Just one week after his stunning wet weather win at Donington Park in England, reigning MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi was back on top of the podium at the Sachsenring circuit as he snatched victory from Sete Gibernau (Honda) on the final lap of the German Grand Prix today. The tenth round of the 2005 campaign and Rossi’s 150th Grand Prix appearance in all was stopped after five laps when John Hopkins (Suzuki) crashed out and left his machine strewn in the middle of the circuit. By that time Rossi had made his way up to second place and when the race restarted he quickly began to pile the pressure on early race leader Nicky Hayden, taking the lead on the second lap.

One lap later Gibernau passed both Hayden and Rossi, who was then relegated back to third place by the American on lap 13. The Italian mounted a typical late charge, passing Hayden and closing in on Gibernau during the closing stages of the race as he prepared an attack on the final lap. It proved unnecessary however, as a mistake from Gibernau in turn one handed the Italian his 76th Grand Prix victory, moving him third in the all-time Grand Prix winners list, level with Mike Hailwood. Whilst Rossi now leads the championship standings by 120 points over Marco Melandri (Honda), his Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards finished a difficult weekend with eighth position in the race today, and drops to fourth overall behind Gibernau. The Texan nonetheless remains in close contention at the top end of the championship table, where four riders are separated by just four points.

It was a long weekend for Fortuna Yamaha Team riders Toni Elias and Ruben Xaus, who both struggled to find a comfortable set-up, qualifying 17th and 18th respectively. Xaus’ qualifying rhythm was interrupted as he sought treatment for an injury to his left leg, while his team-mate continues to nurse an injured left hand sustain in a crash at Le Mans.

The early departure of seven riders in the field helped the Spanish riders up the points board as they finished just outside the top ten.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team) 1st
“It’s been a difficult weekend for sure. On Friday we arrived with a bad setting for this track and had some big problems. The team and Yamaha have done a fantastic job to recover from a bad situation and have worked step-by-step to resolve the issues. It was a hard race throughout, in some places we were fast and some slower, but the bike was working well after all the work we put in yesterday. At one point I lost second place to Nicky, but luckily I was able to take it back and then I prepared for a last lap battle with Sete. Then Sete made a small mistake at the first braking marker, which is an easy thing to do when you are racing at this speed, and I was able to take the lead. I don’t know if I would have won if he hadn’t made the mistake, but for sure I would have tried! I made a special flag to apologise to Mike Hailwood for matching his 76 wins in Grand Prix, because when another rider arrives at your level, it’s always disappointing! Mike is one of the greatest riders ever, and now I am beside him on the all-time winners podium in Grand Prix, which is a fantastic achievement!”

Davide Brivio, Gauloises Yamaha Team Director
“We won a race at the end of what has been a difficult weekend, so this is another great achievement. Now we go on holiday with an even stronger lead – after ten races we are leading all the categories: the rider, team and manufacturers’ championships. Also Colin remains close to the top of the championship. He is in good shape at the top of the table with all the best riders, despite not having such a good race today. Now everyone will take a well-deserved rest after the first half of the season, and let’s hope we can return in Brno and continue in the same way for the second half of the year.”