The 125 race started in typical hectic fashion, with a crash between Efren Vazquez and Jasper Iwema  in turn one, before Bradley Smith ran wide on the start of the downhill and fell from second place. Smith rejoined, but fell again three laps later in a crash with Eeki Kuparinen The British rider clearly frustrated with the Finn.

As Simon skipped off the line, local wildcard Marcel Shrotter slipped back through the back. It was a disappointing start for Shrotter, the first wildcard entry on the front row since 1995, and was mirrored by that of Alex Masbou, who gave Chinese manufacturer Loncin its best ever qualifying performance. Masbou started sixth but slipped right back to the mid teens before a crash with Rabat on lap 2 ended his race.

By the end of lap one, Julian Simon and Nico Terol lead the pack from Gadea who had climbed from 14^th to third. The battle for fourth included Sergio Gadea, Simone Corsi, Joan Olive, Marc Marquez and Andrea Iannone. The latter having climbed from a dismal 22^nd on the grid to seventh.

The German circuit took its toll on the pack, rain soaked grass run offs and a track that was still damp in places caught many out, the most serious being the nasty highside of Marc Marquez in the final corner of the race.

Simone Corsi was the first of the battle group for fourth to falter. Struggling to make up ground after losing his fifth place on lap 14, Corsi low sided trying to pass Olive. The crash balked Olive and gave Iannone some clearance for a couple of laps, but Olive was back by Iannone to fourth on lap 19.

As German fans were disappointed by the crashes of Folger and Stefan Bradl, Joan Olive and Mar Marqueze gave the race a Spanish flavour, passing Iannone to make it a Spanish top six.

In the dying stages Simon pressed on with his lead, edging it out to almost ten seconds, as Nico Terol fell into the clutches of the two riders behind.

With a little over a lap to go, it was Marc Marquez and Joan Olive and in desperate fight for the final podium spot, but it was a high-side from Marc Marquez that settled the argument.

In the end the nasty crash left Joan Olive to follow compatriots Sergio Gadea and Julian Simon across the line, Simon’s dominant win stamping his authority on the championship and extending his sizeable championship lead.

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Starting from fourth, Nicky Hayden had his best start for Ducati, and very nearly led into turn one, sadly running wide and dropping back to 14^th. Meanwhile, Alex De Angelis, Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo went three wide into the first turn, with De Angelis and Stoner making contact before they settled into place.  The trio settled in behind Randy De Puniet in third, Pedrosa in second and Rossi in the lead, but the race had far from settled. On the change of direction Randy De Puniet made his once customary but recently rare acquaintance with the asphalt. His Honda breaking left before launching him over the bars directly in front of Stoner.

Lap two was equally dramatic with Hayden making his climb back to the middle of the top right around the outside of Mika Kallio and Loris Capirossi through the sequence of long left handers.

Stoner two recovered from his balked run at Pedrosa, finally diving through on lap five. Clearly the quicker of the front runners, Stoner made quick ground on Rossi, sliding into the lead with 24 to go.

By lap eight, Lorenzo had joined the fight for the lead, and looked ominous has he targeted first Pedrosa, and then Rossi.

Stoner held his slender margin over the Yamahas until lap 16, allowing first the senior of the two and then Lorenzo by.

Lap 25 was a challenge for the directors as Dovizioso’s Honda retired with a badly torn front tyre, Lorenzo made his way past Rossi for the lead, and a major moment for Stoner saw his Ducati slide from a comfortable third to a distant fourth position.

Rossi and Lorenzo were left free to battle from then on, and battle they did. The trio swapped positions through the final few laps, and when Lorenzo made his lunge into turn one on the final lap Spanish fans rejoiced. It wasn’t to be though and Rossi was able to switch back as Lorenzo ran the #99 machine wide.

Running out of the final turn both riders drove hard on the throttle, the two Yamahas crossing the line alongside each other with their front wheels raised with effort and a little bit of showboating.

Rossi from Lorenzo Pedrosa and Stoner, extended those gaps in the championship, while Alex De Angelis in fifth, Tony Elias in sixth and Marco Melandri in seventh celebrated encouraging results.

Rossi now leads Lorenzo by 12 points with Stoner 28 points off the lead.

