The 2008 world championship leader overcome local star Nicky Hayden and some appalling weather conditions before the red flags were finally shown with seven of the 28 laps to go, confirming Rossi's seventh victory of the season and fourth in a row.
The race had looked in real danger of being cancelled when the predicted rain and wind from Hurricane Ike hit the circuit shortly after midway, forcing the 125cc race to be stopped and 250cc race to be delayed until after the MotoGP event (it was later cancelled). The MotoGP riders had already warned that a repeat of Friday's flooding on the poorly drained new parts of the Indy road track would make racing impossible.
A window in the storm fortunately appeared, allowing the MotoGP race to start on time, albeit on a soaking wet track.
Rossi dropped from pole to fourth into turn one - behind Casey Stoner, Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso - with rookie Dovizioso wasting no time in passing both Hayden and Stoner to lead by the end of the first lap.
Hayden, chasing his first podium of the season, also quickly demoted future Ducati Marlboro team-mate Casey Stoner, then put his factory RC212V ahead of Dovizioso's satellite-spec machine at the end of the second lap. Nicky, from nearby Kentucky, has done much to promote the Indy event and his return to the front of a MotoGP race was greeted with a cheer by the soaking trackside fans.
Rossi overtook reigning world champion Stoner soon after, with team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and fellow Italian Dovizioso falling victim to the #46 by lap six. Only Hayden remained ahead and Valentino soon arrived on the 2006 world champion's rear wheel.
Hayden's pneumatic-valve Honda proved a potent force along the straights, and Rossi had made the occasional error whilst racing with the #69 - then dropped away slightly when heavy rain returned on lap eleven.
Source:
http://www.crash.net