It was a day when the tail-end of Hurricane Ike and the wind of change blew through the MotoGP World Championship. Valentino Rossi sealed another victory in the first Indianapolis Grand Prix to surpass Giacomo Agostini’s record for wins in the elite class and effectively beat Casey Stoner into submission in the title race.

It has been a remarkable renaissance for Rossi, who has not won the title since 2005, and last night he proved he is a man for all seasons. In atrocious conditions the race was stopped with seven laps to go and the result taken from the positions on the last completed circuit. Nobody argued.

Even Stoner, the world champion, who mathematically can still catch Rossi, said: “The wind made it unrideable. You were getting blown three metres off line and it was dangerous. I wasn’t happy with the race, but I’d rather go home in one piece. It was ridiculous. The last six laps were very hairy.”

Stoner finished in fourth place behind Rossi, Nicky Hayden and Jorge Lorenzo, and he now trails the Italian by 87 points with four races, and 100 points, left to fight for. The chances are that Rossi will seal a sixth elite title in Japan in a fortnight’s time. “These were the worst conditions of my career,” the Italian said. “Bags and beer cans were being blown on the track and you never knew what was happening. Every lap I was hoping for the red flag.”

It was also a day of firsts in America. Dani Pedrosa’s extraordinary mid-season hissy fit meant that he was riding on Bridgestone tyres after giving Honda a thinly veiled ultimatum. It did not do him much good and, as if to rub his nose in his petulance, Hayden rolled back the years on the other Repsol Honda. Despite his Michelin tyres, which Pedrosa had lambasted, Hayden led the race in front of his home crowd and threatened to embarrass his Honda team.

A popular figure on the MotoGP circuit, Hayden is on the verge of a move to Ducati that will end a troubled relationship with Honda. Although he was the world champion with Honda in 2006, Hayden rightly feels he has been treated shabbily by a factory pinning its faith on Pedrosa.

Yet in dangerous conditions that saw several hospitality units blown over, Hayden led the race and finished second to Rossi. For a man able to walk only on crutches because of an ankle injury, it was the most satisfying of V-signs. Pedrosa was a distant eighth.

“It has not been an easy road, but that how it goes,” Hayden said. He had fended off Rossi manfully, but the Italian exhibited all his trademark skill and courage to overhaul him and avoid falling when his Yamaha wobbled treacherously through a puddle on the famous circuit.

Britain’s James Toseland made a disastrous tyre choice and went backwards to eighteenth, but Scott Redding was fourth in a rain-shortened 125cc race won by Nico Terol, of Spain. It was another example of Redding’s talent after he signalled his arrival on the world scene by becoming the first Briton to win a 125cc race for 37 years at Donington Park in June.

Results from Indianapolis

MotoGP (20 laps): 1, V Rossi (It, Yamaha) 37min 20.095sec; 2, N Hayden (US, Honda) at 5.972sec behind; 3, J Lorenzo (Sp, Yamaha) 7.858; 4, C Stoner (Aus, Ducati) 28.162; 5, A Dovizioso (It, Honda) 28.824; 18, J Toseland (GB, Yamaha) 1min 7.968sec. 250cc (race cancelled because of rain). 125cc (16 laps): 1, N Terol (Sp, Aprilia) 29min 51.350sec; 2, P Espargaro (Sp, Derbi) at 1.708; 3, S Bradl (Ger, Aprilia) 3.984; 4, S Redding (GB, Aprilia) 4.277; 8, B Smith (GB, Honda) 7.782; 15, D Webb (GB, Honda) 27.592. Leading championship positions: MotoGP: 1, Rossi 287pts; 2, Stoner 200; 3, D Pedrosa (Sp, Honda) 193; 4, Lorenzo 156; 5, Dovizioso 129. 125cc: 1, M di Meglio (Fr, Derbi) 192; 2, S Corsi (It, Aprilia) 167; 3, G Talmacsi (Hun, Aprilia) 149; 7, Smith 117; 10, Redding 83; 18, Webb 29.

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