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2007-05-20 Chris Vermeulen wins French drama
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Chris Vermeulen once again proved that he is the king on the rain, as he took dominant victory at Le Mans today. Vermeulen took victory in front of last year's winner, Marco Melandri, leaving him 12.5 seconds behind. French race was also great success for Australian Casey Stoner, who once again edged Valentino Rossi in championship battle and gained 6 more points by taking third place.
Before the start, race was declared as wet, meaning that riders may get into box at any moment and change their bike, but despite that, all riders opted for dry tires. First part of the race saw some unexpected riders in the lead, like Sylvian Guintoli and Randy de Puniet. However, joy for French fans did not lasted long, as both riders soon ended in gravel, as track was getting too slipery.
After few laps, we saw all riders entering box and getting their bikes on wet tires, with Chriss Vermeulen getting into lead and never letting it go. Only rider that seemed capable of catching flying Australian was Marco Melandri, but in last stages of the race he lost this battle and settled for second place. Rossi was in third for some time, but his pace was not good enough to keep this place, as his bike was making all kinds of scarry moves.
Soon we saw Casey Stoner overtaking Rossi and dissapearing in the rain, eventually finishing race in 3rd place. Casey Stoner once again has proved how great rider he is, proving to everyone that great results are not bue to power of Ducati Desmosedici, but to great talent of young Australian.
Seeing Stoner dissapearing in the rain must hurt Rossi, but even more painfull for him must be the moment when Nicky Hayden did the same, followed by Dani Pedrosa and, believe or not, Alex Hofmann! Just few laps later we saw Hayden having terrific crash, ending hopes for decent result in France. We also saw angry Alberto Puig ripping position from pit-board of Nicky Hayden after crash. Convinient way to hit struggling Hayden and encourage fellow countryman and protege Pedrosa.
Dani Pedrosa ended race in 4th place, proving that he was now able to make good results in wet conditions, which was not the case before. Alex Hofmann scored career best result by taking 5th place, once again taking it from no one else than Rossi! Rossi's drama ended today in 6th place, 3 places and 6 points behind rival Stoner.
After showing great performance that could easily lead to another podium in dry part of the race, John Hopkins ended race in 7th place. Loris Capirossi was 8th, in front of Makoto Tamada in 9th. Sylvian Guintoli finished race in 10th place, despite falling in first part. Nieto finished debut race for Kawasaki in 11th, with Colin Edwards being last rider to finish race today. Starting from pole and ending in 12th does not need any comment...
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