Rossi Extends Mugello Win Streak and World Championship Lead
Amidst blazing sunshine and starting from pole position at a track where he had been untouchable for the past six years, Valentino Rossi claimed a third consecutive victory of the season in the Gran Premio d´Italia Alice.
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 Amidst blazing sunshine and starting from pole position at a track where he had been untouchable for the past six years, Valentino Rossi claimed a third consecutive victory of the season in the Gran Premio d´Italia Alice. The script had been written, but it was still up to the Fiat Yamaha rider to perform when the lights went out. Taking the lead from 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner on the fourth lap, Rossi then set about creating a gap between himself and the chasing pack. He did so with a series of increasingly faster times, and eventually crossed the line with a comfortable advantage for Mugello premier class victory number seven. His rivals must now wait another year to attempt to dethrone the `King of Mugello´. The supporting cast to the Rossi show was headed by Ducati Marlboro rider Stoner, on the podium at Mugello for only the second time in his Grand Prix career. The result helps Stoner make up ground in the MotoGP standings, in which he maintains fourth place but narrows the gap between himself and Jorge Lorenzo. Second in the World Championship, Dani Pedrosa completed the podium places, having got off to a fantastic start courtesy of his Repsol Honda RC212V. The Spaniard will next week be chasing victory on home soil in Catalunya. A best result of 2008 for Alex de Angelis was another reason for Italian fans –who had seen home victories in all three classes- to be cheerful, with the San Carlo Honda Gresini man taking fourth place. The San Marino-born rider was riding what was effectively his local race, and had shown his cards early with the fastest time in the morning warmup. The Tech 3 Yamaha duo of Colin Edwards and James Toseland were fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of Rizla Suzuki´s front row starter Loris Capirossi and Italian JiR Team Scot rookie Andrea Dovizioso. Before the halfway point there were a number of riders withdrawing from the action. First out were Marco Melandri and Randy de Puniet, both sliding off track whilst battling amongst themselves. They were followed by Kawasaki rider John Hopkins and, in a blow to his world title chances, second Fiat Yamaha rider Lorenzo. A lowside by the Spaniard left him with a DNF mark by his name for the first time in his MotoGP career. Valentino Rossi – Race Winner "It's a great feeling, like always. A lot of my family and close friends have come to see me. I tried to push hard and my Yamaha and Brigestone worked very well, right to the end. During part of the race I was faster than Stoner, but he came back and made me work hard. It´s wonderful to be on the podium with two very strong riders." 250cc Marco Simoncelli provided the home fans with their second Italian victory of the day in the 250cc class, his first in the quarter litre category. Involved in a two-way fight with Hector Barbera for the duration of the race, a home straight crash by the Spaniard left the last lap decidedly more comfortable for the Metis Gilera rider. Simoncelli and Barbera had exchanged harsh words and almost come to blows at last year´s visit to Mugello, but they left their latest clash until the start of the final lap. Trailing the eventual race winner, Barbera clipped his rival´s bike and was thrown off his own in a 100th Grand Prix heartbreak for the Team Toth rider. The fall elevated Lotus Aprilia´s Alex Debon to second place, with the Le Mans racewinner himself involved in a duel with Thomas Luthi over the course of the 21 lap showdown. Missing out on second place, Luthi contented himself with a first podium in the 250cc class, from eighth on the grid. Crashes from the likes of early leader Alvaro Bautista and front pack runners Hector Faubel, Lukas Pesek, Manuel Poggiali and Yuki Takahashi gave a welcome boost to World Championship leader Mika Kallio. The Red Bull KTM rider had a second consecutive race off the podium at a difficult track for his Austrian machinery, but still holds the advantage in the quarter litre class courtesy of fourth place. Polaris World´s Mattia Pasini and second Metis Gilera man Roberto Locatelli added to the home presence in the top six. Cardion AB´s Czech rider Karel Abraham took a best dry result of seventh place, whilst Hiroshi Aoyama ran wide on the final lap battling with teammate Kallio and dropped down the order. Aleix Espargaro and Ratthapark Wilairot completed the first ten past the chequered flag. 125cc A home race win and the lead of the 125cc World Championship was just reward for Simone Corsi, coming out on top in a sprint to the line. The Jack&Jones WRB Italian star made a phenomenal move at the start of the twentieth and final lap and held on for his third win of the 2008 season. As the riders had expected, the race was almost as tightly packed as the Mugello grandstands, with nobody able to break away even by the midway stage. Battles for the lead took place at every corner for the duration of the race, leaving a last lap sprint between the lower cylinder class stars to decide the final placings. Never one to shy away from a risky manoeuvre, Corsi took a gamble to pass four of his lower cylinder class rivals, and on this occasion fortune favoured the brave. Unable to break away after taking the holeshot, World Champion Gabor Talmacsi also left it late, the Bancaja Aspar rider pick-pocketing Pol Espargaro by little more than a wheel´s length as the podium places were decided. Belson Derbi rider Espargaro took his second rostrum of the season, the youngster supervised by his older rivals in taking a deserved swig of the Cava after an exhausting effort. Conceding the lead in the standings by virtue of race wins, Mike di Meglio was off the podium for the first time in three races in fourth place, whilst fifth went to a rider favoured to win heading into the final lap. Polaris World rider Bradley Smith held the lead as the riders prepared for the ultimate time around the track, but the injured Briton conceded the place and a spot on the podium. Sergio Gadea, Nico Terol, Sandro Cortese, Joan Olive and Stefan Bradl completed the top ten, separated by less than 5.5 seconds from Corsi. MotoGP - Mugello - Race Result Pos - Rider - Team - Time 1 - Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 42.31.153 2 - Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro Team - 42.33.354 3 - Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 42.36.620 4 - Alex De Angelis - Honda San Carlo - 42.37.466 5 - Colin Edwards - Yamaha Tech3 - 42.43.683 6 - James Toseland - Yamaha Tech3 - 42.44.959 7 - Loris Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 42.45.600 8 - Andrea Dovizioso - JIR Honda Scot - 42.46.472 9 - Shinya Nakano - Honda San Carlo - 42.46.480 10 - Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 43.01.938 11 - Sylvain Guintoli  - Alice Ducati - 43.10.774 12 - Toni Elias - Alice Ducati - 43.21.174 13 - Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - 43.21.593 14 - Tadayuki Okada - Repsol Honda - 43.30.002 15 - Anthony West - Team Kawasaki - 43.31.889 Not Classified - Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha - Randy De Puniet - Honda LCR - Marco Melandri - Ducati Marlboro Team - John Hopkins - Team Kawasaki Championship points Full results to come: 1 - Valentino Rossi - 122 2 - Dani Pedrosa - 110 3 - Jorge Lorenzo - 94 4 - Casey Stoner - 76 5 - Colin Edwards - 58 6 - Loris Capirossi - 51 7 - Andrea Dovizioso - 44 8 - James Toseland - 43 9 - Nicky Hayden - 40 10 - Shinya Nakano - 35 11 - Chris Vermeulen - 31 12 - John Hopkins - 26 13 - Alex De Angelis - 24 14 - Marco Melandri - 24 15 - Toni Elias - 24 16 - Randy De Puniet - 18 17 - Sylvain Guintoli  - 12 18 - Anthony West - 6 19 - Tadayuki Okada 2
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