WILL BE TELEVISED…!!! (gil scott heron voice)
Injuries or not to the others, Marquez is the real deal.
The last second move by Hayden didn’t look all that smart, but I guess the riders are all out there to beat their teammate first, and that’s as good as it gets for the Ducatis. Will be curious to see where he ends up next year and how it compares to the Ducatis. I don’t think hes going to world SBK.
I used to think Hopper had the least luck of any rider in MotoGP. I’m sad to see Spies changing my opinion. Hope he recovers soon, again…
re: “I used to think Hopper had the least luck of any rider in MotoGP.”
spies has yet to sacrifice any body parts on the alter of suzuki. hopper for the win…!!!
Hopper joins Bayliss and RL Hayden in the finger club.
you’re forgetting Lorenzo. phil’s isle 2011. norm G. for the win…!!! 🙂
Certainly one of the better races of the season so far. Talking of Ducati, what a shame Cal Crutchlow’s career is going to be on hold for at least the next 2 years!!
That’s assuming that Ducati will keep on doing what they’ve been doing with the same equipment. All of the manufacturers in GP racing have had to spend some time in the wilderness of failure but eventually they come back in. Ducti is there now but with their new Audi ownership I don’t see them continuing in MotoGP without eventually being successful at some time in the future and it may be that Cal knows something about that future that we mere mortals don’t. Or he may just be making some good dough and falling down a lot.
re: “Certainly one of the better races of the season so far.”
and who’da thunk this would’ve ever been said in the context of indy…?
I thanked the DVR for last year’s snoozer of an Indy race.
We need another Hurricane to add an element of excitement typically to this race.
So good to see Hayden push back on Dovi and take the lead!! Show them what he’s made of and show Ducati what they’re missing out on next year. I so hope he gets a factory supported ride with LCR Honda. He deserves it.
re: “I so hope he gets a factory supported ride with LCR Honda.”
word on the mean streets (that’d be 16th and Georgetown) is KRSR is actively trying to put together team. nicky’s name is smack dab in the center of it. if (and that’s one big IF) King Kenny can pull it off in time.
I heard that. Surely if KR sr could pull together the resources to fund a MotoGP team, he wouldn’t pin his hopes on putting together a winning program with Hayden. Or does KR sr just want to ” be there and play”?
Those lean angles are obscene.
So,are Dovi & Hayden even now?
Quite a bonehead move by Hayden on the last lap. Other than that … great race.
Not much different than the boneheaded move Marquez put on Lorenzo early in the season, or the move Dovi put on Nicky in Turn 1 at Laguna. The thing that sucked about this one was that they were once again only fighting for eighth place…a very distant eighth place. To have to try that hard for such a lowly position is just a brutal state of affairs for those two.
And unless Lorenzo turns things around back in Europe, I’m beginning to think that we’re already looking at the next five years of MotoGP racing. So far, every indication is that with the coming of Marc Marquez we’re staring at the next Valentino Rossi.
Marquez is only a crash and injury away from Pedrosa and Lorenzo getting back in this thing, so its a little early to be crowning him. Given the injuries those two have suffered its a miracle they’re still within reach. There is no denying Marquez’s skill though. It will be nice to see him push Lorenzo the next few years. There is a lot of great talent on the grid right now. We may be heading back into a golden era of GP racing again, and it’s about time.
It doesn’t have to be a serious drop. I don’t think he’s big enough to lift the bike by himself. If it goes off the wheels he’s out unless the marshals are right there to help him get it up.
Yeah, that is my point. I guess I can understand punting a competitor on the last corner of the last lap if you are fighting for a podium. But to pull a move like this for eighth place makes you look like a squid.
What place in the order is it no longer worthwhile to compete for?
I’d give up body parts to earn a top-10 in a Moto GP.
Dave … Hayden had more to lose by punting a teammate than he had to gain by finishing eighth instead of ninth. I believe he hurt himself a lot more than helped. If I were managing a team I’d have to think twice before hiring someone who would pull such a stunt.
