Oakley Sports

The battle for the 2009 World Championship was blown wide open on Sunday at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix as Jorge Lorenzo scored a great win and his colleague Valentino Rossi suffered his first DNF of the year.Lorenzo eventually crossed the line with a 9.5s winning margin to cut Rossi’s championship lead in half, as the deficit dropped from 50 to 25 points, with five races remaining.

Andrea Dovizioso closed the MotoGP stay at Donington Park with his first ever premier class victory. The Oakley rider made sense of the madness that ensued with steady rainfall to earn 25 points and the honour of being the last premier class winner at the Midlands circuit. The race was one of the most unpredictable of recent years, with twists and turns every step of the way. Besides the maiden triumph there were falls for the top two in the World Championship, Rossi and Lorenzo a disastrous pre-race decision from title contender Stoner and riders holding on instead of coming in for a bike change. Dovizioso had been in the chasing group on the opening laps, but was thrust up to the front courtesy of his superior pace and mistakes from his rivals. After battling with World Championship leader Valentino Rossi at the head of the field, the young Italian found himself alone out in front as the more experienced Rossi fell at the Fogarty Esses with eleven laps remaining. Also benefitting from consistency was Randy de Puniet, top three result was his first podium of the 2009 season.

Both Valentino Rossi and Oakley’s Lorenzo eked out an advantage to make it a two-way battle to the checkered flag, with a last lap battle reminiscent of the Barcelona round of the series one month ago. Early leader Casey Stoner’s condition lasted longer than he had expected in the dry race, and he was able to mount a serious challenge for the win. With five laps to go, however, he was passed by Pedrosa going into the first turn, and one lap later a sit-up meant that he lost touch of the Spaniard. Toni Elías had a successful salvage operation placing sixth, he was particularly impressive, having started from last place. The only retirees from the race were Oakley’s Randy de Puniet who crashed on the opening lap and Andrea Dovizioso. Andrea fell victim to excessive front tire wear and was forced to call it a day before the end of the Grand Prix.