Valentino Rossi may have had a donkey on his helmet today but it was ‘The Doctor’ riding the bike once again, as the Italian hero bounced back from his Indianapolis mistake with an emphatic home victory at Misano. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finished a strong second, making this the fifth one-two finish for the team this season.
After the boiling heat of the last two days the temperature today was brought right down by a strong wind, which meant track conditions were quite different to how they had been so far. Rossi, starting from pole, dropped to third at the start whilst Lorenzo narrowly escaped a pile up, which claimed three other riders. The Spaniard then got in front of the Italian for a few laps as Dani Pedrosa and Toni Elias battled it out for the lead, but on lap five all changed as Rossi moved into second, passing both his team-mate and Elias, and Lorenzo despatched Elias a few corners later to take third.
Rossi was flying by now and took the lead next time around, gradually opening out a gap as Lorenzo struggled to get by Pedrosa. It took the gutsy 22-year-old six laps to overtake his compatriot and by the time he was through Rossi was two seconds clear and Lorenzo had to settle for second and his tenth podium of the season. Rossi, who lives just 10 km from the track, eventually crossed the line 2.416 seconds ahead, taking his eleventh career win on Italian soil and his sixth of the season to a rapturous welcome from his passionate fans.
The gap from Rossi to Lorenzo is now 30 points, whilst Yamaha lead both the Teams and Manufacturers standings by large margins. There is now a four-week break to the next round, at Estoril in Portugal, with four races remaining in total.
Valentino Rossi Speaks… Position: 1st Time: 44’32.882
"This is a great feeling! It’s taken me some time to get used to Misano and view it as a ‘home’ race because Mugello is so special to me, but I can honestly say that winning here today, in front of everyone dressed in yellow and with 46s everywhere, is a great emotion and I want to thank everyone for making it so special. Today I had to go quite carefully with the full tank at the start and I took some time to get to the front but once I was there it was great and my bike felt fantastic. We didn’t expect to be this competitive here but it’s been a perfect weekend, so I have to say a huge thank you to the team for a brilliant job. Since Indianapolis, when I made that mistake, we have been so focused and concentrated and everyone deserves this result. I was the ‘flying donkey’ today! I am happy that we are going into a month without racing with these memories and this points lead, but as we saw in Indy everything can change quickly so we will be fully focused once again in Estoril when we come back."
Jorge Lorenzo Speaks… Position: 2nd Time: +2.416
"I did what I had to do today and took as many points as I could, which is the most important thing when you’re not perfect. Unfortunately we struggled a bit all weekend to find the right setting and so I thought it was better to take care and ensure the second place today. I took some time to get past Dani and Toni and then it was too far to Valentino. After I was nearly brought down on the second corner I wanted to make sure I got the points in order to keep the championship alive. We have some work to do but we will make sure we’re back to our best in Estoril, where I have great memories from last year and my first win."
Davide Brivio Speaks…
"I think it’s been a perfect weekend! We came here after Indy feeling very motivated to make sure we got a good result and we’ve done just that. We led in almost all the sessions, took the pole and won the race. The team and the engineers worked in a fantastic way because the bike, since Friday afternoon, worked well and we only had to fine-tune it to get the perfect setting for today. We have to continue in this way for the last four rounds, with the same system, and we’re looking forward to the next one. We’ve increased the gap and decreased the number of races so this is the right way forward for us! Congratulations to all the team and thank you for such a good reaction to last weekend, this is a great reward."
Daniele Romagnoli Speaks…
"Overall we’re satisfied with today’s result, although of course our aim is to win races and try to keep the tension on this fantastic championship to the end. This weekend we encountered a few more difficulties with the setting but today we were in better shape for the race than we were in all the practice sessions so this is positive. The championship is difficult but we will fight to the end and keep trying to improve at every race."
Race Results
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team
44’32.882
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team
+ 2.416
3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda
+ 12.400
4. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda
+ 26.330
5. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
+ 26.539
6. Toni Elias (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini
+ 28.
7. Mika Kallio (FIN) Ducati Marlboro Team
+ 30.184
8. Marco Melandri (ITA) Hayate Racing Team
+ 31.757
9. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
+ 31.909
10. James Toseland (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3
+ 38.347
11. Alex Espagaro (SPA) Pramac Racing
+ 46.673
12. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP
+ 52.041
13. Niccolo Canepa (ITA) Pramac Racing
+ 1’03.198
14. Gabor Talmacsi (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP
+ 1’22.347
NOT CLASSIFIED
Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini
28 Lap
Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3
28 Lap
Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team
28 Lap
MotoGP Championship Standings
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team
237
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team
207
3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda
157
4. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team
150
5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda
133
6. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3
123
7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
97
8. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini
88
9. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP
88
10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Hayate Racing Team
87
11. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
84
12. Toni Elias (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini
80
13. James Toseland (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3
78
14. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team
73
15. Mika Kallio (FIN) Ducati Marlboro Team
51
16. Niccolo Canepa (ITA) Pramac Racing
35
17. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Grupo Francisco Hernando
12
18. Gabor Talmacsi (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP
12
19. Yuki Takahashi (JPN) Scot Racing Team
9
20. Alex Espagaro (SPA) Pramac Racing
8
Misano: Record Lap
V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2008, 1’34.904
Misano: Best Lap
C.Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1’33.378
