16/09/07- Valentino Rossi scored a spectacular victory in one of his favorite venues.
The Italian superstar had to fend off Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa in the process. The pair dueled for the top spot during the final stages of the race. Rossi eventually triumphed by just 0.175s ahead of the Spanish youngster.
The win marked Valentino Rossi’s fourth victory of the season and his first since the Dutch GP in Assen last June. The result is undoubtedly very good news for the Fiat Yamaha team since Rossi was using the updated Yamaha M1 800cc prototype fitted with the new pneumatic engine.
The outcome of the race meant that championship leader Casey Stoner would momentarily put his celebration on hold. The young Australian looked poised in seizing his first ever world title after qualifying for second place just ahead of Valentino Rossi. But as the race moved on, it was clear that Rossi had the package to be highly competitive throughout. Stoner made the sensible decision to ride maturely and bring his Ducati home in third. As it stands, Stoner still holds a massive advantage of 76 points ahead of Valentino Rossi.
Nicky Hayden finished the race in a decent fourth place also for the Repsol Honda Team. The reigning champion was able to reverse his heart-breaking outcome of last-year’s race here. The American was able to nab his first pole-position this season as well as finish just outside the podium. Hayden’s finishing position is confirms the steady improvement of Michelin to competitive form as three of the top four finishers were Michelin shod.
Honda Gresini’s Marco Melandri took a solid fifth place finish. Rizla Suzuki’s John Hopkins also had a solid run to finish sixth despite starting in his lowest grid position this season down in tenth.
Pedrosa’s compatriots, Honda LCR’s Carlos Checa and Honda Gresini’s Toni Elias finished seventh and eighth respectively. Loris Capirossi brought home the second of the Ducatis in ninth. Rossi’s teammate Colin Edwards rounded up the top-ten.
Although Rossi has admitted that his title chances are very slim this year, the Italian kept his promise that he was never giving up the fight. With the victory in Estoril, Rossi has only reminded us further why he is considered one of the very best indeed.
For Casey Stoner, today’s outcome was merely delaying the inevitable. The Australian has to inconceivably fail to score points in the last few races (with Rossi winning them all), before he could lose the championship battle. With the manner he drove throughout the season, Stoner has truly established himself as certainly one of the premier riders of the premier class.
