Rossi hits back with Misano triumph

World Champion Valentino Rossi delighted the home crowd at Misano on Sunday with his second successive victory at the Italian circuit, to reassert his authority in the MotoGP title race.

A 2.4s win at the Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini over his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was the perfect response to his Indy DNF and Rossi now leads the Spaniard by 30 points in the standings, with four rounds to go.

Lorenzo did his very best to stay with his illustrious team-mate over the course of the 28 lap contest, having overtaken Dani Pedrosa after a short battle, but The Doctor was unstoppable in the Italian sunshine.

Having held the lead in the early stages Repsol Honda’s Pedrosa could not match the pace of the powerful Fiat Yamaha pair, eventually crossing the line ten seconds behind Lorenzo to complete the podium.

Early in the race there was drama - and heartbreak – when Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) appeared to misjudge the first corner and crashed out, with American pair Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) unfortunately sliding out with him.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) had a fierce fight behind the rostrum finishers, with Dovizioso eventually coming out on top by two-tenths of a second for his third fourth place finish in a row.

The top ten was rounded off by early race leader Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Mika Kallio (Ducati Marlboro), Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing), Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) and James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), whilst temporary Pramac Racing representative Aleix Espargaró did very well in eleventh place in just his second MotoGP race.