Thankfully the weather turned dry for the Moto GP racing at Sachsenring. Valentino Rossi got a good start from pole position and the turn one confusion with riders bashing fairings and running wide meant that from eighth position on the grid Pedrosa was able to power through to second place, Randy de Puniet third and Stoner fourth.

Jorge Lorenzo got swallowed up into the pack and Nicky Hayden was pushed wide dropping back from fourth to fourteenth in one lap!

Despite starting well, de Puniet, true to form, crashed out before he had even run one lap. He highsided directly in front of Stoner but fortunately the Aussie was able to avoid him.

This left Rossi, Pedrosa and Stoner to lead at the front, with Rossi and Stoner eventually battling for the lead. Stoner did lead the race for a while but Rossi soon re-took it and Stoner dropped back, whether through tyre wear or fatigue or a combination of both is unclear, but he did manage to hold on to fourth position.

Pedrosa although able to keep pace with the front runners never really looked as though he could take the lead and soon succumbed to Jorge Lorenzo who had by this time worked his way through the pack to challenge teammate Rossi.

From then on it was a battle between the two factory Yamahas with Lorenzo taking the lead and looking dominant, but in a repeat of the pass he did on Rossi, Rossi re-took the lead at turn one at the end of the start/finish straight and although Lorenzo rode close he could not re-take the lead from Rossi. In the end Rossi took the victory but was only 0.099 seconds ahead of Lorenzo and described it as a tough battle.

The two Honda Gresini riders de Angelis, who finished fifth, and Elias rode a good race. Elias rode paricularly well considering he qualified last (17th) on the grid. He pushed his way through to take sixth following a tough block pass on Melandri as they fought to the finish line out of the final turn.

Nicky Hayden was disappointed with his result after qualifying well. He said afterwards that he made a few mistakes particularly at turn one which left him a lot of work to do. Considering he was fourteenth at the end of lap one we reckon he didn’t do too badly to finish eigth.

Colin Edwards finished ninth and James Toseland tenth on the Tech 3 Yamahas. Both riders reported setup problems but were reasonably pleased with a top ten finish and are looking forward to the Moto GP at Donnington next weekend.

As the championship moves to the UK next weekend Rossi leads teammate Lorenzo by 14 points who is himself 14 points ahead of Stoner.

Moto GP Result:

Pos. Rider Nation Team Total time
1 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 41’21.769
2 J. LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team + 0.099
3 D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team + 2.899
4 C. STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team + 10.226
5 A. DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini + 21.522
6 T. ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini + 30.852
7 M. MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team + 31.301
8 N. HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team + 31.726
9 C. EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 32.865
10 J. TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 43.926
11 L. CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 57.375
12 N. CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing + 1’00.539
13 C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 1’03.645
14 M. KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing + 1’04.155
15 G. TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1 Lap

Moto GP Standings:

Pos. Rider Nation Team Points
1 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 176
2 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 162
3 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 148
4 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 108
5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 83
6 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team 70
7 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team 69
8 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 64
9 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 61
10 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 58
11 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 47
12 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 47
13 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team 46
14 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 45
15 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing 28
16 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing 20
17 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 12
18 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 9
19 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1