MotoGP RACE REPORT: GRAND PRIX OF FRANCE

INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, – Valentino Rossi is rolling again in MotoGP after his second consecutive victory, winning the French Grand Prix on May 18 to make more grand prix motorcycle racing history.

Five-time MotoGP World Champion Rossi, from Italy, tied Angel Nieto of Spain as the second-winningest grand prix rider in history with his 90th career victory in mixed conditions at the Le Mans circuit. On his cool-down lap after the victory, Rossi let Nieto climb aboard his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, with Nieto guiding the bike while Rossi rode on the back.

“To arrive at 90 wins like this and equal Angel’s record is a dream for me,” Rossi said. “It was great to ride with him – I think maybe with some practice he can be as fast as us! One-hundred eighty victories together on one bike is quite impressive, I think.”

Rossi also took the championship lead by three points over teammate Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa with his second victory of the season.

Lorenzo, from Spain, finished second on his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Michelin, 4.997 seconds behind Rossi. Lorenzo continued to show tremendous courage, riding with two broken ankles suffered in a practice crash earlier this month at the Chinese Grand Prix. Lorenzo also crashed twice during practice for this event.

American Colin Edwards finished third after starting second on his Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Michelin, 6.805 seconds behind Rossi. It was his first podium position since finishing second in June 2007 at the British Grand Prix.

“I honestly thought that today was going to be my day with the pace I’d been able to run all weekend,” Edwards said. “I was fastest in free practice, fastest in the warm-up and second on the grid, so I had high expectations. I really thought I could have got my first win out there, but I’ll still settle for third because it was a tough race.”

Americans Nicky Hayden and John Hopkins placed eighth and 17th, respectively. Hopkins dropped out after 16 laps due to a broken chain on his Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki/Bridgestone.

Rossi started fourth and fell to fifth on the first lap. But he passed Hayden, Edwards and Pedrosa to move into second behind defending World Champion Casey Stoner. Rossi then picked off Stoner for the lead on Lap 8, pulling away from the pack until light rain over the final third of the 28-lap forced him to back off the pace.

Lorenzo dropped from fifth to 10th after Lap 1 but gradually climbed through the field in the later laps. Engine problems removed Stoner from contention on Lap 21.

The next race is the Grand Prix of Italy on June 1 at Mugello. The inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP is Sunday, Sept. 14 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.