Czech GP. Race

Ukawa, Elias and Pedrosa on the podium in the Czech Republic
Valentino Rossi retired due to a problem with the rear tyre; Fonsi Nieto fourth and Joan Olivé crashed out while fighting for the podium
 Today, one of the most intense and even duels of the new MotoGP era has been experienced at the Czech circuit of Brno. From the start of the race, Biaggi, Rossi and Kato took advantage, leaving the rest of the riders behind. At the back, Ukawa and Checa were having an intense fight for the fourth place. Kato and his new Honda RC211V were able to keep up with both leading riders until half of the race, when the Japanese rider began to loose contact with the lead. And while Kato was staying behind, everything seemed ready for an exciting race finish between Biaggi and Rossi, but with six laps to go, Valentino Rossi’s rear tyre disintegrated and the Repsol Honda Team rider had to enter the pit garage to change it. Once he got back to the track, he noticed the distance separating him from the preceding rider and decided to give up and retire. With Biaggi first and Kato second, the third place was for the Repsol rider Ukawa. In the 250cc victory was taken once again by Marco Melandri, who had to witness how two of his race-mates, Fonsi Nieto and Roberto Rolfo, self-excluded themselves. Fonsi was the first one, who skidded coming out of a corner, and despite avoiding a crash, lost several positions and finished fourth. His team-mate Toni Elias made again a good race. Starting from seventh place, Elias took the lead of the race on the initial laps. Later on Nieto, Melandri and Rolfo overtook him, but he remained the rest of the race riding side by side with Porto. Rolfo’s crash and Nieto’s ride off the track gave Porto and Elias the possibility to get on the podium in the said order. In the 125cc Dani Pedrosa and Joan Olivé had again an excellent performance, although with different luck at the end of the race. While Pedrosa managed to finish second after spectacularly overtaking Vincent in the last lap, Olivé crashed with 3 laps to go, while fighting for a place on the podium. Victory was for the Italian rider Lucio Cecchinello.