Death of 13-year-old rider mars Pedrosa's Indy triumph

Dani Pedrosa's victory in MotoGP's Indianapolis Grand Prix was overshadowed by the death of a teenage motorcycle racer in one of the support events.

Dani Pedrosa's victory in MotoGP's Indianapolis Grand Prix was overshadowed by the death of a 13-year-old motorcycle racer in one of the support events at the US track on Sunday. Peter Lenz suffered "traumatic injuries" after falling off his bike during a warm-up lap at the Motor Speedway before being struck by a 12-year-old racer, who was not hurt, ahead of Grand Prix Racers Union event. Lenz was taken off the track on a stretcher and rushed to a nearby hospital where he died three hours later. The coroner's office said he died from blunt force trauma.

"On behalf of the Lenz family, we would like to thank Peter's friends and supporters for all their help throughout the years," the family said in a statement on Sunday. "We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss." He is the first competitor to die at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 2003 when Tony Renna was killed in an IndyCar race and the youngest in the history of the 101-year-old race track.

"Words cannot adequately express the sadness of our company and our employees about this tragic incident," Jeff Belskus, the president and chief executive officer of the Speedway Corp, said. Meanwhile, Pedrosa gave his flagging hopes of winning the MotoGP title a boost with his third win of the season. The Spaniard passed Ben Spies on lap six and never looked back as he held on to triumph, ahead of Spies and Jorge Lorenzo, the championship leader, who maintained his record of finishing in the top three with a distant third place.

Lorenzo's lead over Pedrosa has now been cut to 68 points, and the Spaniard said he was disappointed with his race. "I didn't feel so good with my physical condition. The third lap I was tired and I was not able to make the same pace as in practice," he said. * Agencies