Donington Park in the heart of England is a fabulous circuit. Not just because it's in England, either. It combines fast. flowing sections which look straightforward but are really very hard to perfect with long, very fast straights and breaks them up with a couple of extremely tight, very low speed corners which manage somehow not to spoil the flow of a lap. It also has that most important element - major elevation changes. In this case a couple of hundred feet from highest to lowest, with a nice blind off-camber corner thrown in on the way up. It's a circuit which favours experience and knowledge, though it doesn't hurt to have a lot of power as well.

Unfortunately, being midsummer in England the weather can be somewhat unpredictable. So a mix of rain, wind and sunshine greeted the MotoGP paddock when it opened for business. Victims of the variable conditions included Dani Pedrosa, already sore from a huge crash in Spain earlier in the week, and James Toseland who added the pressure of a home round to the enormous pressure he already puts himself under. But Casey Stoner took it all in his stride, the World Champion setting himself up at the top of the timesheets and staying there for all but one session. Valentino Rossi, one of the most successful ever riders at Donington, also breezed through practice with Nicky Hayden and Alex de Angelis joining another Donington favourite - Colin Edwards - in the upper reaches of the timesheets.

But as we regularly remind ourselves, practice and qualifying are two very different things. And on a wet circuit there are very few people who can live with Valentino Rossi. Especially at Donington, where he appears to have a dispensation to break the laws of physics. Chris Vermeulen can get close, though. Close enough to get the Suzuki onto the front row for the first time this season. But Casey Stoner and the Ducati have gelled really well with Donington and qualified nearly half a second faster than Rossi in an astonishing display of virtuosity. Row two saw old rivals Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards side by side with Andrea Dovizioso while behind them Anthony West managed by far his best qualifying spot of the season heading the third row from Ben Spies, the AMA Superbike rider doing an astonishing job in his first ever MotoGP ride deputising for the injured Loris Capirossi, and Dani Pedrosa who really doesn't seem to have got it together this time. James Toseland had a less satisfactory time and found himself back in sixteenth after battling setup problems all weekend. The Englishman has also struggled to get to grips with the different lines needed around a circuit he knows so well on a superbike. The higher corner speeds and drive available on a MotoGP machine mean that the familiar lines he knows so well just don't work so in some ways it is harder than having to learn the whole circuit from scratch. Whatever the reason, though, starting from sixteenth is not where he would want to be and gave him a mountain to climb on raceday.

Talking of raceday, the sun came out and burnt the heads of the ninety thousand odd fans who turned out to cheer Toseland on to what they hoped would be a classic victory. Certainly the omens were good as young Scott Redding took the chequered flag in the 125cc race and gave us the chance to hear our national anthem for the first time in far too many years at a GP event. And when the lights went out, though it was Stoner who got the holeshot and fired the Ducati off the line like a big red bullet, hotly pursued by Rossi, Toseland looked as though he was going to make the fans' day as he made an astonishing half a dozen places up in the dash to the first corner. Then it all went horribly wrong. A slightly over-keen application of the throttle saw the Sheffield rider highside out of contention on the very first corner, smacking his head and right hand into the tarmac and snapping off the right footpeg on the Yamaha. Then Toseland showed one of the things that makes him real championship material. In his own words:" I could have just cruised back to the pits but a lot of people had come to see me ride... I soldiered on because I wanted to get to that chequered flag more than anything. I was going to finish for all those fans, who have been unbelievable supporting me since I arrived here." And soldier on he did, at the back of the field and eventually lapped but he kept on going.

Up in the main race, though, behind Stoner and Rossi it was Dovizioso leading Hayden while Dani Pedrosa had also made an excellent start to get up to fifth by the end of the first lap. Vermeulen didn't start so well, though, dropping back to sixth and already involved in a ruck with Colin Edwards. And soon the race broke into small pieces of action. At the front, Stoner dug in and extended his lead inexorably. Rossi remained unthreatened for a while and Dovizioso, Hayden and Pedrosa scrapped for a few laps, Pedrosa passing his team-mate on lap four while Dovizioso hung onto that last podium spot until lap twelve when both factory Hondas passed him. Four laps later, though, he got back past Hayden and battle was rejoined. But just a lap later, Colin Edwards, who had finally got the better of Vermeulen, got past Hayden as well and set off after that podium. A couple of laps later the Texan passed Dovizioso as well while, just behind, Vermeulen also passed Hayden with a view, presumably, to continuing the battle with Edwards.

Back up at the front, though Stoner continued on his imperious way, Pedrosa and Rossi were having the battle that we have been looking forward to for so long. There were certainly places that the Spaniard appeared faster and indeed he was able to pass Rossi on several occasions. But he could never make it stick, the championship leader taking second place back before the lap was out on each time. Eventually, a few laps from the end, either Rossi decided to make it safe for himself of Pedrosa got tired or ran out of grip. Either way, eventually Rossi opened a gap and made some time for himself.

John Hopkins continued his miserable run on the Kawasaki a little further back. He was making steady progress when an electrical problem took him out of the race yet again. Cruel luck for a very hard working and talented rider whose time must surely come. With Hopkins' retirement it only needed one more rider to drop out and Toseland would still score a point. But it wasn't to be, and the young Englishman's efforts and bravery, though hugely appreciated by his loyal and vocal army of fans, counted for nothing on the championship front.

So another win for Stoner - his second in a row at Donington - while Rossi consolidated his lead over Pedrosa with a good, safe second place. Pedrosa's third was an impressive achievement from his lowly starting place while Colin Edwards took a richly deserved fourth ahead of the talented and going to go far Dovizioso. Jorge Lorenzo also made astonishing progress through the field to finish sixth after starting seventeenth while both Hayden and Vermeulen deserved better placings than the seventh and eighth they ended up with. Shinya Nakano was safe and solid in ninth and Anthony West got his first ever top ten finish.

Next weekend we go to Assen for the Dutch TT. It's another circuit that Tosleand knows and gets on with. But of course that doesn't necessarily help, as we've seen. He'll certainly be looking to make amends, though, for what he will see as letting his team and fans down. Which should be interesting. Rossi also goes very well there, of course, as do Edwards and Hayden, while Stoner will be looking to get his own back for Rossi's victory last year. Yes, it should be pretty good.

SB

Congratulations again to fifteen year old Scott Redding from Gloucestershire and the Blusens Aprilia team for his victory in the 125 race.

British MotoGP Results

1. Casey Stoner (Ducati)
2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha)
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda)
6. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
7. Nicky Hayden (Honda)
8. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki)
9. Shinya Nakano (Honda)
10. Anthony West (Kawasaki)

MotoGP standings (after eight rounds)

1. Valentino Rossi 162
2. Dani Pedrosa 151
3. Casey Stoner 117
4. Jorge Lorenzo 104
5. Colin Edwards 82
6. Andrea Dovizioso 68
7. Nicky Hayden 57
8. James Toseland 53
9. Loris Capirossi 51
10. Shinya Nakano 49