Lorenzo had struggled with grip issues all weekend here and he made a mistake at the start, braking too late and cannoning into the back of Nicky Hayden. The impact damaged his front brake and he was unable to slow down for the corner, losing the rear and tumbling into the gravel trap. He was taken to the Clinica Mobile and treated for mild cuts to his nose and the little finger of his right hand, but there were no serious injuries and nothing that will affect his being able to ride next week.

Today’s result means that Rossi now has a lead over Lorenzo of 38 points with two races left. He will have his first chance to clinch the World Championship title at the next round, which comes at Sepang in Malaysia in one week’s time.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 2nd Time: +1.935
“This was one of the most fun and definitely one of the most important second places of my career! We were on the limit for the whole race and there were some amazing slides, it was ‘old-style’ racing. To have a race like this in the sunshine at Phillip Island is an incredible emotion and I really enjoyed myself. Of course I wanted to win but I had to use my head a bit and once I’d seen that Lorenzo was out, I knew that if I made a mistake it would be a big disaster! Anyway I tried in places but Stoner was a bit faster than me. I didn’t give up until the end but Casey really deserved this win; I want to give him my congratulations. We leave with twenty important points and now the championship lead is big and we can try to finish it in Malaysia, where we will have the first ‘match point’.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“It was another very strong weekend from Colin and he rode another hard race. Had he made a better start then I’m convinced he would have been able to fight with de Angelis for fourth place. His lap times were better than Alex for most of the race and it would have been a good battle. Unfortunately we only gained one point on Dovizioso, but Colin is still fighting hard for fifth in the championship and there is still a lot to fight for. With James, I understand his frustration. I went with him to Race Direction to look at the start and honestly speaking, it was a very marginal decision. We have to respect the decision of Race Direction and I am convinced that James will bounce back strongly in Malaysia next weekend.”

After the boiling heat of the last two days the temperature today was brought right down by a strong wind, which meant track conditions were quite different to how they had been so far. Rossi, starting from pole, dropped to third at the start whilst Lorenzo narrowly escaped a pile up, which claimed three other riders. The Spaniard then got in front of the Italian for a few laps as Dani Pedrosa and Toni Elias battled it out for the lead, but on lap five all changed as Rossi moved into second, passing both his team-mate and Elias, and Lorenzo despatched Elias a few corners later to take third.

Rossi was flying by now and took the lead next time around, gradually opening out a gap as Lorenzo struggled to get by Pedrosa. It took the gutsy 22-year-old six laps to overtake his compatriot and by the time he was through Rossi was two seconds clear and Lorenzo had to settle for second and his tenth podium of the season. Rossi, who lives just 10 km from the track, eventually crossed the line 2.416 seconds ahead, taking his eleventh career win on Italian soil and his sixth of the season to a rapturous welcome from his passionate fans.

The gap from Rossi to Lorenzo is now 30 points, whilst Yamaha lead both the Teams and Manufacturers standings by large margins. There is now a four-week break to the next round, at Estoril in Portugal, with four races remaining in total.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 1st Time: 44′32.882
“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. 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.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“It was a very disappointing day, Colin had the pace for at least fourth position although you have to see the chequered flag to get a result. Before the race I sat down with Colin and told him that it looks good for him but I was worried about the Gresini Honda riders who need to have good results. Alex de Angelis is a nice guy but this is not the correct way to go racing, he did not do it on purpose but this type of incident can be very dangerous. It is a pity because we have lost points in the team championship and now Colin is sixth in the riders’ championship. James lost ground early in the race but his lap times were very close to the battle for fourth and fifth place but he had too much ground to make up. Now we cross our fingers for better results in the final four races.”

Dani Pedrosa took the hole shot with Rossi in close pursuit but Lorenzo got a poor start, forcing him to make one of his favourite ‘por fuera’ moves, around the outside of three riders. The leading trio quickly pulled several seconds ahead of the chasing pack but on lap four Pedrosa slid out, leaving the Yamaha pair alone once again at the front. There was little between the rival team-mates and on the ninth of 27 laps Lorenzo made a brilliant move on Rossi, passing him on the brakes into turn one. Just two laps later the World Champion ran slightly wide and, finding himself on a dirty part of the track, lost the front and went down. He remounted in 16th place but a problem with his throttle forced him to retire soon after.

With no other challengers in sight, Lorenzo just had to bring his number 99 Yamaha home safely and he did so in fine style to win the second Indianapolis Grand Prix, in the Centenary year of the historic track. The youngster has now cut Rossi’s lead to 25 points with five rounds remaining and just one week before the second of Rossi’s home races at Misano in Italy.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1st Time: 47′13.592
“This is fantastic for me and for my team! I’ve had two crashes in a row but now I’ve won, and my closest rivals have crashed instead. Of course I’m sorry for them but these are the highs and lows of racing and it’s an amazing result for me. I was strong all weekend and I really want to thank my team for giving me a great bike. I had a hard start and I had to try very hard to pass people and get back to third, but then I had a good rhythm and I was able to go with Valentino and Dani. Once Dani had gone I knew it would be a hard fight between me and Valentino and in fact when he crashed I didn’t realise for a while, because I misread my pit-board and thought it said +0! Anyway, my bike was great and from then on it was quite easy, I just stayed focused. I had great fun on the slow-down lap with the fans and I am so happy to win here at this amazing track. The championship was almost gone but in one day things have changed a lot. It will be hard but we won’t give up!”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“A very good weekend for us to have two riders in the top six. Colin had a great start and was right with the front group which was very exciting for us, it was pity that with some small problems he couldn’t follow the pace. And special congratulations to James, it wasn’t an easy weekend for him and he made a very good recovery from tenth on the grid. It was a shame for the show that both Pedrosa and Rossi crashed but for our team we got some very good points to enable us to consolidate fourth position in the Team Championship. And congratulations to Jorge to win after all the problems he has had recently.”

