Italian Loris Capirossi won
the MotoGP Czech Grand Prix on Sunday after leading from start to finish.
Ducati's Loris
Capirossi of Italy lifts the trophy as he celebrates his victory in MotoGP
at the Czech motorcycling Grand Prix at Masaryk's circuit in Brno August
20, 2006. [Reuters] |
The Ducati rider, attacking
from second place on the grid, sustained a gap he built in the early stages to
finish 4.90 seconds in front of defending world champion and compatriot
Valentino Rossi, who made a slow start from pole position.
Championship leader Nicky Hayden of the United States finished ninth.
"The team decided to work a lot and we changed everything on the bike ... I
am impressed about today," said Capirossi, second last year to Rossi in Brno.
"This was one of my best races ever," added the 33-year-old veteran who set a
new track record in one minute 58.16 seconds at the 5.4-km Brno circuit.
Rossi, cheered on by the enthusiastic crowd on the 10th anniversary of his
very first Grand Prix win in Brno, fended off a late challenge from Spain's Dani
Pedrosa who took third.
"My start was not one of the best ... (but) my race was not bad," said Rossi.
"Loris was very fast from the beginning and I tried to keep my rhythm, hoping
he may have a problem some lap down the road. But that never happened."
Hayden retained his overall lead but his advantage over Pedrosa shrunk to 25
points. Rossi moved up from fourth to third overall, 38 points behind Hayden.
Capirossi is fifth 50 points behind.
"I think this is a funny championship because with five races to go we still
have five riders who are able to fight for the championship (crown)," said
Rossi, bidding to win his sixth consecutive MotoGP title.
The next championship race is due September 10 in Malaysia.
ROSSI BATTLE
With Capirossi holding a comfortable lead, Rossi was forced to engage in a
hard-fought battle with Pedrosa to defend second place.
The young Spaniard managed to overtake Rossi a few times in the final stages
before losing ground.
"We did good overtaking manoeuvres and some very aggressive ones, but in the
end I missed one corner and lost one second there with three laps remaining and
could not recover, so in the last lap I focused on finishing third," said
Pedrosa.
The 20-year-old Spaniard remained well on his way to become the Rookie of the
Year in the premier-class after winning at the Brno track in the 250cc class
last year.
