Rossi now holds a 75-point lead in the championship
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VALENTINO ROSSI went one step closer to winning this year's MotoGP world championship today, by taking victory in the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano, Italy.
The Italian triumphed on home soil after arch rival and race leader Casey Stoner threw away his championship hopes in the early stages of the race, when he crashed out exiting the hairpin onto the back straight. The Australian had a comfortable 3 second lead over Rossi but, once again, succumbed to relentless pressure from the Italian. Rossi said after the race:
“Today is a truly fantastic day and I can’t believe that I have matched Agostini’s record! He was one of my heroes so it’s quite incredible to have made it to 68 wins. This was quite a difficult weekend for us from the start and there has been the added pressure of a home race, which makes it harder to concentrate because there is so much distraction! Mugello has always been ‘my’ track, even though it’s further away from Tavullia, but here, after the bad time last year, we haven’t found it so easy. Once again today however my team gave me a very competitive bike and I felt very confident. I got a good start but then Dani came past me very fast and I then lost a lot of time getting past him and had to take some big risks – I had a big slide! Once I was past him I could see Casey, alt! hough I have to admit that today I wasn’t as confident as I was in Brno that I could win. Anyway I kept pushing because it’s not in my nature to ride for second place and I think it still could have been a battle; I was very fast once I found my rhythm. Then I saw Casey slide out. I’m sorry for him once again but this is very good for our championship so I am happy for our team. We have 75 points, which is a lot, but there are still five races and I will ride to win at every one, as I always have done throughout my career. Thanks to my fantastic Yamaha team, to Bridgestone and of course congratulations to Jorge as well, he kept pushing me today and I wasn’t able to relax even for one minute! It is a great day for us all.”
Second placed went to Rossi's team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who has had welcome return to form this weekend. The last spot on the podium was clinched by Toni Elias riding a Ducati. The result is Elias' second consecutive podium position.
Britain's James Toseland put up a spirited performance to clinch sixth spot on the podium. Toseland said:
“I got a decent start off the line and held my grid position in ninth, so I wasn’t too disappointed and got into the groove quite quickly. I was battling with Dovizioso and Nakano for the first half of the race. I passed Shinya and then started chasing Dovizioso but just as I caught him I started having some troubles. But he was too and I managed to pass him and make it stick. Then Chris Vermeulen came past and pulled away which was a bit frustrating because I was hoping for fifth to get my best result. Coming from where I’d been in the last few races and to produce a ride like that was brilliant. That is what I’m here for and I really enjoyed it. I was about ten feet wide on those last few laps and probably the widest Yamaha in history. I knew Loris and Dovizioso were behind me in those last few laps and they wanted my place in front of their home fans. Loris passed me on the penultimate lap but I’d blocked the line so he had to go really deep and he just went slightly wide and he left half a door open and I moved back through. I didn’t touch him so it was all fair and square. On the last lap I blocked into the last two corners and I knew I’d got sixth with it being a short drag to the line so it was a great feeling. Michelin has had a lot of stick recently but they have knuckled down and so have I. We have kept working hard and today we showed what we can achieve together with Tech 3 and Yamaha.”
Misano MotoGP Results
1.Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 44'41.884
2.Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 3.163
3.Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team + 11.705
4.Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda + 17.470
5.Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki + 23.409
6.James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha + 26.208
7.Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 26.824
8.Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 27.591
9.Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro + 33.169
10.Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha + 36.529
11.Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team + 42.081
12.Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 43.808
13.Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing + 54.874
14.John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing + 55.154
DNF
Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 21 Lap
Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 27 Lap
Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 28 Lap
2008 MotoGP Championship Standings
1.Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 262
2.Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 187
3.Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 185
4.Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 140
5.Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 118
6.Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 110
7.Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 108
8.Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 87
9.Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 86
10.James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 85
11.Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 84
12.Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 82
13.Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 49
14.Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 48
15.Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 47
16.Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 40
17.John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 39
18.Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 36
19.Ben Spies (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 10
20.Jamie Hacking (USA) Kawasaki Racing Team 5
21.Tadyuki Okada (JPN) Repsol Honda Team 2
