Rossi Outlasts Stoner at Brno

The highly anticipated duel between Fiat Yamahas Rossi and Ducati Marlboros Stoner lasted only seven laps before Stoner crashed out at the Masaryk Circuit in Brno, Czech Republic.

The two racers continued their battle from their previous race at the Laguna Seca U.S. Grand Prix. Stoner started the Brno race with his sixth consecutive pole position with Rossi second. Stoner was fighting a fever and Rossi suffered from an ear and sinus infection, yet the pair was able to record the top two qualifying times in wet conditions.

Stoner jumped to an early lead from the start of the 22-lap race with Rossi battling Kawasaki Racings John Hopkins for second. By the end of the first lap, Stoner extended his lead to 1.1 seconds.

I lost about half a second getting past Hopkins at the start and Casey was incredibly fast at that stage, like hed already done ten laps, says Rossi.

As he did at Laguna Seca, Stoner lost control and spilled into the gravel. Unlike the USGP however, Stoners Desmosedici GP8 could not restart, handing the 2007 World Champion his first Did Not Finish since joining the Ducati team.

Obviously we are all disappointed with this result because our pace in practice was good, everything went very well this morning and we felt we could push out in front. Things were going according to plan until the crash, says Stoner. I was doing the same lap time over and over and I was quite happy with the pace I was running. The crash came out of the blue, that corner was an easy one but I lost the front and it happened very quickly, very suddenly and I didnt manage to save it. Its a hard one to explain and we will look at the data but sometimes this kind of crash happens at this level of racing and it was my mistake!

Stoners misfortune gave Rossi the lead and, with a 12-second lead over the rest of the field, his fifth win of the season.

Of course I cant count this as a complete victory because Casey fell, and I am sorry for him, but this is racing and I have to be happy with this result.

Though Stoner did not finish the race, there was another Ducati rider on the podium. Toni Elias of the Ducati satellite Alice Team finished second for his first podium of 2008 despite starting the race 13th on the grid. Stoners 2007 teammate, Loris Capirossi, also made his first appearance on the podium of the season, finishing third for Rizla Suzuki.

Also recording their best results of the season were San Carlo Honda Gresinis Shinya Nakano in fourth and Kawasaki Racings Anthony West in fifth.

The MotoGP season will continue Aug. 31 at Ducatis home circuit at Misano, Italy for the San Marino and Riminis Coast Grand Prix.