Rossi was riding high at Brno and now has a huge 50 point championship lead over Casey Stoner, who crashed out. Photograph: Petr Josek/Reuters

Valentino Rossi stretched his MotoGP championship lead to 50 points by winning at Brno yesterday as rival Casey Stoner crashed out. Stoner, who started from pole position, had a one second advantage over the Italian multiple champion but was caught out on the track’s new surface and slid into the gravel on only the sixth lap. It was the first time Stoner has failed to finish a race since he joined the Ducati squad at the beginning of the 2007 season.

“Things were going according to plan until the crash,” said Stoner. “I was doing the same lap time over and over and I was quite happy with the pace. The crash came out of the blue, that corner was an easy one but I lost the front and it happened very quickly, very suddenly and I didn’t manage to save it. We knew that we needed to win this race – and more – to close down Valentino’s advantage so this makes the championship very difficult for us.”

Rossi was unchallenged and capitalised on Stoner’s error to record his fifth win of the season, with the Yamaha rider confident that he would still have passed Stoner if the accident hadn’t occurred.

“I knew today would be very difficult with Casey so strong, and his first lap was impressive,” said Rossi. “I lost a bit of time with John [Hopkins] in the first corner, because he overtook me. This time we had the pace with Stoner, and I was catching up with him. I knew my setting and tyres were working well. I think I could possibly have beaten him in a battle. Unfortunately he crashed and then I was ahead with an 11 second lead. If he hadn’t crashed then things would have been tougher.”

Ducati rider Tony Elias finished in second place, despite starting from 13th on the grid, to record his first podium of the year. “It has been a difficult season until now,” said Elias. “The situation changed at Sachsenring with some new parts. I started from back on the grid here. I passed many riders and the last seven laps I was comfortable with my pace.”

Third place went to MotoGP veteran Loris Capirossi, who scored his first podium for the Rizla Suzuki squad. But there was anger among the uncompetitive Michelin riders, who could not match the pace of the Bridgestone runners at the Czech circuit, with Andrea Dovizioso the highest placed finisher in ninth.

About this articleCloseMotoGP: Valentino Rossie icreases his lead as Casey Stoner crashes out This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Monday August 18 2008. It was last updated at 12:58 on August 18 2008.

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