Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V) had to ride at lap record pace to secure victory in a breathtaking Brno GP, and kept his absolute fastest lap for the very last. His new record of 1:59.966 even involved passing another rider, his race long companion and rival Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V).
Troy Bayliss (Ducati) was third after leading for the first ten laps, ending his race only 0.668 seconds behind Rossi.
For Rossi himself the race was a vindication of his self-belief after some relatively lowly results of late. "That was one of the best races of the year," said the Italian. "For the first time we fought without tactics. Sometimes this year we have thought too much about the moves. Today there were four or five really fast guys who all wanted to be at the front. We pushed the bikes very hard and I made some mistakes. Sete made some and I crossed the line first. It was very special."
Gibernau was full of praise for his rival, even in defeat. "Every race we have this year seems to be better than the other ones," smiled Gibernau. "We are battling very hard and we tried 100% from the start. Congratulations to Valentino, he deserves it. Today he was the best - I tried my best to win, but he won. I heard that Valentino was in a crisis - I hoped he was in a crisis. If this is his crisis I do not want to know about it when he is not having a crisis!"
Having run with the leading bunch in the early laps, Brno specialist Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) slid down the order to finish fifth after experiencing turning problems, running wide and almost losing the front. Biaggi was one place behind the Yamaha of Carlos Checa.
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