motorcycle news - Monday 19th May 2008
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Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi wins in France
Yamaha's Valentino Rossi followed his win in China with victory at the French MotoGP to move to the top of the world championship standings. The seven-time world champion never looked back after overtaking Casey Stoner on lap eight, becoming the first rider to win two races this season.
Jorge Lorenzo did superbly to finish in second place ahead of Colin Edwards, despite having two fractured ankles.
James Toseland crashed out on lap three after colliding with Andrea Dovizioso.
Rossi controlled the race perfectly to move to the top of the championship standings on 97 points, three clear of Dani Pedrosa and Lorenzo, who are tied in second place.
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He then celebrated by doing a lap of honour with the legendary Angel Nieto, whose mark of 90 career victories Rossi had equalled.
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Nieto had special leathers made up for the occasion - the pair lie second to Giacomo Agostini in the all-time rankings.
"It's a long time since I won two races in a row, it means we are back in business and back on pace," Rossi told BBC Sport.
"It has been a difficult period for the team but now we are so strong."
"We are now at the top of the championship so we must stay concentrated and have more wins like this."
"I had quite a lot of pressure because Angel was waiting with the special leathers to join me on the bike, so I really needed to win."
Lorenzo rode through the pain barrier after fracturing his ankles during free practice for the Chinese Grand Prix two weeks ago and suffering another crash in practice at Le Mans.
The 21-year-old Spaniard said: "I'm going to smile because we must celebrate this and not pay attention to the pain.
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"All my body is in pain but I'm so happy. It was a difficult and very aggressive race but I was determined to stay on the bike."
Results from the French MotoGP:
1 V Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 44mins 30.799secs
2 J Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 44:35.796
3 C Edwards (US) Yamaha 44:37.604
4 D Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 44:40.956
5 C Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki 44:52.561
6 A Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 44:53.194
7 L Capirossi (Ita) Suzuki 44:58.605
8 N Hayden (US) Honda 44:58.794
9 R de Puniet (Fra) Honda 45:00.143
10 S Nakano (Jpn) Honda 45:01.621
DNF J Toseland (GB) Yamaha
World championship standings:
1 V Rossi (It) 97 pts
2 D Pedrosa (Sp) 94
= J Lorenzo (Sp) 94
4 C Stoner (Aus) 56
5 C Edwards (US) 47
6 L Capirossi (It) 42
7 N Hayden (USA) 37
8 A Dovizioso (It) 36
9 J Toseland (GB) 33
10 S Nakano (Jpn) 28
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