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Starting from pole with a separated collarbone was too much for Jorge Lorenzo. The Spaniard dropping to eighth before turn one as Pedrosa and Stoner led the way from Valentino Rossi.

Rossi, clearly on a mission rounded up Stoner for second on the way into the famous corkscrew and set off after Pedrosa but in shades of 2008 Rossi lost the spot to Stoner again just one lap later, and the battle between the two saw Pedrosa take a small advantage into lap three.

At the end of three short laps Pedrosa led Stoner, from Rossi, Dovizioso and Lorenzo, the top five separated by less than 1.5 seconds.

Lap four saw the first crash of the race, Galbor Talmasci crashing out of his second MotoGP on the Team Scot Honda.

Settling back into a rhythm after yet another horror start, the injured Lorenzo closed on the front runners as Loris Capirossi crashed out of the race on lap five.

In a race that was rapidly turning into one of attrition, Andrea Dovizioso was the first of the front runners to falter, his crash on lap seven came at turn five, the Repsol Honda tucking the front and sliding out on the left hander while Sete Gibernau was the fourth rider out on the final corner of the lap.

James Toseland received a pit lane penalty for jumping the start, but either didn’t see his pit board or didn’t care, and was disqualified from the race for ignoring the penalty, leaving just 12 riders in the race.

Meanwhile Dani Pedrosa skipped out by two seconds over Stoner and Rossi, forcing Rossi’s hand. Rossi managed to retake Stoner for second on lap 12 but Pedrosa was still almost half a second faster than the rest of the pack and pulling away.

The injured and ever tenacious Lorenzo clawed his way into third on lap 21 as Stoner’s recurring mystery illness saw his slide slowly backwards to fourth. Stoner’s Ducati teammate Hayden, lurked in fifth at his home grand prix but the 10 second gap between the two was already insurmountable for the American.

Lorenzo steadily closed on Rossi by two-tenths a lap and the battle for second ignited as Pedrosa stabilised his lead over the duo.

With the injured Lorenzo monstering the back of his teammate, it was a wild dive down the inside of the final turn that seemingly undid the Spaniard’s hopes to peg back points on championship leader Rossi. Lorenzo’s bike picked up the rear tyre deep under brakes, bucked and almost threw its pilot in a harrowing moment that showed just how disadvantaged the #99 rider was by his injured collarbone.  

The moment seemed to trigger something in Rossi, who used his new found freedom from Lorenzo to push for the lead, with around a second gap to Pedrosa heading into the final lap Pedrosa could be forgiven for feeling safe but Rossi closed enough to have a lunge into the final turn.

The dramatic last lap had the Honda camp pulling their hear out but Pedrosa did enough to win Honda’s first race since Catalunya in 2008 from Rossi, Lorenzo, Stoner and Nicky Hayden in fifth, his best result on a Ducati in a race only 12 riders made the finish.

Today’s second place leaves Rossi still leading the championship by nine points from Lorenzo, 16 from Stoner and 59 points from Dani Pedrosa heading into the next round in Germany.

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Bradley Smith jumped off the line giving join to British fans as he lead from Gadea and Terol. Smith’s compatriot Webb was a first lap victim, taken out by American Cameron Baubier at the change of direction.

Smith’s lead lasted until the end of lap one, where both Nico Terol and Sergio Gadea passed the young Britain on the main straight. The messy melee for the minor positions showed its first signs of sparking into life as Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez collided and ran off but rejoined safely.

The furious scrapping through the field was enough to distract the Dutch fans long enough for Iannone to slide through to the lead.

Corsi and Iannone spent lap three carving each other up while Sergio Gadea, Bradley Smith and Julian Simon lurked in the shadows.

The bad news for the Britain’s continued, a frustrated Scott Reading out with a mechanical failure on lap four, causing him to bow out of the heated battle that saw Stefan Bradl diving angrily past Corsi for fourth.

Cortese crashed out soon after, tucking the front on the exit of a fast right hander, the German lucky not to get collected by his bike as they rolled down the grass.

Johann Zarco gave the mid pack something to think about on lap eight, his nasty high side at the esses saw his bike slide across the face of the corner and back onto the track ahead of a gaggle of riders before he remounted.  

