"Rossi in Command"

Valentino Rossi took command of the MotoGP world championship when cruise to victory in a spectacular race in Brno today. Rossi's victory on a Yamaha, his 67th in a brilliant career, was a breeze when his Ducati rival Casey Stoner made a sudden departure on lap seven.

Stoner's crash was the defending champion when the world is 1.2s in the head and control of front-running pace.

However, the fall of Stoner allowed Rossi coast to a 15-second victory ahead of the Ducati Pramac Toni Elias with Suzuki veteran Loris Capirossi third.



Shinya Nakano of Japan made a late race charge to finish fourth, 25 seconds down, with Anthony West (Kawasaki) in the fifth, just ahead of fellow Australian Chris Vermeulen Suzuki in sixth place. This was the best Western ever MotoGP result and came after series of lackluster performances in a factory ZX-RR.

Rossi's victory has opened up a 50 point lead in the championship with six races remaining and is difficult
imagine how easy to pull this advantage as it seeks to sixth world title. But Rossi remains cautious.

"The 25 extra points for the championship is perhaps more important than victory," said Rossi. "But against a rival like Stoner, with a fantastic rhythm, 50 points over six races is not enough, but for sure it's better than 25.

"After the first round I thought it was possible to have a great pace. I was convinced that the capture Stoner, I was coming, coming and then saw the red bike slide away and is much easier."

This was the first DNF in 29 races Stoner of Ducati.

"I'm disappointed but things iban as planned until the accident, I was happy with the pace and maintaining the gap with Valentino," said Stoner announced that a new record on lap five. "The accident came out of nowhere. I lost the front and went very, very quickly, my mistake."