Rossi takes victory in China

Rossi, whose last victory was eight rounds ago at Portugal last year, battled in the lead group in the opening laps, taking second position from Colin Edwards as he chased leader Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa and Rossi pulled away from the rest of the field, being led by Casey Stoner, before Rossi took the lead from Pedrosa on lap 5. Rossi and Pedrosa ran in tandem as they continued to pull away, Pedrosa able to keep up with Rossi but unable to make a pass.

On lap 17 and 18 Rossi set consecutive fastest laps, and this proved too much for Pedrosa who began to slowly fall away over the closing laps as Rossi took a comfortable victory.

Casey Stoner had a lonely race in third place on his Ducati, over 15 seconds behind Rossi at the chequered flag, a surprising result after showing competitive pace throughout the weekend.

Jorge Lorenzo's remarkable weekend continued, taking fourth place after dropping down the order at the start of the race, having to fight his way back past the other riders during the race while continuing to ride injured.

After a terrible start to the season, fifth for Marco Melandri must almost feel like a win, having run as high as fourth in the second half of the race before being passed by Lorenzo.

He was under pressure at the finish however, just holding off Nicky Hayden who had an up and down race, Colin Edwards who made two mistakes at the hairpin, Toni Elias and Loris Capirossi.

Pos Rider                Bike        Tyre           Gap
 1. Valentino Rossi      Yamaha      (B)      44:08.061
 2. Daniel Pedrosa       Honda       (M)         +3.890
 3. Casey Stoner         Ducati      (B)        +15.928
 4. Jorge Lorenzo        Yamaha      (M)        +22.494
 5. Marco Melandri       Ducati      (B)        +26.957
 6. Nicky Hayden         Honda       (M)        +28.369
 7. Colin Edwards        Yamaha      (M)        +29.780
 8. Toni Elías           Ducati      (B)        +30.225
 9. Loris Capirossi      Suzuki      (B)        +31.440
10. Shinya Nakano        Honda       (B)        +35.969
11. Andrea Dovizioso     Honda       (M)        +36.246
12. James Toseland       Yamaha      (M)        +43.191
13. Randy de Puniet      Honda       (M)        +43.442
14. John Hopkins         Kawasaki    (B)        +45.855
15. Sylvain Guintoli     Ducati      (B)        +46.330
16. Alex de Angelis      Honda       (B)        +50.593
17. Anthony West         Kawasaki    (B)      +1:05.593

Not classified

    Rider                Bike        Tyres         Gap
    Chris Vermeulen      Suzuki      (B)         6 laps