Valentino Rossi moved to within a point of his sixth MotoGP world title as he won a rain-curtailed Indianpolis MotoGP to notch up his fourth win in a row

With four races left this year, Rossi leads defending champion Casey Stoner by 87 points, after beating Nicky Hayden at the Indianapolis Speedway.

Bad weather meant the first two-wheel championship race at the circuit in 99 years had to be cut eight laps short.

Stoner finished fourth, behind Rossi's Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.

Rossi passed Hayden on lap 14 and opened up a lead of 5.972 seconds before the riders were red-flagged into the pits.

Intially there was some confusion as it seemed there may be a chance the riders would be called out to complete the race, but eventually it was confirmed that the race was over and the result would stand.

606: DEBATE Now Stoner and everyone else must accept that this season belongs to Rossi neeraj0272

The win was Rossi's seventh of the season, and also earned him the record of 69 top-class Grand Prix wins outright, having previously been level on 68 with Giacomo Agostini.

Ross backed the decision to stop the race, saying conditions at Indianapolis were the worst he had experienced in his career.

"The wind was not constant and very strong," he said. "You never knew what was going to happen in the straight.

"Every lap I hoped for the red flag. It was too dangerous."

Hayden, who won the championship in 2006, was delighted to have secured his first podium finish of the season.

"I had nothing to lose," said the Honda rider.

"I just had to go for it. The bike felt pretty good in the wet. I pushed to the max and left nothing on the table."

Indianapolis MotoGP result:

1 V Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 37mins 20.095secs
2 N Hayden (US) Honda 37:26.067
3 J Lorenzo (Spn) Yamaha 37:27.953
4 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 37:48.257
5 A Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 37:48.919
6 B Spies (US) Suzuki 37:49.740
7 S Guintoli (Fra) Ducati 37:56.318
8 D Pedrosa (Spn) Honda 37:57.353
9 C Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki 37:58.537
10 A de Angelis (SM) Honda 38:02.532
11 A West (Aus) Kawasaki 38:07.274
12 T Elias (Spn) Ducati 38:16.057
13 R de Puniet (Fr) Honda 38:17.461
14 J Hopkins (US) Kawasaki 38:18.448
15 C Edwards (US) Yamaha 38:20.708

World championship standings:

1 V Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 287 points
2 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 200
3 D Pedrosa (Spn) Honda 193
4 J Lorenzo (Spn) Yamaha 156
5 A Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 129
6 C Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki 117
7 C Edwards (US) Yamaha 109
8 N Hayden (US) Honda 104
9 S Nakano (Jpn) Honda 87
10 T Elias (Spn) Ducati 86

125cc race result:

1 N Terol (Spn) Aprilia 29mins 51.350secs
2 P Espargaro (Spn) Derbi 29:53.058
3 S Bradl (Ger) Aprilia 29:55.334

4 S Redding (GB) Aprilia 29:55.627
8 B Smith (GB) Aprilia 29:59.132
15 D Webb (GB) Aprilia 30:18.942

125cc championship standings:

1 M Di Meglio (Fra) Derbi 192 pts
2 S Corsi (Ita) Aprilia 167
3 G Talmacsi (Hng) Aprilia 149

The 250cc race was cancelled due to bad weather

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