Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi gave everybody a laugh with the design of his new helmet, then went out and put the fear into the MotoGP paddock by winning pole in record-setting time before taking the Mugello victory.
Make it lucky seven. Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi slipped past Marlboro Ducati's Casey Stoner on the fourth lap then set about distancing himself from the pack with a series of hot laps to claim the checkers today at Mugello. It is the third consecutive MotoGP victory for the affable Italian and the seventh win in a row on the Italian circuit. With the victory, Rossi extended his lead in the championship point standings to 12 over Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa.
"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," Rossi said.
Pedrosa grabbed the holeshot with a powerful launch on his RC212V Honda, followed by Stoner and Rossi. Stoner would be the first to slip past the Repsol pilot with The Doctor in hot pursuit. Rossi then pushed to the lead past Stoner on Lap 4 and never looked back. Stoner and Pedrosa would dice it out for second place, with the Ducati rider edging out the Honda at the finish by 2.666 seconds. It was only the second time Stoner has found the steps of the Mugello podium.
Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa grabbed the holeshot with Stoner and Rossi close behind.
"This season's been a bit disappointing, but we were a lot more confident with the setup today. It was an awesome race. On one part of the circuit I was losing a lot of time, and we knew today that the bike would be lot better at the end of the race. I'm very happy with the race and want to give thanks to all at Ducati," Stoner said.
Pedrosa crossed the line in third, just ahead of surprising fourth-place finisher Alex de Angelis. The San Carlo Honda Gresini rider posted the fastest laps during the morning warmup then proved his times weren't a fluke by riding to his best finish yet, crossing the line only 1.446 seconds behind Dani P.
Grabbing the fifth and sixth spots were the M1's of Yamaha Tech 3's Colin Edwards and James Toseland. Just behind them was a spirited three-way battle for the finish line, with Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi beating JiR Team Scot's Andrea Dovizioso and San Carlo Gresini Honda's Shinya Nakano for the seventh position. Dovizioso and Nakano crossed the line neck and neck, with Dovizioso squeeking across 0.008 seconds ahead of the Japanese rider.
There were plenty of spills and thrills in today's race. Fiat Yamaha's sensational rookie, Jorge Lorenzo, lowsided on Lap 7 while trying to pass Dovizioso and suffered the first DNF of his young MotoGP career.
LCR Honda's Randy De Puniet was the first rider down following contact with Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen. The Frenchman fell right in front of Marlboro Ducati's Marco Melandri, who ran straight into the gravel to avoid running over De Puniet.
Frustration also continues to plague Kawasaki Racing's John Hopkins. Hopper crashed out seven laps into the race after a fault with his quickshifter meant he was unable to backshift on the approach to the ultra-fast turn one, leaving him no option but to run straight on.
It will be a short week for the MotoGP paddock as action resumes in Catalunya next weekend. That gives teams four days to prepare before practice begins on the Spanish circuit.
The racing action wasn't the only thing that was smokin' in Italy.
1. Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) 42'31.153
2. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) +2.201
3. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) +4.867
4. Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) +6.313
5. Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha) +12.530
6. James Toseland (Tech 3 Yamaha) +13.806
7. Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +14.447
8. Andrea Dovizioso (JIR Team Scot) +15.319
9. Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini) +15.327
10. Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +30.785
11. Sylvain Guintoli (Alice Ducati)
12. Toni Elias (Alice Ducati)
13. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team)
14. Tadayuki Okada (Repsol Honda Team)
15. Anthony West (Kawasaki Racing Team)
DNF. John Hopkins (Kawasaki Racing Team), Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha Team), Randy De Puniet (LCR Honda), Marco Melandri (Marlboro Ducati)
