Despite making a quick start from his lowly grid position, the Italian made a mistake on lap two and dropped as far back as twelfth. However crucial changes made to the setup of his YZR-M1 before the race then allowed him to pass no fewer than seven riders, as he lapped at the same pace as the leading group over the course of the race. By the time he had made his way through the pack it was too late for the Italian to challenge for the podium but a crash for Dani Pedrosa (Honda) on the final lap boosted his final position to fourth. Today’s result makes Rossi the highest point-scorer of all time in the Grand Prix World
Championship, overtaking Max Biaggi.

Rossi’s Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards made a decent start and remained in touch with the leaders for the opening laps but was unable to make any further progress and ended the race in ninth – the same position he had started from on the grid. At the front Marco Melandri (Honda) repeated his win from last season but was pushed all the way by Casey Stoner (Honda), who led the race until three corners from the end, when Melandri made his definitive pass. Nicky Hayden (Honda) was left to snap up the final podium position after Pedrosa’s misfortune, the Spanish youngster tumbling out at turn one on the final lap when attacking Melandri and Stoner.

VALENTINO ROSSI (4th; + 6.209)

“I got a good start off the line but I had been thinking about the first corner incident at Jerez and what had happened to Lorenzo in the 250 race, so I decided to go to the inside and it cost me four or five places. I made the positions back by the end of the first lap but I made a mistake under braking on lap two and lost three seconds and the chance for a podium today. We have had so many problems this weekend but we solved some of them in time for the race with some big modifications after the warm-up this morning and then the bike was okay, especially in the second half of the race when I really enjoyed riding it. It will be interesting to see how much more progress we can make in the test tomorrow because it is a long championship and the most important thing right now is not where we are in the standings or the points difference to the leader – the priority is to get the bike working as we know it can. This is a tough series and when you have problems you don’t lose one or two places, you lose ten. It looks like there was a great battle at the front – it’s a shame I wasn’t involved! Looking at the championship right now I would say the top seven all have a chance to win the title but there is a long way to go yet.”

COLIN EDWARDS (9th; + 22.847)

"We didn’t get it done at all this weekend and we need to sit down and work out why. It was always going to be a tough race today but I just didn’t have the feeling or confidence with the bike to go out and battle with the guys we should be running with, which is the front group. We’ve got a test tomorrow and I’m keen to get out there and get as many laps in as possible. It’s hard to overcome problems like the ones we’re experiencing now because you don’t get enough time during a Grand Prix weekend, so we’ll get as much data together as we can before China. We simply have to come up with something for there because this
situation can’t go on for any longer.”

DAVIDE BRIVIO – CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR

“Looking at Valentino’s race pace he could have easily been on the podium today, or even won the race, which is a big plus point for us considering the problems we have had. On lap three he was seven seconds
down but he finished closer to the winner than that, despite having to fight past so many riders. Even so this has not been a satisfactory weekend for us and we know we still have a lot of work to do, starting in tomorrow’s test. We have two very positive riders and this mood runs all the way through the team, so we will be working very hard tomorrow. The changes we made to Valentino’s bike today are encouraging but now we have to further this development. It was a tough Grand Prix but we have come out of it with many positives.”

Results*
Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, +41’54.065
Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda LCR, +0.200
Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, +5.458
VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, +6.209
Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, +6.587
Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, +16.682
Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, +16.777
Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, +21.537
COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, +22.847
Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, +30.483

Championship Standings
Nicky Hayden (USA) 52
Loris Capirossi (ITA) 51
Marco Melandri (ITA) 45
Casey Stoner (AUS) 41
VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) 40
Dani Pedrosa (SPA) 32
Toni Elias (SPA) 32
Shinya Nakano (JPN) 22
Colin EDWARDS (USA) 19
Sete Gibernau (SPA) 18