Rossi led from the end of lap 18 when Carlos Checa (Yamaha) crashed at Goddard's just before the start/finish straight and 60,000 sun-soaked fans watched Rossi cross the line in typically flamboyant style. Max Biaggi (Yamaha) was second and Alex Barros (West Honda Pons NSR500) was third, and also the first two-stroke rider home.

"The weekend started badly with my Friday crash," said Rossi. "But I was lucky because I didn't have any trouble from my injured hand or foot, just a bit of a headache. I got a good start and slotted in behind Checa. I was faster than him on the faster parts of the track and slower on the slower sections. But when Carlos lost the front at Goddard's, where I crashed on Friday, I could make laps at my own pace. Then I just had to concentrate hard until the end. This is a good win and a great help towards winning the Championship."

Repsol Honda team manager Jerry Burgess, who guided Wayne Gardner to his World Championship win in 1987, Mick Doohan to his five consecutive titles from 1994 to 1998 and now Rossi to last year's title, was delighted. "It's a great day," said the hugely experienced Australian. "I'm lucky to have worked with some of the best riders in the world on factory machinery. And there are a few more wins left in me yet."

Rossi's team-mate Tohru Ukawa (Repsol Honda Team RC211V) did not race after crashing heavily on Friday at Craner Curves. He watched the race from his motorhome in the Donington paddock and aims to be fit to race at the German Grand Prix next weekend. "I'm very pleased for Valentino," he said. "I'm also very sore from Friday, but feeling slightly better. I don't know if I'll be okay for the Sachsenring yet. We'll make a decision over the next few days, but at least I've still got second place in the Championship."

Barros felt he could have lived with the pace set by the front men, but a poor start from the front row of the grid put paid to his chances. "After that start it was very hard work," said the Brazilian. "I had to go a bit crazy in the early laps to make up ground. Then I had to push to get up closer to Max, but I made life far too difficult for myself by messing up at the start. In the end I just tried to make sure I finished the race. I'm satisfied with a podium finish but I hoped for more here today. The bike is working really well now and we should see how good it really is next weekend."

Barros' team-mate Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500) sat out this race after breaking his right arm at Assen two weeks ago. He will also miss next weekend's race at the Sachsenring in Germany. "I had high hopes for these races, but I won't dwell on this. Racing is sometimes like this and you have to accept that. The most important thing at the moment is to rest, but I'm not neglecting my physical conditioning so that I can be fully fit for the race at Brno."

Capirossi's temporary replacement, the German Alex Hofmann, finished 17th in his first race on an NSR500. "Finishing the race was my main goal," said Hofmann. "I made a god start passing two riders and stayed ahead of them until ten laps from the end. Then the tyres started to go off and I didn't quite have the experience to stay the pace. It's been a hard weekend at a track where you never get a chance to relax, but overall things were okay. I hope next week at the Sachsenring I can do much better in front of my home fans."

Daijiro Kato (Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR500) finished seventh after riding with cracked bone in his right hand. "My injured hand was not really a problem," said the brave Japanese. "But not being able to achieve a good set-up because of it was. It was really hard changing direction at a track where easy steering is really important. I was battling with a lot of riders and it was hard to stay with them. But I think I'll have a much better race in Germany."

Tetsuya Harada (Pramac Honda NSR500) could only manage 11th place after qualifying strongly on the front row in third. "I started well," said the Japanese. "But I just couldn't keep up the pace. Then the tyres went off and things got difficult. I went off track when I was sixth on lap 23 and then I ended up 11th. But we have improved the set-up and will keep going in this direction."

Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Kanemoto Racing Honda NSR500) finished 15th despite putting in his best qualifying performance of the season so far. "I got a pretty good start," said the Dutchman. "And decided to take a wide line round the first turn. I got forced onto the kerb and lost a few places. Then coming off the loop the engine felt like it went onto two cylinders and by the time it came back onto four - several more riders had passed me. My lap times were 1m 34s and I was having grip problems with the edge of the rear tyre and there was not much I could do about that. A pity because the front was tyre was good." The points table shows Rossi with 195, Ukawa on 108, and Alex Barros one point behind Max Biaggi who lies third with 89 points.

