Brilliant Rossi takes 99th triumph on final corner

They do not call Valentino Rossi "the professor" for nothing and he proved it again on Sunday

An amazing head-to-head battle between Yamaha team-mates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo saw the Italian take his 99th Grand Prix victory by a 0.095s margin at Catalunya.

In front of nearly 90,000 fans in Barcelona the reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi took a superb win, battling with his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo throughout the 25 lap MotoGP race to secure the win on the last corner.

Despite some slight cloud cover close to the Mediterranean coast, air temperatures of 40°C meant it was a draining experience for the premier class riders but Rossi and Lorenzo threw everything into their duel, with The Doctor executing a superb move right at the death to take maximum points.

Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) was on the podium again, to maintain his World Championship challenge, with the result leaving Rossi, Lorenzo and the Australian all tied on 106 points at the head of the standings – the Italian on top as the possessor of the most recent victory.

Stoner was absolutely exhausted after the race having worked extremely hard to fend off a strong challenge from Andrea Dovizioso. The Repsol Honda rider produced another consistent display to finish in fourth place for the third round in succession, having started in fourth on the grid, this time missing the podium by 0.052s.

Meanwhile, an excellent battle between Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and the brave Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) for fifth place eventually saw an Italian emerge in front of a Spaniard again, Capirossi crossing the line just over two seconds ahead.

With two-way fights for positions going on throughout the order, Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) used all his experience to overcome Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) for seventh.

Ducati riders Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Nicky Hayden crossed the line close together in ninth and tenth respectively, giving Hayden his best result of his first season with the Italian factory so far.

New MotoGP arrival Gabor Talmacsi had a better time in his very first premier class race than new Scot Racing team-mate Yuki Takahashi – who crashed out on the first lap – as the Hungarian gained experience coming home in last place. The unfortunate Toni Elías meanwhile was also unable to finish as his miserable home record continued.

Results

Pos.

Rider Nation Team Total time
1 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 43'11.897
2 J. LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team + 0.095
3 C. STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team + 8.884
4 A. DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team + 8.936
5 L. CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 19.831
6 D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team + 22.182
7 C. EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 23.547
8 R. DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP + 25.265
9 M. KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing + 31.797
10 N. HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team + 33.593
11 C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 36.683
12 A. DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini + 36.874
13 J. TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 39.433
14 M. MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team + 44.788
15 S. GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando + 46.754
16 N. CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing + 55.873
17 G. TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP + 1'27.640
18 T. ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 16 Lap
19 Y. TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP