Tuesday, 31 August 2010 12:53 by Nanni Scaglia

It wasn't exactly a great GP, and, unfortunately, this is nothing new. Dani Pedrosa was simply too good to allow anyone to challenge him for the win. Ben Spies was too determined to score a good result at home to let second place be in doubt. Jorge Lornzo didn't have enough fight in him to make you think he might pull off another of his late charges.  Valentino Rossi was too far from his best form to have him competing for the top spots.  And above all else, the GP of Indianapolis was overshadowed by the death of a young rider, Peter Lenz, who was competing in the Moriwaki Challenge:  everything else took a back seat to that sad news.

THE GOOD - The fascinating atmosphere of the most famous oval track in the world, the “Brickyard”, the thousands of fans on their gaudy Harley Davidsons, and the Indy Mile on Saturday night: only at Indy do you get all of this.

THE BAD - Three different types of asphalt, bumps, random curbing, sewer grates: the facility looks great, but up close it left something to be desired.

THE UGLY - The show, as they say, must go on.  But serving up the champagne on the podium, keeping the riders in the dark about the death of a young racer, was simply shameful.

THE DISAPPOINTMENT - Casey Stoner is not longer able to ride the way he used to and, what's more, he continues to crash: a nightmare season for him.

THE SURPRISE - It was really amazing, in a negative sense, seeing Valentino Rossi crash three times. Twice on Saturday and once during the Sunday warm up, it is proof that something is not right at the moment.

THE CONFIRMATION - Pole, a few laps in the lead, second place, and the best Yamaha finisher.  Ben Spies confirmed that he is truly a top rider.

THE PASS - To get into the lead, Dani Pedrosa had to make three passes (Hayden, Dovizioso and Spies), but none of them were particularly exciting.  And neither were the few others seen during the race.  So we will give the honor to the countless passed made by Andrea Iannone and Simone Corsi during their spectacular comeback rides in Moto2: they made so many that it is difficult to single one out.

THE MISTAKE - Marc Marquez on lap nine of the 125cc race: the Spaniard crashed while enjoying a lead of over two seconds.  Luckily he was able to remount and limit some of the damage.

THE CURIOUSITY - All the MotoGP riders decided to use the soft rear tire, save for the three starting on the second row (Dovizioso, Pedrosa and Stoner). “Bridgestone made them do it”, joke Vitto Guareschi, Ducati team manager.

HE SAID IT - Nicky Hayden (after qualifying): “Indy has always brought me good luck.”

The Ducati riders race was essentially compromised by a fluke problem with his left knee slider.