Rossi strengthens grip on title

Added on Monday, September 1st, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments

Rossi celebrates sixth win of the season.

Today is a truly fantastic day and I can't believe that I have matched Agostini's record!

Valentino Rossi equalled Giacomo Agostini’s record of 68 MotoGP wins on Sunday with victory at Misano after Casey Stoner once again crashed out.

In what was almost a carbon copy of what happened at Brno two weeks ago, defending champion Casey Stoner crashed out with 21 laps remaining after building up a three second lead over his Italian rival.

Rossi then led the procession on his home circuit to take his sixth victory of the season and increase his lead over Stoner to 75 points with just five rounds remaining.

Following the result, Rossi praised his team for their performance in such high-pressure circumstances.

“Today is a truly fantastic day and I can’t believe that I have matched Agostini’s record!” said Rossi. “He was one of my heroes so it’s quite incredible to have made it to 68 wins.

“This was quite a difficult weekend for us from the start and there has been the added pressure of a home race, which makes it harder to concentrate because there is so much distraction! Mugello has always been ‘my’ track, even though it’s further away from Tavullia, but here, after the bad time last year, we haven’t found it so easy.

“Once again today however my team gave me a very competitive bike and I felt very confident. I got a good start but then Dani came past me very fast and I then lost a lot of time getting past him and had to take some big risks - I had a big slide! Once I was past him I could see Casey, although I have to admit that today I wasn’t as confident as I was in Brno that I could win. Anyway I kept pushing because it’s not in my nature to ride for second place and I think it still could have been a battle; I was very fast once I found my rhythm.

“Then I saw Casey slide out. I’m sorry for him once again but this is very good for our championship so I am happy for our team.”

Despite now leading the championship by three clear wins, Rossi refused to get carried away.

“We have 75 points, which is a lot,” he added. “But there are still five races and I will ride to win at every one, as I always have done throughout my career.”

Rossi’s Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo reminded fans of his capabilities with an impressive second place finish whilst there was a surprising second podium on the bounce for Alice Ducati rider Toni Elias.

Britain’s James Toseland also impressed, holding off the challenge of Loris Capirossi and Andrea Dovizioso to finish sixth.

San Marino MotoGP Result:

1. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha; 44 :41.884 secs
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha; 44:45.047
3. Toni Elias (Spain) Ducati; 44:53.589
4. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda; 44:59.354
5. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki; 45:05.293
6. James Toseland (Britain) Yamaha; 45:08.092
7. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Suzuki; 45:08.708
8. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda; 45:09.475
9. Marco Melandri (Italy) Ducati; 45:15.053
10. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha; 45:18.413
11. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Ducati; 45:23.965
12. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Honda; 45:25.692
13. Anthony West (Australia) Kawasaki; 45:36.758
14. John Hopkins (U.S.) Kawasaki; 45:37.038