Marco Melandri (Aprilia) won the 250 race, his fourth consecutive win. Fonsi Nieto (Aprilia) was second and Tony Elias (Aprilia) third. Robby Rolfo (Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR250) was in touch with the leaders in the early stage, running fourth. But as the race wore on, he dropped back, and despite making made a late charge to try and recapture fourth position on the last lap, the Italian had to settle for fifth place.

"In the race I was always riding 'over the limit' as we say," said Rolfo. "I just couldn't have done any more. It's a bit dangerous when you go beyond your own limit and I didn't want to throw away Championship points by crashing. I'm sorry because I feel I was just a step away from my best performance and this just wasn't the right weekend for me. I just have to look towards Germany now."

Emilio Alzamora (Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR250) started from the front row and had high hopes for the race, but could only manage an eventual 12th place. "Despite feeling really good in qualifying I just didn't have the right feeling from my NSR250 in the race. Now I really need to get back to finding the right set-up for Germany, because next weekend is really close."

Haruchika Aoki (Arie Molenaar Racing Honda RS250R/W) finished 7th and despite his rear tyre suffering in the later stages of the race was encouraged by his second best showing of the season so far. "I had a few slides towards the end," said Haru. "But the engine was strong and I hope we can keep performing at this level and then improve even more. We need consistency and we're starting to find that." Melandri has 145 points, Nieto 132 and Rolfo 107 in the World Championship points standings.

Daniel Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar Jr Team Honda RS125R) narrowly missed out on a second consecutive victory to Arnaud Vincent (Aprilia) who came through from 16th on the grid to win. Championship leader Manuel Poggiali (Gilera) was third. "I was able to get off the line first and I rode very hard to try and stretch the group," said sixteen-year-old Pedrosa. "Cecchinello passed me in the middle stages of the race so I concentrated on following him, until he fell. Then I concentrated on keeping Poggiali under control behind me, because Vincent was a little too far ahead for me to attack. Second is a good position for Championship points and that's what I wanted to come away from here with - points."

Masao Azuma (Liégeois Competition Honda RS125R) finished fourth after losing touch with the leaders in the later stages of the race. "It's a pity that the engine was not quite perfect," said the experienced Japanese rider. "I was a bit short of top speed and that's why I couldn't quite stay with the leading group. If I could have kept in their slipstream I might have managed to hang on, but when we caught the backmarkers, it all went wrong and I lost the tow. The brakes and chassis set-up were perfect, that's why I managed to hang-on for so long. But the straights were a struggle."

Joan Olive (Telefonica Movistar Jr Team Honda RS125R) ran in the leading group in the early stages of the race, but he fell back to eventually finish sixth. "I made a great start with the leading group, but then I lost too much time getting past Ui and even though the engine was really fast, it started to lose acceleration out of the turns. The chassis was great and I've just go to make sure I can stay at the front in future."

Mika Kallio (Red Devil Honda RS125R) still heads the Rookie of the Year classification by one point from Andrea Dovizioso (CE BA Corse Honda RS125R) despite retiring after eight laps of the race. Dovizioso finished ninth. The World Championship points standings show Poggiali with 147 points leading from Danny Pedrosa who has 131.

Quotes

Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda Team: 1st: " This weekend started very badly. I had a bad crash. I'm lucky not to have got hurt bad. I hit my head hard and have had a headache all weekend not too much problem with the hand though. Today I rode well. I made a good start. I followed Checa. I was faster than him in the fast parts but slower than him in the slow parts. Then Carlos lost the front where I did on Friday. The last 10 laps were very difficult. I'm alone. It is necessary to keep my concentration. It is a good result for the championship. I look forward to the break after Sachsenring when we need to recharge our batteries.