Yeah, in hind sight it looks a little bit overzealous. But we’re talking about racers. Hayden committed to a pass, Dovi left the door a bit open then by the time he brought it shut, well, Hayden was there. At the time, I gotta go with “racing incident”. Show me any top ten rider who hasn’t made a rough-ish pass at some point. Many of them, more times than once. Many of them, running a competitor off the track or putting them on the ground. Under much more contentious circumstances. Ideal move? Probably not. But nothing to freak out over. Hayden knows it didn’t work out, they both lost 8th to Smith. The REALLY sad thing is that is where Ducati is right now. Anyone remember the days when Duc MotoGP machines were gorgeous and fast? There absolutely was a time when more than Casey Stoner could win on one. I hope we get back there soon.
re: “Marquez is only a crash and injury away from Pedrosa and Lorenzo getting back in this thing, so its a little early to be crowning him.”
not according to the official 136 page script coming out of the dorna head office. everything you’re seeing has been pre-written for your viewing pleasure.
Norm, tell us about your conspiracy theory. You’ve been hinting at it for a while. Everything has been pre-written: show us the plot!
not conspiracy… business 101 this. or more specifically, ENTERTAINMENT business 101. rather than showing you the plot, i’ll go ya one better and “show you the money” (cuba gooding voice).
business by definition does not (repeat DOES NOT) leave things to chance. all successful entities whether on main street…? or in the fortune 500…? PROACTIVELY manage variables to maximize the desired outcome (ie. profitability). these manipulations are more commonly referred to as “controls”.
Apple has them, Berkshire Hathaway has them, General Electric has them, Coca-Cola has them, WWE has them, ex-pat turned Hollywood television producer Mark Burnett has them… and so it goes for the mutually common goals of Ezpleta-Dorna and Repsol.
the rookie rule wasn’t WILLFULLY rescinded so the “Marquez Ascension” story line could then unfold… (ahem) naturally. the kid’s being fast-tracked. Repsol’s patiently waited 6 years for Dani to deliver the goods (he hasn’t). so dammit, they WILL have their Catalan champion and at that same time Carmelo WILL have his potential Rossi replacement (remember, Simo got killed). hey look, that’s a “2-fer”…!!! 🙂
desperate times, beget desperate measures… or should i say… desperate times beget CONTROLS. follow the money.
I thought Dovi & Hayden went on a MX track there for a moment. 8^ 0 Nicky was showing he still has the right stuff to compete on any level. Neither of them wanted to lose their position to their teammate. Glad neither of them went down and got hurt fighting 100%.
Nicky showed desperation in the face of having nothing else to offer.
Hi move cost his team a 7 & 8 placing, swopping it for a 8 & 9.
There were lots of hard but fair passes over the weekend, right throughout the classes. hayden should’vebeen docked 10 seconds at least, but there hasn’t been any useful control of riders for so long now. Simoncelli verses Pedrosa was the last one, and Hayden was way out of his depth with Sunday’s move.
Right or wrong, Hayden was not fighting for eighth; he was fighting for his next ride. Whoever does or doesn’t hire him will ultimately be the judge of that move. History says Nick Hayden is not a malicious rider…
Exactly. To Gary’s point, there isn’t a chance in the world that any team manager would think twice about hiring Hayden based on that one incident. The guy is universally well-regarded throughout the paddock, and he’s a dream employee for any team. If anything, I’m guessing that most managers would view yesterday’s incident as further proof of just how hard Nick always fights, even when there’s seemingly nothing worth fighting for.
No one will hold yesterday against him. They may not hire him for any number of other reasons—namely, that they may not think he can win for him, plus he’s becoming a little long in the tooth for a MotoGP racer—but they’re never going to dismiss him for poor decision-making or any lack of competitive spirit.
It was poor decision making. Obvious looking at it, and especially the outcome for the team.
Whether it was or wasn’t a poor decision is irrelevant. At worst, it’s a one-off. Throughout his long career, Hayden has never been known for being dangerously reckless or dirty, nor has he ever been accused of being a poor team player. Yesterday was tantamount to an isolated incident; one which, in light of his otherwise stellar reputation, no team manager would ever hold against him.
The last 2 laps was worth watching the whole race