Rossi wins in Germany

Valentino Rossi overcame a titanic four-way fight for the race win at the Sachsenring on July 16, 2006, claiming victory after starting from 10th on the grid.

Rossi had qualified in 11th for the race, was moved one place further up the grid when Casey Stoner was ruled unfit to ride, following a crash in the morning warm-up session. In the early laps pole-sitter Dani Pedrosa was locked in a duel with front row starters Nicky Hayden and Kenny Roberts, but the battle also included Makoto Tamada and soon Marco Melandri.

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The lead group appeared to be tripping one-another up, which aided Rossi catch the leading riders. Makoto Tamada was unlucky to be tagged by the falling bike of Kenny Roberts, as the American lost the front trying to make a move into the final corner around the mid-race distance.

From then on it became a tough battle between Rossi, Melandri, Pedrosa and Hayden, with no rider able to make a break. And it all came down to the last lap, when a forceful move pushed Pedrosa wide and allowed Hayden to finish on the podium. Britain’s James Ellison finished in 13th place, while Alex Hofmann and Randy de Puniet failed to finish.

The 250cc race saw Yuki Takahashi take his second victory this season with a final corner move put him into the lead for the first time in the race. The Japanese rider held the position to the line to take Honda’s 200th win in the class, demoting Alex de Angelis, who had led since the ninth lap. Jorge Lorenzo took third to move back into the championship lead.

Fourth went to Dovizioso from Hector Barbera, Roberto Locatelli, Anthony West, Aoyama brothers Hiroshi and Shuhei and Sylvain Guintoli. British rider Dan Linfoot took 19th place on the Teng Tools Winona bike from a field of 23, as seven riders failed to finish.

In the 125cc class Mattia Pasini took the win by 0.010 seconds from team-mate and championship leader Alvaro Bautista, triumphing at the end of a three-way battle with Lukas Pesek. Pesek took third, with Hector Faubel fourth from SImone Corsi, Thomas Luthi and Nicolas Terol. Mika Kallio took eight, with Joan Olive and Sergio Gadea ninth and tenth.

Britain’s Bradley Smith took his second consecutive points finish, taking 12th after pushing hard on the final lap.