A six way battle for sixth raged behind the leaders raged as Gadea caught up to Terol and Simon, making the battle for the lead a three-way fight.

Nico Terol was literally the meat in the Aspar sandwich as they run three wide through the back complex onto the main straight at the end of lap five, the Jack and Jones Aprilia rounded up by the two Aspar bikes in a fast and narrow section of the Dutch circuit.

The six way battle for the sixth position began to fracture late in the race, with Stefan Bradl setting a cracking pace at the front of the peloton and stringing it out.

In the final lap Smith and Iannone swapped positions several times in a heated battle for fourth place but the battle at the front was the hottest. Simon led into the final lap, but Terol’s pass at the flip-flop saw both riders off and Terol on the well-used asphalt runoff. Terol eventually rejoined behind Gadea but Simon’s race was over.

Terol pushed hard but couldn’t pass Gadea who takes a lucky win Terol and teammate Julian Simon.

Bradley Smith led Iannone across the line for fourth by the barest of margins, the Britain making his displeasure obvious with the Italian even before they passed the line. Bradl held onto his sixth place after a hectic, angry and downright frightening final lap from the six riders behind him. With 125cc bikes spread across the track and the infield through the esses and the chicane the last lap was a typically angry affair for the junior category, but the controversy of Terol’s move on Simon and the penalty was the main focus post race.

The elevation of Smith to third gave the Aspar team a podium clean sweep and it’s 200^th podium place.

The 125cc’s will take a break as the MotoGP circus makes a one week dash across the Atlantic to Laguna Seca. The 125cc’s will return in Germany.

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It was Dani Pedrosa who stole the start as Jorge Lorenzo dropped to sixth, the Repsol rider held his lead for much of the first lap, until Casey Stoner launched an attack that carried his Alice Ducati from third, past Rossi in second and Dani Pedrosa for the lead.

It was a short lived lead for the Australian though, Rossi capitalising on a mistake to reclaim the lead soon after and make an immediate lead.

As Lorenzo launched his comeback and climbed past Chris Vermeulen for fourth Stoner’s teammate Nicky Hayden was having his best race on a Ducati, at the head of a queue of 6 riders fighting for eighth.

On lap four Lorenzo made his way past the injured Pedrosa and into third, and immediately set off after Stoner and Rossi. For Pedrosa, the furious pace was too much, and when his front end folded on lap five Pedrosa crashed out of the race, and out of championship contention.

As the riders at the front stretched out, each riding lonely races, the battle for seventh between Mika Kallio, Loris Capirossi, James Toseland, Nicky Hayden, Randy de Puniet and Alex de Angelis was just heating up.

Eager not to fall back into the clutches of the peloton behind, Andrea Dovizioso pushed too hard. The second of the Repsol Honda’s fell in identical fashion to lead rider Pedrosa, elevating the vibrant battle for seventh to a battle for sixth place.

Ahead, Rossi was maintaining a steady lead from Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner, with Colin Edwards and Chris Vermeulen holding station in fourth and fifth.

The battle for sixth continued to be the focal point for fans though, as first Toseland, then De Puniet fought with Kallio, the Fin fighting both off in turn.

In the meantime Tony Elias had made a rapid charge back to the tail of the main group, and as De Puniet dropped to ninth the two teammates collided, but Elias made the pass stick and took ninth.

Hayden meanwhile had found his way back to the front of the pack but when he backed his bike sideways into the right hander before the flip-flop the American found himself hustled back to 11^th, leaving Mika Kallio on the Pramac Ducati the second Ducati behind Stoner.

In a style more befitting the battle for the lead in a 125cc or 250 race, the last lap unleashed mayhem on the fight for sixth, with Mika Kallio crashing out of sixth pushing hard through the double left hander, the fight for sixth became a royal rumble.

Capirossi, Elias and Toseland all found themselves off the track at the chicane, but in the end it was Britain’s Toseland who faired best, crossing the line sixth ahead of Randy De Puniet and Nicky Hayden.

There was no such mayhem at the front of the field for, with both Rossi and Lorenzo having time to organise celebratory wheelies as they crossed the line. Stoner was more subdued, and the Australian was whisked to his trailer for medical attention immediately following the race.

