Hard as nails? Harder than that...
After a series of hideous crashes during practice, the Indianapolis MotoGP grid was more like a scene from Dawn of the Dead as Casey Stoner and Ben Spies limped and lurched to their bikes. He may be retiring next year, but despite a partially broken leg and injured ankle the Aussie hard man downed a few pain killers and got on with the job in hand - that's dedication and a big up yours to anyone who says he is lacking motivation. Poor old Nicky Hayden also fell foul of the dodgy track surface, ending up with a broken hand and concussion - a crap way to miss your home GP.
Dani Pedrosa took the spoils for Honda
Luckily for the American crowd there was one home rider on form - jobless Ben Spies. Chased by Pedrosa, Spies took the lead and managed to boss Dani around for a few laps until the Spaniard slipped past and made good his escape. Then Spies' bad luck struck again as his Yamaha shat itself in spectacular fashion.
With Pedrosa as a target and Stoner down the order, championship leader Jorge Lorenzo smelt blood (and points) and got his head down. Challenging for third, Cal Crutchlow's race ended in a gentle lowside. A somewhat dull race ensued with a bit of entertainment down the order and the battle between Dovizioso and bashed-up Stoner was pretty good, but that was about it - Dani first, Lorenzo second and Dovi third.
Bradl leads Stoner en route to 6th
The Moto2 race wasn't its usual fierce self. How impressive were they through that left hander, though (especially Marquez in practice)? Do the riders not care about the bike moving around at 120mph-plus speeds? A Marquez check-out looked on the cards but he was kept honest for a few entertaining laps before disappearing into the distance. Behind the battle for the remaining podium spots was a straight fight between Pol Espargaro and Julian Simon, which Pol won. Not exactly a classic race, but Scott Redding's sixth place was a good result. Bradley Smith finished 18th with Gino Rea 20th.
Moto3 and lone Brit Danny Kent continues to impress, a second place in qualifying saw him lead the field for the first lap until he ran wide and dropped well down the order to 10th and out of the nine-bike front group. A bit of mid-race elbow bashing allowed Vinales to escape in a group of three riders which resulted in a heated last lap battle that saw Salom win, Cortese second and Vinales' race end in the gravel with Folger happily taking third! Kent finished 12th.
More from the MotoGP 2012 season so far:
Losail Circuit, Qatar
Jerez, Spain
Estoril, Portugal
Le Mans, France
Circuit de Catalunya, Catalunya
Assen, Netherlands
Mugello, Italy
