It took place on the weekend of September 12–14, 2008 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – the first time the circuit has hosted a major motorcycle racing event since its first year of operation in 1909.

Unlike the Laguna Seca round, the meeting features the supporting 125cc and 250cc classes, marking their first visit to North America since 1994.

It has been reversed to a counterclockwise layout, with a new Snake Pit complex just after the start-finish line, meaning that the bikes do not use any of the banked oval corners.

Valentino Rossi grabbed his second and finale pole of the season on Saturday with a time of 1:40.776.

Third is Rossi's rookie Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo with 1:41.177, +0.317 seconds slower.

The second row of the grid consists out of home heroes Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies in fourth and fifth, and surprise qualifier Randy de Puniet in sixth place.

All riders take off and do their usual warm-up lap before lining up in their respective grid slots.

Rookie Andrea Dovizioso manages to pass a lot of people around the outside from his grid slot to get himself up into third place.

At Turn 6, Hayden goes a bit wide and Dovizioso dives down his inside to snatch second from him.

He then tries to open a gap as Lorenzo overtakes Pedrosa via his inside at the entrance of Turn 10 for fifth spot.

At Turn 6, Spies fancies a look at Pedrosa via the outside, the Spaniard denying him entry.

As Hayden crosses the line to start lap six, Rossi closes up a lot to Dovizioso and thinks about making a move entering Turn 1 but stays behind for the time being.

At Turn 2, Rossi tries a very late lunge to overtake Dovizioso but runs wide, allowing the JiR Team Scot Honda rider to retake the position upon entry.

Lap ten and the top six is as follows: Hayden, Rossi, Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Stoner and Spies.

At Turn 7, Dovizioso uses the sudden increase in wind and rain to get closer to a struggling Stoner and go up his inside to take fourth place.

Rossi has a big moment as he gets on the white line and loses all grip in his rear tyre exiting Turn 9.

At the straight before Turn 10, the strong wind is starting to blow debris onto the track, making it now more dangerous for all riders.

Stoner meanwhile has shaken off the threat of Spies and is now back on Dovizioso's tail, trying to find a way past.

At Turn 10, Stoner makes a brave move by diving down the inside of Dovizioso to take back fourth position from him.

The circuit is now extremely wet and the wind has picked up as well, making the conditions dangerous to race in.

All the riders cruise back to the pits and both Rossi and Lorenzo wave at them as they exit Turn 16, them cheering in return.

As Rossi arrives, he steps off his bike and hugs his crew, believing that the race will not be started again due to the dangerous conditions.

After a long wait, it is then confirmed that the race will not be restarted and that Rossi has won it, sending the Fiat Yamaha and Repsol Honda pit box into festivities upon hearing the news.

After the solidication of the standings, Rossi still talks to Italian television as the others prepare themselves for the upcoming podium ceremony.

The Italian national anthem plays for Rossi and as it stops, the podium girls hand everyone the champagne.