Rossi’s 100^th race win breaks the championship deadlock and leaves him five points clear of teammate Lorenzo, and nine points clear of Stoner heading into Laguna Seca.

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After crashing on his sighting lap Lorenzo was lucky to make it back to resume his pole position on the grid, and luckier still not to crash at the start. Starting in a wet patch, the #99 Yamaha spun up wildly off the line, allowing most of the field past as the race got under way.

The horror start from those on the front row saw Randy De Puniet lead the field briefly into turn one, before being rounded up for first by Dani Pedrosa with Vermeulen, Stoner and Dovizioso following.

The frantic first lap held surprises, with Vermeulen jumping to fourth from 11th on the grid, and Melandri leaping to ninth from 15th.

Stoner claimed the lead into turn one as Rossi jumped to fourth. Stoner however was soon rounded up by a hard charging Dovioso.

On a drying track it was Britain’s Jame Toseland first to roll the dice, diving to the pits for dry tyres from 15th on lap five as Marco Melandri rounded up Jorge Lorenzo for fifth. Over the next few laps Rossi climbed to the lead, but it was Melandri who really stole the show, wrestling the under funded Hayate Kawasaki to the lead past Rossi on lap 10.

Meanwhile, Toseland had set the fastest lap of the race on dry tyres, and Andrea Dovizioso made a race making decision to pit for dry tyres of his own.

It wasn’t until a lap later that the front five made their stops, and as they rejoined it was Dovizioso on warmed and ready slicks who quickly rounded up the quartet of Rossi, Melandri, Lorenzo and Stoner in front.

James Toseland was still setting records as the front runners built temperature and awareness, all the while jostling for position. It was Stoner though who got to grips with the dry tyres first, Stoner catching dovi by 1 second a lap.

Dani Pedrosa’s run of bad luck continued, after badly injuring his hip in a nasty near-crash during practice Pedrosa crashed heavily, further damaging his hip and having to be stretchered away from the track.

On lap 15 Stoner set the fastest lap of the race so far with a 1m54.620 on his way to the lead past Dovi.

Stoner’s lead was short lived however, and Capirossi took the lead into turn one on the following lap as Rossi set a 1m52.641, two seconds fast than everyone else.

Stoner responded immediately, his 1m52.296 good enough to reset the gap back to a chasing Rossi in fifth and to retake the lead from former teammate Capirossi.

The dying phase of the lap was all about Fiat Yamaha as Lorenzo and Rossi cut their way onto the podium like a pair of sharks, valiantly but vainly trying to chase down Stoner, who held on for a close win.

It was Ducati’s first ever win on the Mugello circuit and gives Casey Stoner a four point Championship lead. Stoner is now equal with former Australian World Champion Wayne Gardner for all time MotoGP wins with 18.

The race started, as at Le Mans started in treacherous wet conditions, but fortunately didn’t turn into the crash fest we saw in France, with Jules Cluzel the first and rider to succumb, down on lap one and Lucas Pesek the only other crasher with a nasty highside on lap six. Up the front Simoncelli eked out a three second lead over Bautista by the end of the first lap, the Spaniard clearly anxious to set out after the reigning champ but Hector Faubel, Hector Barbera and Hiroshi Aoyama had other ideas. It took a few laps for Bautista to break free, but in the meantime Mattia Pasini had closed in behind, and when Bautista ran wide on lap three Pasini dove through for second.

For the next few laps the lead riders strung out, with each finding their own groove. Simoncelli was six seconds ahead at one stage, but Pasini was closing rapidly at over a second a lap, and Bautista clawing the duo back by over two seconds a lap.

When he finally made the pass for second, Bautista dragged Pasini to the rear of Simoncelli, and there was an air of tension as Simoncelli ran wide at turn one, allowing Bautista to the lead. Both Bautista and Simoncelli had frightening moments and Pasini sat back, biding his time.

Pasini’s strategy proved wisest on lap eleven, when a desperate lunge from Simoncelli saw the two collide, Simoncelli and Bautista both taking a wild ride across the sand trap through the esses. It was a scary moment in the high speed section and both riders were lucky to rejoin, Simoncelli 5.5 seconds behind and Bautista a further four or five seconds behind the Italian.

The incident immediately triggered an investigation by race officials, and turned on the angry eyes in Bautista’s helmet.

