Indianapolis: Pedrosa Claims His Third Season Victory
Huge victory and little celebration on Sunday’s Indianapolis GP as Spain’s Honda rider Dani Pedrosa claimed his third victory of the year, the same day the youngest rider ever Peter Lenza, 13, died in a crash. For no doubt the Spanish win tour didn’t impress too many because of the bad news. However, Pedrosa came 3.575 seconds ahead of Spies who crossed the finish line second to look shocked about Lenz car accident. Spies said of Colin Edwards that he’s been one of Lenz closest friends, the one who always supported the youngster in what he did.
Indianapolis brought Spies the second place which is also a career best for the rider who also took the lead in the first six laps, but failed in progressing in the same manner until the end. On the other hand, Dani Pedrosa took the final win despite he started fifth in the race. It was an especially tough one because of the heat today. I didn’t make the perfect start but I was quite quick through the first few tight corners and stayed close to the leaders,” the Spaniard said. When I was out in front it was quite hard to stay focussed and at the end of the race I was really tired but I’m very happy because last year I crashed when I could have won and now I have made up for it.” Pedrosa’s compatriot and also friend Lorenzo came on third, who stepped for the 11th time this year on the podium. This claimed that although he’s not that happy with the win, he cannot complain though taking account that he is still fighting for the highest step of the podium. “I shouldn’t be disappointed with third place but at the same time I’m not happy with my race. I didn’t ride as well as I could have and I didn’t get a good start,” Lorenzo said.
Still, Lorenzo leads the championship overall ranking with 251 points, followed by Pedrosa who is second in the standings with 183 points, Italian Andrea Dovizioso with 126 points and Casey Stoner, who slipped third in the table with just 191 points collected this season. “It was a nothing crash but obviously it was enough to leave me out of the race. It is a real shame because we had good pace and I think we could have been on the podium.” Spies, who is fourth in the standings, is followed by former world champion Valentino Rossi. Dani Pedrosa joined the premier class in 2006 after winning the 125cc world championship in 2003 and the 250cc one year later and 2005. Apart from Indianapolis, he has also collected both Italian and German prix this year, while the next GP is scheduled on September 5, in San Marino.
