Brno MotoGP: Valentino Rossi victorious

Valentino Rossi has extended his championship lead to 50 points after winning the Brno GP, while rival Casey Stoner had to retire.

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Casey Stoner led from the very first corner of the race, and had a consistent lead of one second over Valentino Rossi when he crashed on lap seven.

The regning world champion remounted but the crash had obviously broken something on his Ducati and he was forced to retire.

The Brno race threw up a lot of surprises, with Bridgestone dominating all weekend. Top Michelin finisher was Andrea Dovizioso, who finished in ninth place.

In a surprise second place was Toni Elias on the Alice Ducati, who on one lap made up six places. Rounding out the podium was Loris Capirossi, in his first race back after injury.

Honda rider Shinya Nakano crossed the line in fourth ahead of Anthony West and Chris Vermeulen respectively as he tested out the 2009 satelitte Honda.

The Tech 3 Yamaha pairing of James Toseland and Colin Edwards finished 13th and 14th, with only Dani Pedrosa and Randy De Puniet crossing the line behind them.

Returning rider John Hopkins enjoyed an early run of pace, holding third position for some time, but he was unable to hold this and eventually finished 11th.

Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo rounded out the top ten.