Racing: Rossi hits back with Misano triumph

World champion Valentino Rossi delighted the home crowd at Misano on Sunday with his second successive victory at the Italian circuit, to reassert his authority in the MotoGP title race.

A 2.4sec win over his teammate Jorge Lorenzo was the perfect response to his Indy DNF and Rossi now leads the Spaniard by 30pts in the standings with four rounds to go.

Lorenzo did his very best to stay with his illustrious teammate over the course of the 28-lap contest, having overtaken Dani Pedrosa after a short battle, but "The Doctor" was unstoppable in the Italian sunshine.

"This is a great feeling! It's taken me some time to get used to Misano and view it as a 'home' race because Mugello is so special to me, but I can honestly say that winning here today, in front of everyone dressed in yellow and with 46s everywhere, is a great emotion and I want to thank everyone for making it so special," said Rossi.

"Today I had to go quite carefully with the full tank at the start and I took some time to get to the front, but once I was there it was great and my bike felt fantastic. We didn't expect to be this competitive here but it's been a perfect weekend, so I have to say a huge thank you to the team for a brilliant job.

"Since Indianapolis, when I made that mistake, we have been so focused and concentrated and everyone deserves this result. I was the 'flying donkey' today! I am happy that we are going into a month without racing with these memories and this points' lead, but as we saw in Indy everything can change quickly so we will be fully focused once again in Estoril when we come back."

Having held the lead in the early stages Repsol Honda's Pedrosa could not match the pace of the powerful Fiat Yamaha pair, eventually crossing the line 10 seconds behind Lorenzo to complete the podium.

Early in the race there was drama -- and heartbreak -- when Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) appeared to misjudge the first corner and crashed out, with American pair Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) unfortunately sliding out with him.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) had a fierce fight behind the rostrum finishers, with Dovizioso eventually coming out on top by 0.2secs for his third fourth place finish in a row.

The top 10 was rounded off by early race leader Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Mika Kallio (Ducati Marlboro), Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing Kawasaki), Queenslander Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) and James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), whilst temporary Pramac Racing representative Aleix Espargaró did very well in 11th place in just his second MotoGP race.

"I got a good start and got past the whole row in front of me - including Loris - but then I was really close to the incident and everyone went so slowly all of a sudden," said Vermeulen.

"I went to select first gear and got neutral instead - so that really slowed me down. Then I ran over Colin's mudguard and lost a lot of momentum which allowed a lot of guys to get back past me. Espargaro was going well in front of me and it made it difficult for me to get past him and get some consistent lap-times.

"Once I got past him my speed was quick and good enough for the top five. It's the same old thing though: we need to qualify better and get closer to the front and make life a bit easier.

"The guys all did a good job this weekend and the package worked well in the race, but our biggest downfall was outright speed because it made it difficult to pass. I am now looking forward to a short break, but I can't wait to get back racing again and challenging at the remaining GPs coming up."

Click on the following link for full results and standings in all three world championship classes.

The Australian round of MotoGP will be held at Phillip Island from October 16-18. Click on the following link to buy tickets to the event.