 Valentino Rossi today retained Championship hopes by winning one of the closest Grand Prixs of the season at the Sachsenring circuit in Germany. Valentino Rossi made his way through the field from the 10th place on the grid to eventually finish race in first position, just one tenth of the second in front his compatriot, Marco Melandri.
Early race leader was Nicky Hayden, but he was soon catched by his team-mate Dani Pedrosa, and charging Melandri. Leading group riders were also Makoto Tamada and Kenny Roberts Jr, both of them showing great ride, before Kenny Roberts fell off and brought Tamada with him into the gravel, just when we thought that Tamada is back in form we used to see him in previous years.
As race progressed, leading group of Rossi, Melandri, Pedrosa and Hayden made gap to other riders, with Rossi being in front for most of the race. However, Rossi was threatened by Melandri for race lead, and in few occasions Melandri briefly got into the lead, but Rossi eventually managed to finish in first place after great last lap battle. By taking this victory, Rossi moved in second position in championship, now 26 points behind championship leader, Nicky Hayden, who managed to edge team-mate Pedrosa for final podium position.
Loris Capirossi rode lonely race and finished in 5th place. Shinya Nakano ended race in respectable 6th place, being fastest rider on the track for few laps, making us thihk that he can do even more. Chris Vermeulen was today much better than his team-mate Hopkins, ending race in 7th place, in front of recovering Sete Gibernau. Carlos Checa was today second best Yamaha, impressing everyone by progress made by Dunlop. John Hopkins completed top 10 race finishers.
Next race will take place at Laguna Seca next weekend, with 200 championship points remaining to be taken and Nicky Hayden hoping to extend his championship lead over Valentino Rossi at Americans home soil.
Full race results - Sachsenring
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