Misano MotoGP: Casey Stoner wins as Valentino Rossi retires

Casey Stoner has almost sealed the 2007 MotoGP world championship with a dominant display at Misano, leading from start to finish as his rivals failed to finish.

The drama and excitement was confined to the early laps of the race, as Stoner led the field away from pole position. Randy de Puniet collided with Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, leading to retirement for both riders in the first chicane, and also forcing front row starter Nicky Hayden off the circuit. Hayden will be regretting the bad start which saw him down the field and behind the pair into the first corner.

But the big disapointment was mechanical failure for Valentino Rossi on the Fiat Yamaha, as the team experimented with a new engine which failed to last the race, giving up on lap four, and forcing Rossi to retire in front of his fans at his home GP, just 10 miles from his home town.

With many of the front runners retiring, the Rizla Suzukis of Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins took second and third. Vermeulen was the only rider to be able to ride near the pace of Casey Stoner, but was unable to close enough to challenge as Stoner was able to up his pace and maintain his lead.

Marco Melandri took a brave fourth following his huge crash earlier in the weekend, with Loris Capirossi moving up from a lowly grid position to take fifth. Carlos Checa took sixth.

1. Casey Stoner.
2. Chris Vermeulen.
3. John Hopkins.
4. Marco Melandri.
5. Loris Capirossi.
6. Carlos Checa.
7. Toni Elias.
8. Anthony West.
9. Colin Edwards.
10. Shinya Nakano.
11. Alex Hofmann.
12. Sylvain Guintoli.
13. Nicky Hayden.
14. Makoto Tamada.
15. Kurtis Roberts.

DNF: Alex Barros. Valentino Rossi. Randy De Puniet. Dani Pedrosa.