Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner rode a very fast and blemishless race to take victory at the Indianapolis round of the MotoGP competition. Stoner was on pole for the race but was bogged down at the start and that saw Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa get the hole shot ahead of him. By the end of the first turn Stoner was only in fourth place. Ben Spies on the beautifully liveried Yamaha was starting second on the grid but by the end of the first turn found himself demoted to 9th place. Stoner got past the Yamaha of Jorge Lorenzo and set out to hunt down Dani Pedrosa on the second of the Repsol Hondas. Within a few laps Stoner was able to pass Pedrosa and rode off into the distance. Meanwhile Spies passed all the people in front of him and overhauled Lorenzo towards the end of the race to get on to the podium. Spies had genuine pace and had he had a good start he may well have challenged at least for second place if not the first itself. Nicky Hayden on the Ducati GP11.1 got off to a flyer even as his more illustrious teammate Valentino Rossi on a similarly specced machine was struggling at the back of the field. However, after a few laps Hayden started dropping like a brick and found himself in last place. Prior to that front end problems and front tyre wear saw Loris Capirossi on a Pramac Ducati, Karel Abraham on the Cardion AB Ducati retire from the race. Meanwhile Rossi was making excursions off the racing track and losing places. Hayden too retired when the motorcycle became unrideable and Hector Barbera on the Mappfre Ducati tried valiantly to continue in the race but his front tyre had had enough and he crashed out. That left only Rossi and Randy De Puniet on the Pramac Ducati to finish the race towards the tail end of the field. Marco Simoncelli promised to be in podium position taking pace but his tyres were shot and the San Carlo Gresini Honda rider was demoted to seventh on the grid. It was a good day for Suzuki with Alvaro Bautista finishing sixth on pure merit after having overtaken many riders including Marco Simoncelli. Fifth place went to Andrea Dovizioso on the third Repsol Honda machine while fourth went to Jorge Lorenzo whose hopes of title defence are fading with every race. Now only a disaster of epic proportions can separate Stoner from the World Championship this year.