Reverend
September 7th, 2009, 21:56 PM
Valentino Rossi produced a dominant home victory at the San Marino MotoGP to extend his title lead to 30 points.
The Yamaha rider saw Dani Pedrosa get off to a flying start and take the early lead, but Rossi bided his time before making his move on lap eight.
Spain's Jorge Lorenzo, Rossi's nearest challenger in the championship, also passed Pedrosa but was unable to mount a serious challenge to his team-mate.
Rossi gradually extended his lead to win by 2.416 seconds from Lorenzo. Honda rider Pedrosa took third place.
Lorenzo narrowly escaped a crash on the first lap when Alex de Angelis attempted a move that ended both Colin Edwards' and Nicky Hayden's race.
The Spaniard was made to pay for being unable to pass his compatriot Pedrosa in the middle stage of the race.
Afterwards he told BBC Sport: "After my bad start on the second corner, when I almost clashed with De Angelis, I pushed as much as I could.
"I overtook Dani but he [Rossi] was too far forward, but he's the number one this weekend because he's been the fastest in every practice."
After crashing out in the last race in Indianapolis, Rossi secured his sixth victory of the season. With four races to go, Rossi believes the win could be a crucial one as he looks to win a ninth world title.
He said: "It was not easy, in the beginning I had a bad start but I was able to come back on to the pace and it was a perfect race. The people were very amazing - there was a lot of people and it was an important victory."
San Marino MotoGP result:
1. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha
3. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda
4. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Honda
5. Loris Capirossi (Ita) Suzuki
6. Toni Elias (Spa) Honda
7. Mika Kallio (Fin) Ducati
8. Marco Melandri (Ita) Kawasaki
Championship standings:
1. V Rossi 237 pts
2. J Lorenzo 207
3. D Pedrosa 157
4. C Stoner 150
5. A Dovizioso 133
6. C Edwards 123
7. L Capirossi 97
8. A de Angelis 88
BBC Sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/8240524.stm)
The Yamaha rider saw Dani Pedrosa get off to a flying start and take the early lead, but Rossi bided his time before making his move on lap eight.
Spain's Jorge Lorenzo, Rossi's nearest challenger in the championship, also passed Pedrosa but was unable to mount a serious challenge to his team-mate.
Rossi gradually extended his lead to win by 2.416 seconds from Lorenzo. Honda rider Pedrosa took third place.
Lorenzo narrowly escaped a crash on the first lap when Alex de Angelis attempted a move that ended both Colin Edwards' and Nicky Hayden's race.
The Spaniard was made to pay for being unable to pass his compatriot Pedrosa in the middle stage of the race.
Afterwards he told BBC Sport: "After my bad start on the second corner, when I almost clashed with De Angelis, I pushed as much as I could.
"I overtook Dani but he [Rossi] was too far forward, but he's the number one this weekend because he's been the fastest in every practice."
After crashing out in the last race in Indianapolis, Rossi secured his sixth victory of the season. With four races to go, Rossi believes the win could be a crucial one as he looks to win a ninth world title.
He said: "It was not easy, in the beginning I had a bad start but I was able to come back on to the pace and it was a perfect race. The people were very amazing - there was a lot of people and it was an important victory."
San Marino MotoGP result:
1. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha
3. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda
4. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Honda
5. Loris Capirossi (Ita) Suzuki
6. Toni Elias (Spa) Honda
7. Mika Kallio (Fin) Ducati
8. Marco Melandri (Ita) Kawasaki
Championship standings:
1. V Rossi 237 pts
2. J Lorenzo 207
3. D Pedrosa 157
4. C Stoner 150
5. A Dovizioso 133
6. C Edwards 123
7. L Capirossi 97
8. A de Angelis 88
BBC Sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/8240524.stm)