Rossi Cruises To Victory After Stoner's Fall, Expands Lead To 50 Points

INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008 – When Casey Stoner fell out of the lead of the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic, Valentino Rossi knew his hopes for a sixth MotoGP World Championship were on the rise.

Rossi cruised to victory Aug. 17 at the Automotodrom Brno after Stoner fell while leading on Lap 7. Rossi trailed by about a second when reigning World Champion Stoner crashed on his Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone and could not continue. Rossi then rode his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone to a 15.004-second victory over surprise runner-up Toni Elias on the Alice Team Ducati/Bridgestone. Loris Capirossi finished third on the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki/Bridgestone.

It was the second consecutive victory for Rossi, who extended his lead to 50 points over Stoner in the standings with six races remaining in the season. Stoner saw a string of six consecutive podium finishes this season end with his crash.

“I was anticipating a very hard battle if I did catch him, so when I saw the red bike slide out I could hardly believe it – this made things a lot easier for me!” Rossi said of Stoner’s crash. “We are 50 points clear, which is a lot. However, we know that 50 points is still not always enough when you have someone as strong as Casey, and so we won’t relax.”

The next event is the Grand Prix of San Marino on Sunday, Aug. 31 at Misano, Italy, followed by the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sunday, Sept. 14 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Stoner’s crash ended what appeared to be a strong rebound from his disappointing loss to Rossi in their epic duel at the last event, the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on July 20 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Stoner led Friday practice at the freshly repaved Brno circuit and won the pole by a stunning 1.189 seconds in wet conditions Saturday.

“The crash came out of the blue,” Stoner said. “That corner was an easy one, but I lost the front and it happened very quickly, very suddenly, and I didn't manage to save it. It was my mistake. We knew that we needed to win this race – and more – in order to close down Valentino’s advantage, so this makes the championship very difficult for us.”

It was a tough race for American riders. John Hopkins finished 11th on his Kawasaki Racing Team. Hopkins qualified third after missing three consecutive races due to injury but struggled with tire grip after a strong start in the race.

Colin Edwards finished 14th on the Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha/Michelin, also struggling with tire grip. American Nicky Hayden did not compete in this race due to a heel injury suffered earlier this month in the X Games at Los Angeles. 2006 World Champion Hayden is expected to return to action for the Repsol Honda Team Aug. 31 at the Grand Prix of San Marino.