MotoGP World Championship 2007

Casey Stoner blasted away from his first pole position of the year with Vermeulen close astern. Rossi had a shocker of a start and was swallowed up by half a dozen riders into turn one. Loris Capirossi was in third early on, Alex Barros stormed into fourth place and was duking it out with Marco Melandri and Dani Pedrosa.

As they crossed the stripe to start lap two Capirossi used the amazing power of the Ducati to blow past Vermeulen and take second place. The Italian veteran then put his head down to try and chase down his teammate who was leading the way and looking in control.

Late on lap two Melandri got the better of Vermeulen for third place. Randy De Puniet limped his way back to pitlane after taking a tumble on the Kawasaki. Capirossi quickly closed the gap to Stoner and was looking much more aggressive and confident than he had earlier in the season. Rossi had been held up by Barros but after dispensing with the Brazilian set about chasing down the leaders.

Capirossi took the lead and the leading quartet then closed up considerably as Melandri and Pedrosa joined the party up front. Melandri then took second place from Stoner. Rossi dusted up both Suzuki men to move up to fifth and then closed onto the tail of fourth placed Pedrosa. The top seven were virtually nose to tail with 19 laps to run, the race wide open.

Stoner regained the lead from Capirossi. First Melandri, then Pedrosa and Hopkins shuffled Capirossi to the back of the leading pack. Pedrosa then slipped past Stoner for the lead. Meanwhile Rossi was just slipping up the inside of whoever he chose on entry to any given corner, super confident in his front tyre, incredible grip and turn in from his Yamaha giving new meaning to the phrase 'turning on a dime'. Rossi picked off Stoner to move up to second and was quickly all over the back of Pedrosa. The race was shaping up to be the best of the season.

With 15 laps to run Rossi made his move on Pedrosa for the race lead. Casey Stoner was watching on from third place while John Hopkins followed in fourth place with a strong ride on the Rizla Suzuki. Alex Barros was right on the tail of the Suzuki in his best ride of the season.

After the halfway point of the race Rossi managed to inch away from Pedrosa and with six laps to run the Italian superstar had eked out a full second over the Spaniard. What had been shaping up as the race of the season suddenly became a Rossi show despite Pedrosa's best efforts to take the game to #46. Stoner had lost touch with the leading pair and his third place was not safe as Hopkins, Melandri and Barros were still within striking distance.

Barros then closed right onto the tail of Stoner with four laps to run but their duel was unfolding a full four seconds behind race leader Rossi. Dani Pedrosa was still running strongly in second but the Spaniard trailed the Italian by 1.2 seconds.

Barros slipped past Stoner for third as they entered turn one with three laps to run. Stoner came back at him on the final lap but couldn't quite manage it and had to settle for fourth place. Rossi romped home to a dominant win well clear of Pedrosa who made it a Michelin 1-2, a sure sign of resurgence for the French rubber giant.

Rossi's win makes it a new record of eight successive MotoGP races where the polesitter did not manage to win the race. His win also marked the first time that any rider has managed to win their home GP in six consecutive seasons.

Hopkins' fifth place is Suzuki best four-stroke result at the Italian circuit. Alex Barros's podium result was good enough to push his career premier class points total past the magic 2000 mark, a milestone reached previously by only two other riders, Rossi and Doohan.

Thus Mugello continued to be a happy hunting ground for Michelin. The last non-Michelin rider to win at Mugello was Wayne Rainey way back in 1991 when running on Dunlops. The best Dunlop finisher this time around was Sylvain Guintoli in 14th place, 45 seconds behind the race winner.

MotoGP Race Results

Rossi
Pedrosa 3.0
Barros 5.9
Stoner 6.0
Hopkins 13.2
Elias 19.2
Capirossi 19.6
Vermeulen 22.8
Melandri 22.8
Hayden 24.4
Hofmann 24.7
Edwards 28.0
Nakano 36.7
Guintoli 45.0
Tamada 45.1
Jacque 45.2
Roberts Jr 87.2

MotoGP Championship Standings

Stoner 115
Rossi 106
Pedrosa 82
Melandri 68
Vermeulen 63
Hopkins 59
Capirossi 47
Elias 45
Barros 43
Edwards 39
Hayden 36
Hofmann 35
Checa 20

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