The Mapfire Aspar rider set the fastest lap with a 2m07.067s on lap 16, closing to 0.6s behind Simoncelli, and closing fast on Bautista.

Bautista was pushing for the pass on Simoncelli with three laps to go when a huge highside through him out of his seat, luckily holding on and dropping just a second to Simoncelli, but most significantly, ending his challenge for second or a potential win.

Inspired, Simoncelli caught up to Pasini, setting up one of the greatest final laps of the season, over the line Simoncelli caught the slipstream, sling-shotting to the lead before running wide into turn one, Pasini dove to the lead out of that corner, before Simoncelli retook the lead in turn 3. Pasini retook his lead just a corner later. It was all the crowd could do to count the lead changes in a lap that saw as many as nine changes for the lead, but it was Mattia Pasini who managed to hold on, claiming the lead by a mere tenth of a second.

The final result is still in dispute with officials yet to rule on the incident between Bautista and Simoncelli.

It was Simon who led the pack off the line ahead of Scott Redding and the newly painted bright yellow bike of Andrea Iannone. The opening laps were defined by aggressive moves as eight riders fought hard in the lead pack.

Down the main straight riders were as many as four wide as the 125’s scrambled for position, the long Mugello straight meant that the leader over the line was rarely the leader out of turn one, with Simon, Terol and Iannone swapping position with typical junior class recklessness.  

On lap five the Bancajar Aspar riders pounced, as they swarmed like angry wasps into turn one Smith dove around the outside of the pack, from sixth to second, while teammate Simon slide smoothly down the inside into the lead.

Alexis Masbou’s bad season continued, mechanical issues on the Chinese Loncin forcing the Frenchman out on lap five.

The Iannone show continued at the front, this time with co-star Smith who dove to the lead at the start of lap six, but a wild dive from Iannone round the outside saw the bright yellow machine take a very ragged, but effective lead.

Iannone’s luck would soon run out though, and less than a lap later Iannone’s chain divorced from the sprocket, slowing the bike dramatically. The failure was fortunate for Smith, who immediately inherited a full second lead as Iannone’s slowing Ongetta held up the swarm of riders behind.

The fight for second was the left to Smith’s teammate Simon ahead of Scott Redding, Terol, Danny Webb, Marc(y marc) Marquez, Zarco and Stefan Bradl.

Joan Olive took out another rider for the second race in a row, this time raising the ire of teammate Efren Vazquez.

Danny Webb managed to climb to fourth before his front tyre had an unpleasant encounter with one of Mugello’s bumps, forcing the young Brit into the pebbles.

Meanwhile Julian Simon and Nico Terol had gapped Redding and crew in fourth by 3.5 seconds, and caught up to Smith ahead. With rain sprinkling Smith made the wise decision to spend a few laps following the duo, but soon jumped back into the lead ahead of Terol, and began eking out an advantage over Simon.

With Simon looking good for third, the biggest battle of the race was for fourth place with Espagaro, Cortese, Redding, Marquez and Zarco battling each other with typical vigour. The five riders maintained their battle right until the final corner, when Cortese, in an effort to push hard and avoid the slip stream, over cooked his exit out of the final corner and crashed.

Up ahead though it was a solid ride from Smith, who never really looked like losing in the final phase of the race, eventually finishing two tenths clear of Terol, with a slowing Simon on an ailing Aprilia in third.

The minor spots were filled by the sole remaining Team Derbi rider Pol Espagaro, Marquez and Zarco ahead of Scott Redding, Stefan Bradl, rookie Lorenzo Savadori, and the remounted Simoni Cortese.

Smith now leads the championship by 3.5 points from teammate Julian Simon.

After a crash in Jerez Jorge Lorenzo bounced back in the best possible fashion with his win that was set up in the opening laps. Off the line it was Dani Pedrosa who got a blinder, carrying a huge lead into the first corner ahead of Stoner and Lorenzo with Rossi in fourth, but it wasn’t long before Lorenzo lept to the lead ahead of compatriot and bitter rival Pedrosa.

As Casey Stoner dropped back to seventh first Lorenzo, then Rossi and finally teammate Andrea Dovizioso rounded up Dani Pedrosa but it was Lorenzo who was streaking ahead of the field. With a rapidly drying track it was left to the riders to decide when to change on to the dry tyre and it was Valentino Rossi who jumped first.

