Rossi leads Italian top four at home Grand Prix

Rossi leads Italian top four at home Grand Prix

Valentino Rossi extended his lead at the top of the MotoGP World Championship standings to 49 points after a dramatic home victory ahead of a trio of compatriots at the Gran Premio Alice d’Italia on Sunday. As Sete Gibernau sensationally crashed out of the race on the sixth lap to the delight of the 88367 crowd, Rossi came under intense pressure from Max Biaggi, Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi. All three took turns leading the race before a typical late charge from Rossi that saw him take the flag by 0.359 seconds from Biaggi, with Capirossi holding off an attack from Melandri in the final corner to clinch Ducati’s first podium of the season in third place.

“That was an incredible race and the best possible finish for the crowd, with four Italian riders in the top four positions,” said Rossi. “It was a great battle – full of passes and full of attacks. In the beginning I tried to go alone but I had some problems with the front tyre and decided just to concentrate on my rhythm. Then Melandri arrived and we had a great fight, also with Biaggi after that. We set a high pace to the finish, I made my attack with three laps to go and it worked so of course I am very happy.”

Fourth place for Melandri maintains second place in the championship for the youngster whilst Biaggi now moves up to third ahead of Gibernau with twelve rounds still remaining – the first of those coming in just a week’s time at the Spaniard’s home circuit of Catalunya. Carlos Checa completed an enjoyable home round for Ducati as he clinched fifth place after a race-long battle with Honda’s Nicky Hayden, whilst Alex Barros fought his way from the 13th on the grid to take seventh at the flag.

Makoto Tamada returned from injury in style with an impressive eighth place ahead of Colin Edwards just seven weeks after breaking his wrist in Portugal, whilst Shinya Nakano banished the memories of his 300km/h crash here one year ago to clinch the final top ten position. Alex Hofmann also made an encouraging return from his wrist injury to take twelfth behind John Hopkins, with Troy Bayliss, Ruben Xaus and Kenny Roberts completing the points.

Race Result

1 V Rossi Gauloises Yamaha Team 42m42.994s
2 M Biaggi Repsol Honda + 0.35
3 L Capirossi Ducati Marlboro Team + 3.87
4 M Melandri Movistar Honda MotoGP + 3.97
5 C Checa Ducati Marlboro Team + 7.89
6 N Hayden Repsol Honda + 8.20
7 A Barros Camel Honda + 11.57
8 M Tamada Konica Minolta Team + 25.39
9 C Edwards Gauloises Yamaha Team + 25.48
10 S Nakano Kawasaki Racing Team + 36.54
11 J Hopkins Team Suzuki MotoGP + 41.63
12 A Hofmann Kawasaki Racing Team + 43.65
13 T Bayliss Camel Honda + 43.91
14 R Xaus Fortuna Yamaha Team + 51.57
15 K Roberts Team Suzuki MotoGP + 1m10
16 S Byrne Team Roberts + 1m 12
17 R Rolfo Team D’Antin Pramac + 1m 13
18 F Battaini Blata WCM + 1 lap
19 D Checa Fortuna Yamaha Team + 1 lap

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

1 V Rossi Gauloises Yamaha Team 120
2 M Melandri Movistar Honda MotoGP 71
3 M Biaggi Repsol Honda 67
4 S Gibernau Movistar Honda MotoGP 53
5 A Barros Camel Honda 52
6 C Edwards Gauloises Yamaha Team 48
7 L Capirossi Ducati Marlboro Team 39
8 N Hayden Repsol Honda 36
9 S Nakano Kawasaki Racing Team 33
10 C Checa Ducati Marlboro Team 28
11 O Jacque Kawasaki Racing Team 25
12 T Bayliss Camel Honda 24
13 R Xaus Fortuna Yamaha Team 18
14 J Hopkins Team Suzuki MotoGP 16
15 M Tamada Konica Minolta Team 16
16 T Elias Fortuna Yamaha Team 15
17 J vd G’bergh Konica Minolta Team 12
18 A Hofmann Kawasaki Racing Team 9

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