A stunning day in the Czech Republic saw 130,000 fans make the trip to watch what was expected to be another thrilling duel between the Yamaha pair. Rossi got a great start from pole position but Lorenzo, starting alongside him, dropped a couple of positions and had to battle back to take third first time around. On lap four the Mallorcan moved past Dani Pedrosa to claim second and he and Rossi gradually began to clear a gap from Pedrosa and the chasing pack.

The middle part of the race was largely uneventful, with Rossi retaining a more or less consistent gap of about half a second from his team-mate, but just after the half way point Lorenzo improved his rhythm and suddenly started to look threatening. The two were by now pushing each other hard, lapping nearly two seconds faster than the other riders and on lap 17 Lorenzo made his move, passing Rossi early on to claim the lead and set the fastest lap of the race. The crowd was gearing up for a tense finale but on the next lap Lorenzo made a mistake in braking, ran wide and lost the front, sliding into the gravel to leave Rossi 14 seconds clear at the front. All the 30-year-old had to do then was bring his M1 safely home which he duly did, easing up to cross the line 11.766 seconds ahead of Pedrosa, with Toni Elias back in third.

Another 25 points for Rossi and zero for Lorenzo means he is now 50 points clear at the top of the championship, whilst Lorenzo stays second, 12 points ahead of the absent Stoner and 27 ahead of Pedrosa. The next stop for the team is the Indianapolis Grand Prix in two weeks time.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 1st Time: 43′08.991
“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. 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 50 points 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.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“You can’t be disappointed when both Colin and James finish inside the top ten having given their maximum again in what was a demanding race. But it was a little bit disappointing, particularly for Colin who was doing very well all weekend. I don’t think he was 100 per cent still after his illness but it was another strong result for him. James again was much better in the race than he was in practice and I’m pleased that he put in a lot of effort in the second half of the race. If he can sol ve some of the problems he’s experiencing I’m convinced we will see him achieving much better results. Now we move to Indianapolis which is an important race for Colin, for Yamaha and for our sponsor Monster, so hopefully we can be fighting back closer to the top five. I’d like to congratulate Valentino because he again proved he is the master. Yamaha was unbelievably strong again today and it was just a shame Jorge crashed because everybody was looking forward to a strong fight for the world championship to the end.”

Rossi dropped one place to third at the start but Lorenzo, starting from pole, slipped right back through the field to eighth after the first corner. Both riders quickly began to make up ground however, the Italian passing Casey Stoner into the corkscrew and the Spaniard overtaking three riders to cross the line in fifth first time around. It was a short lived stint in second for Rossi as Stoner passed him back into turn one on the third lap while Pedrosa began to open up a big gap at the front of the field. There was no change for several laps until Andrea Dovizioso crashed on lap seven, elevating Lorenzo to fourth and giving the youngster clear air in front just as he began to find his rhythm. On lap twelve Rossi made his decisive pass on Casey Stoner and re-took second place and he immediately set about trying to close a gap of nearly three seconds to Pedrosa.

Over the next few laps however it was Lorenzo who was the man on the move and the brave Mallorcan gradually began to move closer to Stoner until he was able to make a brilliant pass on the brakes into the final corner to move into third. With Rossi unable to make much headway into Pedrosa’s lead at that point, another Fiat Yamaha showdown began to brew as lap-by-lap Lorenzo edged closer to his team-mate. With four laps to go the 22-year-old saw his chance and tried to pass the World Champion at the final corner, but he suffered a big slide in the process and ran wide, letting Rossi back through and dropping back over a second. The drama wasn’t over yet however as on the final lap Rossi suddenly found himself within striking distance of Pedrosa and a final-corner overtake looked to be on the cards, but in the end he was just a couple of tenths too far off and crossed the line 0.344 seconds adrift, with Lorenzo 1.926 seconds behind him.

Rossi extends his lead at the top of the championship to nine points over Lorenzo, who in turn stretches the gap from Stoner to seven points. There is a now a two week break before the MotoGP paddock returns to Europe for another double-header at the Sachsenring in Germany followed by Donington in the UK.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 2nd Time: +0.344
“The first half of the race was quite difficult because we weren’t at 100% today. I didn’t expect Dani to be so fast but he was very strong and there wasn’t much I could do to go with him! The last ten laps were very exciting because Lorenzo was pushing me so hard that I had to really make another step and then Dani slowed down and suddenly he was right in front of me! I thought there was a chance to pass on the final corner but unfortunately I was just too far off and it was too much of a risk. Second is good today because we were not in perfect shape here, we missed something in the setting and this is always a hard track anyway, so we have to be happy with these twenty points. We have extended the championship lead so it’s a good result for us and we have shown that we are still strong this year even when things are not perfect. This consistency is the most important thing for the championship. Now I am happy that we have some time to rest because these have been a hard two weeks and the next two races are very important because we are all so close!”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“It was a tough weekend but Colin still had a good race. He had a good pace and while it wasn’t fast enough to be on the podium he got some good points and now he’s fifth in the championship and still the top independent team rider. It was also his 100th point-scoring finish in MotoGP and I’m pleased that he has achieved that with the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha Team. Colin has done a fantastic job for our team and it shows what a consistent performer he has been for Yamaha. For James it was a big disappointment because although it was a difficult weekend I think a top ten finish could have been possible. It was a marginal jump start but that’s the rule, it is the same for everybody. Unfortunately he didn’t see the signal to ride through the pits, so he learned a lesson today.”