Spain’s Dani Pedrosa passed pole winner Ben Spies on the eighth lap of the Indianapolis MotoGP and pulled away for his third victory of the season Sunday.

In contrast, Pedrosa, the 2009 pole winner, crashed early in last year’s race and never had a chance.

But this time, he made it look easy and American rider Spies had to settle for second.

Championship points leader Jorge Lorenzo, also of Spain, was third for his worst finish of the season.

Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) worked his way up from fourth on lap one and took the lead by accelerating past Spies on the main straight on lap 8 of 28, then rode to a comfortable 3.575-second victory.

After being overtaken, star rookie Spies held his own in second place for the rest of the race, marking his best ever grand prix finish and second podium of the year, after a third at Silverstone.

Keeping his podium record intact, Lorenzo crossed the line 3.237sec from 2011 team-mate Spies and 5.821sec in front of present Fiat Yamaha colleague Valentino Rossi.

Lorenzo will take a reduced 68-point lead over nearest title rival Pedrosa into next weekend’s Misano round.

World champion Rossi, who had fallen three times this weekend and qualified just seventh, rebuilt his confidence in the race and got stronger as the race went on – rising from sixth at the end of lap one to take fourth place, ahead of Pedrosa’s team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, on lap 21.

The day’s biggest race was overshadowed by news that 13-year-old Peter Lenz, from of Vancouver, Washington, had died after crashing and being run over by another motorcycle in the first race of the day.

Despite being only 13 years old and listing his profession as “kid,” Lenz was already a well-known racer. He had been riding bikes for six years, won nine national championships and nine regional titles, and appeared to be a rising star in a series that bills itself as a prep for riders 12 to 18 who hope to compete at a higher level.

Those races are not typically held in conjunction with MotoGP events.

RESULTS FROM ROUND 11:

1.  Dani Pedrosa  ESP Repsol Honda Team  47m 31.615s

2. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 47m 35.190s

3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 47m 38.427s

4. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 47m 44.248s

5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 47m 53.500s

6. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 48m 6.753s

7. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 48m 8.355s

8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 48m 8.440s

9. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 48m 16.52s

10. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 48m 22.983s

11. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 48m 27.001s

12. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 48m 29.518s

13. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 48m 35.754s

DNF:

Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing

Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team

Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini

2010 MOTOGP RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

1       Jorge Lorenzo      Fiat Yamaha Team 251

2       Dani Pedrosa       Repsol Honda Team 183

3       Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 126

4       Casey Stoner      Ducati Marlboro Team 119

5       Valentino Rossi    Fiat Yamaha Team 114

6       Ben Spies   Monster Yamaha Tech3 110

7       Nicky Hayden      Ducati Marlboro Team 109

8       Randy de Puniet  LCR Honda 78

9       Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 63

10     Marco Melandri    San Carlo Honda Gresini 61

11     Colin Edwards     Monster Yamaha Tech3 57

12     Hector Barbera    Aspar Racing Team 54

13     Loris Capirossi     Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 41

14     Alex Espargaro    Pramac Racing Team 39

15     Alvaro Bautista    Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 33

16     Mika Kallio Pramac Racing Team 31

17     Hiroshi Aoyama   Interwetten Honda MotoGP 22

18     Alex de Angelis    Interwetten Honda 11

19     Roger Lee Hayden        LCR Honda 5

20     Kousuke Akiyoshi Interwetten Honda MotoGP 4

21     Wataru Yoshikawa        Fiat Yamaha Team 1