The Italian pitted on lap 5 with Pedrosa and Capirossi following close by. It was a decision Rossi would soon rue however, and the #46 Yamaha was down in the gravel just a lap later. Rossi rejoined but was unable to get back into the points, eventually finishing sixth.

Marco Melandri showed his experience on lap six, pitting for dry tyres from fifth position and setting up a ride that would see him a chance for a win, and eventual second place getter. As the laps counted down the front runners Lorenzo, Casey Stoner, Andrea Dovizioso and Chris Vermeulen all stayed out. The trio pitting on lap 11, one lap before Jorge Lorenzo.

On lap 12 Jorge Lorenzo and Toni Elias both swapped bikes, leaving all riders on dry tyres in a final sprint to the flag. After the stops it was Lorenzo, by a few seconds on cold tyres from Melandri, with Dovi, Stoner and Vermeulen defending from Dani Pedrosa on warm tyres.

The race became all about the timing screens for the next few laps as Melandri and Pedrosa took advantage of their warm tyres and their time feeling out the conditions to reel in the riders ahead. The times between Lorenzo and Melandri stabillised, the underfunded and underdeveloped Kawasaki unable to reel in the factory Yamaha.

Dani Pedrosa though, was catching those in front of him hand over fist, powering past Vermeulen and Stoner on his hunt for his teammate, and the final podium spot. Catching Dovi at around a second a lap, Pedrosa still looked too far behind to make a pass coming into the final lap, but a last minute dive late in the final lap saw the fast fnishing Pedrosa snatch third from his teammate.

The story of the race though was the commanding performance by Jorge Lorenzo, and the rider of the season from a man many wrote off as a MotoGP refugee after the collapse of the Kawasaki team in the pre-season. It was a delighted Lorenzo who crossed the line in typical flamboyant fashion ahead of the equally delighted and demonstrative Melandri.

The championship is now once again closed up with Lorenzo reclaiming his lead by one point from Rossi and Stoner tied on 65 points and Dani Pedrosa on 57.

Despite the conditions it was a scrappy first lap from the 250’s with Simoncelli and Aoyama jumping to the lead early on from Lucas Pesek and Angel Rodriquez. Simoncelli and Aoyama fought for the lead through the first half of the opening lap, swapping places several times before Aoyama ran wide at Garage and dropped to sixth.

Meanwhile the replacement for controversial absentee Galbor Talmasci, Angel Rodriquez had lept from 16th on the grid to fourth, fighting with Pesek for third throughout the opening laps. The crashing began on lap one again, with Shoya Tomizawa crashing out of seventh before Bastien Chesaux joined him on the sideline early in lap two.

As in the 125cc race, the 250 race became a race of attrition as riders struggled to go with the blistering pace of Marco Simoncelli. Lucas Pesek and Angel Rodriquez succumbed early, Pesek crashing out of second just moments after being gifted the position by the crash of Rodriquez on lap 3 leaving Luthi in second from Faubel and Pasini with Debon closing rapidly for the minor placings.

For the 250cc’s it was the entry to the main straight that presented the most challenge with Axel Pons, and Mike Di Meglio both crashing in front of the packed French grandstand.

With 12 laps to go Alex Debon was the talk of the track, setting the fastest lap and closing rapidly on Thomas Luthi. The Spaniard Debon looked set to catch and pass Luthi without drama but just two laps later after making such rapid ground, an impatient Debon lost the front end under brakes, skittling the innocent Luthi. An angry Luthi was forced out by the crash, and made his feelings known to Debon, who rejoined only to  crash again, this time crashing out of the race just a few laps later.

As the race drew to a close a few scary moments from Simoncelli had fans enthralled as Roberto Locatelli closed in on Faubel, setting up a potential Metis Gilera 1-2. The result was made more impressive given the massive accident that nearly ended the 34 year old veterans career just two seasons earlier.

Hector Faubel managed to hold on for second though, behind a triumpant Marco Simoncelli and ahead of Roberto Locatelli.

The win reignites the reigning champion’s defence, leaving Simoncelli fourth in the championship, 26 points behind current leader Alvaro Bautista.