Rossi ends victory drought

From the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The drought finally is over for Valentino Rossi. The five-time MotoGP World Champion ended the longest dry spell of his career at the top level of the sport, halting a seven-race winless streak by triumphing Sunday in the Grand Prix of China at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Rossi prevailed in a race-long duel with Dani Pedrosa, taking the checkered flag by 3.890 seconds over his Spanish rival.

“After seven races, it is a great feeling to win again. I am very happy,” Rossi said. “This is a very important result for us because, above all, I was able to ride exactly how I wanted from start to finish, and this was great fun for me.”

Defending World Champion Casey Stoner finished third on his Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone. Rookie sensation Jorge Lorenzo was fourth on his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Michelin, an incredible result considering Lorenzo raced with broken bones in both ankles suffered in a practice crash Friday.

The 2006 World Champion, Nicky Hayden led the American contingent in sixth place on his Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin. American standout Colin Edwards finished seventh on his Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha/Michelin, but it was a disappointing result after capturing his third career pole Saturday.

“I’m not particularly happy with that, if I’m being honest,” Edwards said. “At the end, we needed to refine a couple of things to make it a little bit better, but at the end of the day, I made a mistake. But if I hadn’t made it, I still wasn’t going to be on the podium. It just wasn’t going to happen today.”

John Hopkins rounded out the American finishers in 14th on his Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki/Bridgestone.

All 18 starters were confounded by changing conditions at the 3.281-mile circuit. There was heavy rain in the morning before the race, but riders started on slick tires due to warm conditions causing rapid drying of the track.

Rossi dropped to fourth on the first lap after starting second on his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, but he passed Stoner and Edwards on lap 3 of the 22-lap race for second place. Rossi then zeroed in on leader Pedrosa’s Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, passing Pedrosa on the backstraight on lap 4.

Points leader Pedrosa hung close to Rossi, and the pair clicked off a series of fast laps in lockstep before Rossi pulled away over the final three laps.

The next race is the Grand Prix of France on May 18 at Le Mans. The inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP is Sunday, Sept. 14 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

RESULTS
1. Valentino Rossi Italy Yamaha/Bridgestone
2. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda/Michelin +3.890 seconds
3. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati/Bridgestone +15.928
4. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha/Michelin +22.494
5. Marco Melandri (Italy) Ducati/Bridgestone +26.957
6. Nicky Hayden (United States) Honda/Michelin +28.369
7. Colin Edwards (United States) Yamaha/Michelin +29.780
8. Toni Elias (Spain) Ducati/Bridgestone +30.225
9. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Suzuki/Bridgestone +31.440
10. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Honda/Bridgestone +35.969
11. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda/Michelin +36.246
12. James Toseland (Great Britain) Yamaha/Michelin +43.191
13. Randy De Puniet (France) Honda/Michelin +43.442
14. John Hopkins (United States) Kawasaki/Bridgestone +45.855
15. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Ducati/Bridgestone +46.330
16. Alex De Angelis (San Marino) Honda/Bridgestone +50.593
17. Anthony West (Australia) Kawasaki/Bridgestone +1:05.593
18. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki/Bridgestone +16 laps
Fastest lap: Rossi, 1:59.273, Lap 18
Pole lap: Edwards, 1:58.139

POINTS
Riders
1. Pedrosa 81, 2. Lorenzo 74, 3. Rossi 72, 4. Stoner 56, 5. Capirossi 33, 6. Toseland 33, 7. Edwards 31, 8. Hayden 29, 9. Dovizioso 26, 10. Hopkins 26, 11. Melandri 23, 12. Nakano 22, 13. Elias 15, 14. Vermeulen 14, 15. De Puniet 11, 16. De Angelis 7, 17. Guintoli 4, 18. West 3