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Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi won a sixth World Championship crown in the Japanese MotoGP at Motegi after winning from fourth on the grid.

His rivals Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa finished second and third respectively. A podium would have been sufficient for the Italian to take his first title for three years, but he opted to claim it in style.

It did not start so well. Ducati Marlboro man Stoner came through to snatch first position from pole sitter Jorge Lorenzo, Rossi’s team-mate, as he was slow off the line.

Repsol Honda pair Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden were second and third and Sheffield rider James Toseland eighth after making up two early places.

Lorenzo remained ahead of Rossi, who seemed tentative; however by the second lap he was up into third and bearing down on the leading pair.

Pedrosa, who started in fifth, had taken top spot on lap two but Stoner sneaked up the inside to claim it back on lap four.

There was little action throughout the field - Marco Melandri’s trip to the gravel and drop down the order one of the few moments of drama - but at the front the action was intriguing.

Rossi reeled in Pedrosa by the 10th tour of the track and the Spaniard dropped off to fight off countryman Lorenzo as ‘The Doctor’ went after reigning champion Stoner.

Rossi took the lead halfway through the race, with 12 laps still to run; Stoner could not keep up with the Yamaha rider as he eased home for an eighth world title in all and sixth in the premier class.

Toseland evenutally finished 11th on the Tech 3 Yamaha as Shinya Nakano, fellow rookie Andrea Dovizioso and John Hopkins passed him, the latter in the final laps.

Stoner’s second place gives him an 11-point advantage over Pedrosa in the fight for second in the championship.

His first passion was go-karts but follows his father Graziano by taking up motocycling and races in his first grand prix with Aprilia in 1996 in the 125cc category.

* Moves up to the 250cc category and seals World Championship in 1999 with Aprilia.

* Takes the 500cc world title with Honda in 2001 before winning the 2002 and 2003 championships as the event becomes MotoGP.

* Switches to Yamaha and secures the 2004 and 2005 world titles to become one of the sport’s all time greats.

* Suffers disappointing 2006 and 2007 seasons but pledges to stick with Yamaha and his decision is justified when he surges to the 2008 championship.

* Nicknamed ‘The Doctor’ in Italy, he has become one of the country’s most loved sportsmen despite a tax evasion probe in 2007 which resulted him in paying a 35 million-euro bill.

* Known for his colourful helmets, Rossi has also shown an interest in Formula One and rally cars, media often speculating that one day he will swap two wheels for four.
Eurosport

Whilst title rival Casey Stoner fell by the wayside, Valentino Rossi extended his winning streak to three at Misano.

A home victory and the retirement of rival Casey Stoner at Misano left Valentino Rossi one step closer to a sixth MotoGP World Championship, and his fans in celebratory mood amidst the yellow grandstands. The Fiat Yamaha rider was able to avenge his 2007 Misano disappointment and add the circuit to his list of successful tracks, with only the next circuit on the calendar –Indianapolis- missing from his impressive resume.

Rossi was, for the third race in succession, starting from second on the grid for the Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. He could do nothing to stop title rival Stoner from taking the holeshot early, however, as the reigning World Champion established a large gap even before the first time that the riders crossed the start/finish line. Rossi was making up ground by the seventh lap, but the fans were denied a fascinating direct battle between the two when Stoner lost control of his Ducati Desmosedici GP8 and –as he did at Brno two weeks ago- saw his race come to an early conclusion.

From then on, Rossi completed the race in relatively untroubled fashion, bringing his Yamaha M1 home safely and taking his 68th premier class victory, in doing so equaling the record of MotoGP Legend Giacomo Agostini. Three consecutive race victories, a 75 point advantage in the standings and just five events remaining in 2008 mean that `The Doctor´ can now breathe a little easier after this latest triumph.

Teammate Jorge Lorenzo made his podium return at Misano with the runner-up spot, his first rostrum finish since the visit to Le Mans back in May. The MotoGP rookie was unable to catch up with his fellow Fiat Yamaha rider, but nonetheless had a comfortable advantage of his own over third place finisher Toni Elias.

Alice Team rider Elias followed his second place at Brno with another rostrum, the first time that he has taken consecutive podiums in the premier class. He held off another Spaniard in Repsol Honda´s Dani Pedrosa, whose teammate Nicky Hayden decided to miss both the warmup and race due to his persistent foot injury. Pedrosa closed the gap between himself and second placed Stoner to just two points.

Chris Vermeulen rounded off the top six for Rizla Suzuki, ahead of James Toseland, Loris Capirossi, Andrea Dovizioso, Marco Melandri and Colin Edwards.

San Marino´s MotoGP representative Alex de Angelis lasted just over a lap of his home race, and his disappointment was shared by LCR Honda´s Randy de Puniet, who also hit the ground early on.

source;motgp.com

British World Supersport rider Craig Jones has died following his accident in Sunday's British round of the World Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch.
The 23 year old rider lost control of his matching while battling for the lead at Clark curve, he suffered severe head injuries after being clipped by Andrew Pitt's Ten Kate Honda, the race was immediately stopped.
He was rushed to hospital by air ambulance but lost his fight for life today,Craig was a rising star of motorcycle racing and will be missed by all involved in the sport, our condolences go out to his family, partner and friends.

If you go down to North Wales today, you really better go in disguise, as the local police force has leased four unmarked Honda motorcycles to crack down on speeding motorcyclists.

A spokeswoman for North Wales Police told MCN the motorcycles (two Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade's and two Honda VFR800's) would be used for covert operations, but declined to clarify what those operations might be.

“The bikes are part of an ongoing campaign to reduce motorcycle casualties,” she said.

The force says consultation with motorcyclists visiting the area has shown strong support for covert operations. “They have been of the overwhelming opinion that covert speed enforcement works and is an important deterrent.”