There was no doubt that Valentino Rossi was up for the win this weekend in Assen and being his 100th GP win has made it extra special for the Italian rider.

He looked on form in qualifying and took pole position mere hundredths of a second head of both Dani Pedrosa and teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

Pedrosa got away quick off the grid as did Chris Vermeulan from 7th.  Lorenzo got a terrible start and went back from 3rd to 6th.

It was soon a fight for the lead between Rossi, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa but Rossi soon showed his intention and pulled a commanding lead on the rest of the pack.  Lorenzo fought through and at one point it looked as though he would challenge his teammate but there was no doubting Rossi’s form and Lorenzo had to settle for second, but he looked happy in parc ferme and sportingly hugged Rossi.

Stoner whilst initially looking as though he could keep pace with Rossi could not keep up the blistering pace and eventually succumbed to Lorenzo and took third position.

Colin Edwards had an excellent race finishing just off the podium in fourth and the Vermeulan took his best result of the season in fifth with the improved chassis on the Suzuki.

It was a disastrous race for the Repsol Honda team with both Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso crashing out at the first corner on different laps.

A lot of the action, however, took place further down the field with James Toseland, Nicky Hayden (yes Nicky Hayden!) Randy de Puniet, Mika Kallio, Toni Elias and Loris Capirossi challenging for 6ht position and a virtually race long battle that saw positions change frequently and a lot of riders running off track.  Mika Kallio looked to be on target to take the position but spectacularly crashed on the last lap.  This left Toseland to battle with De Puniet with Toseland taking the position. Elias also punted Capirossi off the track on the last lap resulting in Capirossi finishing 9th and Elias 12th.

However the race was all Rossi’s and the celebrations included a special 100 flag and a banner which was unravelled showing all of this previous 99 wins.

Video of Rossi celebrating 100 victories:

Results:
1 25 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 42′14.611 168.210
2 20 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 42′19.979 167.854 5.368
3 16 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 42′37.724 166.690 23.113
4 13 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 42′43.725 166.300 29.114
5 11 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 42′48.216 166.009 33.605
6 10 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 42′53.958 165.639 39.347
7 9 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 42′54.154 165.626 39.543
8 8 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 42′54.434 165.608 39.823
9 7 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 42′55.284 165.553 40.673
10 6 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 43′00.621 165.211 46.010
11 5 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team KAWASAKI 43′12.388 164.461 57.777
12 4 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 43′14.385 165.611 59.774
13 3 59 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando DUCATI 43′19.977 163.981 1′05.366
14 2 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing DUCATI 43′24.508 163.696 1′09.897
15 1 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP HONDA 43′24.541 163.694 1′09.930
16 41 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP HONDA 43′39.710 162.746 1′25.099

Championship Positions:
Pos.     Rider     Nation     Team     Points
1     Valentino ROSSI     ITA     Fiat Yamaha Team     131
2     Jorge LORENZO     SPA     Fiat Yamaha Team     126
3     Casey STONER     AUS     Ducati Marlboro Team     122
4     Andrea DOVIZIOSO     ITA     Repsol Honda Team     69
5     Dani PEDROSA     SPA     Repsol Honda Team     67
6     Colin EDWARDS     USA     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     67
7     Loris CAPIROSSI     ITA     Rizla Suzuki MotoGP     56
8     Marco MELANDRI     ITA     Hayate Racing Team     55
9     Chris VERMEULEN     AUS     Rizla Suzuki MotoGP     53
10     Randy DE PUNIET     FRA     LCR Honda MotoGP     51
11     James TOSELAND     GBR     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     39
12     Alex DE ANGELIS     RSM     San Carlo Honda Gresini     31
13     Nicky HAYDEN     USA     Ducati Marlboro Team     27
14     Toni ELIAS     SPA     San Carlo Honda Gresini     27
15     Mika KALLIO     FIN     Pramac Racing     26
16     Niccolo CANEPA     ITA     Pramac Racing     12
17     Sete GIBERNAU     SPA     Grupo Francisco Hernando     12
18     Yuki TAKAHASHI     JPN     Scot Racing Team MotoGP     9

What do you think about Rossi’s 100th win?