Rossi wins in Shanghai
Valentino Rossi has won the first ever Chinese GP at a rain soaked Shanghai track with Olivier Jacque taking an impressive second place for Kawasaki.
Jacque was the only rider able to keep up with Rossi’s pace on the drenched track and finished just 1.7 seconds behind the world champion giving Kawasaki it’s best ever GP finish.
Third place on the podium went to Movistar Honda rider Marco Melandri who finished almost 17 seconds down on Rossi after passing his team-mate Sete Gibernau.
Gibernau finished just over two seconds behind his less experienced team-mate while struggling with his tyres in the damp conditions. He had to fight for his fourth place though with factory Honda rider Max Biaggi hounding him down.
Stand in rider Jurgen van den Goorbergh, who is replacing the injured Makoto Tamada on the Konica Minolta Honda, had a surprisingly good return to GPs finishing in 6th place after three years in World Supersport.
John Hopkins finished in 7th place on the Suzuki while team-mate Kenny Roberts crashed out from the lead on lap four.
James Elisson scored some decent points for the behind schedule WCM Blata team, finishing the race in 13th place.
Get a full behind the scenes report on all the weekends racing action, only in MCN, out Wednesday May 4.
Official finishing positions:
Valentino Rossi
Olivier Jacque
Marco Melandri
Sete Gibernau
Max Biaggi
Jurgen Vd Goorbergh
John Hopkins
Colin Edwards
Nicky Hayden
Ruben Xaus
Alex Barros
Loris Capirossi
James Ellison
Toni Elias
Tohru Ukawa
Roberto Rolfo
DNF:
Franco Battaini
Kenny Roberts
Troy Bayliss
Carlos Checa
Shinya Nakano
Championship points:
Rossi Valentino , 70
Melandri Marco , 45
Barros Alex , 43
Biaggi Max , 36
Gibernau Sete , 33
Edwards Colin , 25
Jacque Olivier , 20
Nakano Shinya , 19
Checa Carlos , 17
Hayden Nicky , 16
Bayliss Troy , 15
Capirossi Loris , 14
Xaus Ruben , 12
Hopkins John , 11
Vd Goorbergh , 10
Tamada Makoto , 8
Elias Toni , 8
Hofmann Alex , 5
Roberts Kenny , 4
Ellison James , 4
Rolfo Roberto , 4
Ukawa Tohru , 1
