Photographs courtesy of Dorna - click to enlarge

At last Max Biaggi, the nearly man of MotoGP, has broken his drought of victories. And sweet it must have been, especially as arch rival Valentino Rossi took a break from podium duty and previously alternative winner Sete Gibernau took his second early bath in as many races. The result is a very, very tight squeeze at the top of the table...

But first we should look at the race. Qualifying was a bit of a surprise. Not seeing Biaggi on pole ahead of Rossi, but seeing Kenny Roberts Junior in third place on the Suzuki. Maybe all those changes the blue and white boys have been trying are starting to pay dividends. Shinya Nakano continues to improve, putting the still rather scary Kawasaki in fifth place, behind Gibernau but ahead of Barros, Checa and Bayliss in eighth on the equally scary Ducati. Colin Edwards qualified a disappointing 11th while the Aprilia pairing of Jeremy McWilliams and Shane Byrne were a similarly disappointing 17th and 23rd. The title of unluckiest guy in qualifying surely goes to John Hopkins who was stung by a bee shortly before his qualifying session. Despite an allergic reaction setting in, the American was forbidden from getting an antihistamine shot due to the strict doping regulations in force in MotoGP and so had to battle on feeling distinctly the worse for wear. His 12th place was well earned indeed.

And so on to the race, which rapidly became a battle of attrition as rider after rider crashed out. First to go was Aoki, parting company from his Proton KR after just 3 laps. Then Carlos Checa crashed out of third place, gifting the last podium slot to Sete Gibernau. Who crashed out himself just four laps later. Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss continued their quest for the title of 'team with the most crashes in one season' by coming off within a lap of each other, Capirossi from the third place relinquished by Gibernau and Bayliss from 11th after a dismal start saw him drop back to 13th. Marco Melandri made his own attempt at Ducati's title challenge by enjoying a spectacular high speed getoff and inviting his team-mate, Norick Abe, to join in. Neither rider was hurt, but it would have been interesting to hear the post-race conversation in the pits.

Meanwhile, Kenny Roberts was moving backwards through the field as the Suzuki, fine handling though it now is, was outgunned down the straights. Other Americans were on the move too. Suzuki team-mate John Hopkins, avoiding insect interference for the race itself, moved up to latch onto the back of Roberts' bike and stay there to achieve his best finish of the season. Colin Edwards stayed in the fight to finish fifth while Nicky Hayden made some progress toward silencing the critics by getting his second podium in two races.

At the front, though, it was a straight Rossi-Biaggi battle, with Biaggi holding the lead until the relentless pressure from Rossi forced him to concede to the younger man during the 17th lap. But pressure is a terrible thing, and though nobody handles it better than Rossi, today we could not say the same about his tyres. By lap 23 Biaggi had swept past and by lap 25 it was all over as Rossi's overworked rubber gave up the uneven struggle of trying to contain one very exuberant rider and over two hundred very healthy horses. Rossi was overwhelmed, first by Alex Barros and then by Nicky Hayden to finish fourth, four and a half seconds back.

So Donington is set to be a real showdown. Rossi still leads the championship but by just one point from Biaggi with Gibernau looking increasingly like a spent force in third place.

Results

1 M Biaggi, Honda
2 A Barros, Honda
3 N Hayden, Honda
4 V Rossi, Yamaha
5 C Edwards, Honda
6 M Tamada, Honda
7 S Nakano, Kawasaki
8 K Roberts, Suzuki
9 J Hopkins, Suzuki
10 A Hofmann, Kawasaki

Championship Standing after 8 rounds

139 V Rossi
138 M Biaggi
126 S Gibernau
79 A Barros
75 C Edwards
70 N Hayden
62 C Checa
57 M Melandri
55 L Capirossi
54 M Tamada