With yet another win this season, Casey Stoner is beginning to run away with the championship
A dominant display by Casey Stoner saw him lead the Red Bull United States Grand Prix from start to finish. With his sixth win of the season, the 21 year old Australian has now extended his lead at the championship to 44 points with seven races remaining.
So impressive was the ride by Stoner that it was as if the Ducati rider was racing by himself as he crossed the finish line just under ten seconds from second place man Cris Vermulen riding the Suzuki. Rounding up the podium was Italian Marco Melandri who also had an impressive race to take third place despite starting from tenth on the grid.
Valentino Rossi will be disappointed with fourth place as he was only able to make up 1 spot from his original starting position in fifth. The result has compromised the Italian's chances to challenge for the title. Apparently, the Fiat Yamaha team seemed to have struggled with the set-up for this race as Rossi finished five seconds behind third place rider Melandri and 30 seconds behind race winner and championship rival Casey Stoner. Rossi's teammate Colin Edwards, a veteran of the Laguna Seca track in his days competing in Superbikes, also struggled finishing the race in 11th place as the American dropped in pace throughout much of the second half of the race.
Dani Pedrosa finished fifth five seconds behind Rossi. The Spaniard was unable to duplicate his spectacular performance in Germany. The Kawasaki riders Randy de Puniet and Anthony West finished sixth and seventh respectively while Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3's Makoto Tamada finished his best result for the season by finishing in eighth. Alex Barros crossed the finish line ninth and Roger Lee Hayden rounded up the top ten by surprisingly being the highest placed American for the event.
The race favorite Nicky Hayden failed to finish when he and John Hopkins collided in the first lap. Reigning champion Hayden was thus unable to accomplish a hat-trick of victories in the famous American circuit as he rejoined behind the field before retiring with just ten laps to go. John Hopkins on the other hand finished 15th in the race.
It is apparent that Casey Stoner is slowly turning the Championship battle into a blow out. The Australian rider is currently the most consistent as well as the winningest driver this season. Not to mention the fact that his Ducati team along with Bridgestone also supply a consistently competitive race package. Multiple World Champion Rossi will not give up the fight. However, the Italian indeed has a tough mountain to climb if he wants to mount any significant challenge. With just seven races remaining, the odds are against the seven times champion.
With the summer break just beginning, there will be plenty of time for everyone to prepare for the last segment of the season. Whether Stoner will continue his impressive run or whether Rossi can make a comeback remains to be seen. For now, it is clear that a new star has definitely been revealed.