Alex Barros, West Honda Pons: 3rd: "At the start I was passed by three other riders and I lost a lot of time passing them again. The bike was really performing well, and we have found good settings, so the poor start was a real shame because I could have fought for victory. In the end I took a lot of risks to catch Biaggi as he slowed up a little, but when he saw I was closing he stepped up the pace again and it was impossible to make contact. I am satisfied with the podium but I think I could have hoped for more here today. In Germany at a circuit where the differences with the four-stroke are smaller, I will try again and I hope to have a little more luck than here."

Daijiro Kato, Fortuna Honda Gresini, 7th: The problems with my injured hand (a crack to the fourth metacarpal) prevented me from setting up the bike. Today it wasn't really fast in changing direction and I had to fight a lot of riders. It wasn't easy but I think I will have a good race in Germany.

Fausto Gresini team manager: The bike wasn't right for the race and Kato's crash, in Saturday's practice, prevented us from trying the solutions necessary to give the rider a machine easier to ride and a faster change of direction. Anyway I saw him fight, and react well to the result of the accident. Now there is a lot of work to do to earn better positions: we will do our best to the top of the table in Germany.

Tetsuya Harada, Pramac Racing Team: 11th " I am not satisfied! I started well but during the first laps I was unable to keep the pace. Then the tyres were damaged and it has been difficult to race. During the 23rd lap while I was sixth, I went out of the track in the last corner and I lost positions. Anyway I restart my race finishing 11th. We have improved the  setup and I hope to keep on this way."

Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Kanemoto Honda, 15th: I got a pretty good start and decided to run the outside line on the corner. Coming off the turn I was forced wide, almost onto the white stones. I lost a few places. Then coming off the loop the engine felt as if it went onto two cylinders and several riders came by me. When all four cylinders came back in I was almost last. The group in front of me included Laconi but I just couldn't get passed them. Off every turn the four-stroke just out-accelerated me and pulled away and I would have to start again. The lap times were 1m 34s and I was having problems with grip on the edge of the rear tyre so there was not much I couldn't do about it. Pit, because the front tyre was good. We were all in 1m 34, it was just impossible for me to go faster. No matter what, I just couldn't get into the 1m 33s, the rear tyre wouldn't let me.

Erv Kanemoto, team owner manager: From qualifying to the race the temperature rose by over seven degrees so we were advised to run the harder compound tyre. Before the race I thought we would be in the middle of the pack but it didn't work out that way. Jurgen got a good start but lost out at turn one. The front tyre shows it was working well but the rear is more difficult to analyse because of the rise in temperature. The times were constant but I thought we would have been better in the beginning off the race. Jurgen usually runs his fastest laps late in the race but today he was consistent throughout, even with a lighter fuel load. We have the latest development Bridgestone tyres at Sachsenring next week and we are looking forward to testing them at that track.

Alex Hofmann. West Honda Pons, 17th: " I am happy because I finished the race which was my main goal. I made a good start passing two riders, and I stayed ahead of them until ten laps remained, when the tyres started to wear and I did not have the experience to stay with the pace. It really has been a hard weekend, at a circuit where you cannot relax for one moment, but the overall outcome is positive. I have completed four hours of practice and the race, so I think that next week in Sachsenring I will be able to do much better in front of my fans."

Sito Pons, Manager West Honda Pons: " It was a shame that Alex Barros lost all chance of victory at the start. On the first lap he lost 3.6 seconds to the leader and this distance was maintained throughout nearly all the race. In any case, his time was 15 seconds faster than the winner of last year's race. I am very happy with this podium again which is a great boost for Alex and the team ahead of the race in Germany where I hope we will be very competitive. Alex Hofmann maintained the progress we expected of him.  Donington was a training race for him, as he had never ridden the bike or the tyres, but in Germany he will have to take an important step forward."

Tohru Ukawa, Repsol Honda Team, DNR: "I watched the race from my motor home here at Donington Park and I am very pleased for Valentino, he had a good race. I am still very sore from the crash on Friday but feeling better all the time. I can make no statement about whether I'll be racing at Sachsenring yet. The Medical team will be watching my progress over the next few days and together with my Honda race team we'll make a decision about the next GP over the next few days. Of course I want to race but I need to be fit. I still hold a good second place in the championship with 8 rounds to go. A  lot can happen."