Rossi strikes again as Lorenzo cracks

Valentino Rossi got the best of his Fiat Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo again at the Czech Republic Grand Prix on Sunday, with the young Spaniard crashing out with five laps to go and handing Rossi a 50pt title lead with six races to go.

In front of a crowd of nearly 140,000 fans the Fiat Yamaha duo had built up a 10-second lead over the rest of the field, but with Lorenzo desperate for points after his Donington DNF the 22-year-old from Mallorca pushed too hard again and slid out, with Rossi eventually finishing more than 11 seconds ahead of second placed Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda).

"This is a very important victory for us! Jorge had shown all weekend that he was very strong and, when we still weren't feeling perfect after the warm-up, we decided to make one more small modification to improve the feeling with the front and the result was brilliant; my Yamaha really flew today,” said Rossi.

“I got a good start and I was able to ride exactly how I wanted, using all of the track to get the best lines. At the end, when Jorge passed me, I thought that the fight was starting and I was really ready for it, but then he made a mistake and crashed. Of course I'm sorry; it's really bad for him but I have to say that it's great for us because now we have an advantage of 50pts with six races to go.

“However it would be very stupid to relax now because Jorge is very strong and for sure we expect another hard fight with him in Indianapolis. Today I arrived at the top of the all-time podium list and I'm very proud of this, especially here at Brno where I took my first victory 13 years ago! Thanks to Yamaha and my team for today, it was a great win."

Behind Pedrosa, two more Honda riders, Toni Elías (San Carlo Gresini) and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol) dueled for the final podium slot, with Elías just winning that battle – a perfect reaction after learning he had lost his ride for next year.

Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) was fifth, and Nicky Hayden (Marlboro Ducati) bolstered his confidence in sixth.

Hayden’s Aussie teammate, Casey Stoner, is sitting out three races while he recovers from illness.

Hayden’s countryman Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) will be disappointed to have ended up seventh after qualifying fifth, and both Americans will be looking for top five results at the next round in Indianapolis.

The Brno top 10 was completed by Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini), James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda).

Australian Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) was 11th, and he now must be feeling on shaky ground for 2010 with news that Spaniard Alvaro Bautista has been signed by Suzuki on a two-year MotoGP contract.

“I got quite a good start, but on turn one I got blocked and was then passed by a few people -- that's what you get I suppose when you start from the fourth row of the grid,” said Vermeulen.

“I then got pushed very wide on the first lap and lost a few more places. Everybody was going very quickly and it took me quite a few laps to get past the guys in front that I had more speed than and by then the main pack was well away in front.

“I am a bit disappointed with my own performance and I couldn't get down to the lap-times I expected to do. I kept pushing till the end and gave it 100 percent and caught up to De Puniet and Toseland near the end, but there was not enough laps left to get past.

“We got some points from today, but it hasn't been a great weekend again for us. We have made a significant step with the bike and I am looking forward to the test tomorrow and then getting to some good tracks for me and Suzuki.”

Bautista was third in the 250cc race behind fellow Aprilia rider Mattia Pasini and world champion Marco Simoncelli (Gilera), who has also announced he’ll be MotoGP racing in 2010 with San Carlo Gresini Honda.

Nicolas Terol (Aprilia) was the 125cc winner.

Finally, Australians Arthur Sissis, Joshua Hook and Dylan Mavin were 11th, 16th and 21st in the second Red Bull Rookies race at Brno. The winner, Jakub Kornfeil, moved into the championship lead ahead of Sturla Fagerhaug.

Click on the following link for full results and standings from Brno.

Click on the following link for more information on the 2009 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, to be held at Phillip Island from October 16-18.