Valentino Rossi takes seventh consecutive at Mugello
Valentino Rossi, World Championship leader took his seventh premier class home victory at Mugello, in a dominant display.
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 launch control. He 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. He was riding what was effectively his local race, and had shown his cards early with the fastest time in the morning warmup.
Colin Edwards and James Toseland, The Tech 3 Yamaha duo, 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.
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