Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa has thanked his team after taking an emphatic win at the Indianapolis Grand Prix on Sunday, expertly piloting his Honda RC212V to victory ahead of home hero Ben Spies and championship leader Jorge Lorenzo.
From fifth on the grid, an on-form Pedrosa was fourth into the first corner and quickly set about dispatching his rivals, starting with Nicky Hayden on lap two and Dovizioso two laps later.
With only Ben Spies now ahead, Pedrosa relentlessly closed down the Texan and passed him at the start of lap eight before easing out a comfortable gap of 5.5s - setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 11 and then controlling the race from the front to come home 3.5s clear at the chequered flag.
It was his third win of the 2010 season and one that closes the gap by nine points to Lorenzo in the World Championship, his countryman’s lead now standing at 68 points with seven races remaining.
“I’m really happy with this win and it was an especially tough one because of the heat today,” said Pedrosa. “I didn’t make the perfect start but I was quite quick through the first few tight corners and stayed close to the leaders.
“My rhythm was good today and even though Spies was strong in front I was able to close him down and make the pass. I’m really pleased with the performance of my bike because it was fast on the straights and also was working well in the corners.
“When I was out in front it was quite hard to stay focused 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.
“There were many crashes this weekend and it would have been easy to make a mistake in the race - you only need to go a little off line and you can be on the ground immediately, especially towards the end of the race when the tyres are worn.
“I’ve gone past the barrier of two MotoGP race wins in a season too so I’m very happy with that. We are doing a good job and I hope we can maintain this momentum next weekend at Misano. I want to thank the team and all the people around me for this win."
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