Incredible Donington finale lands Dovizioso his first premier class victory

In an incredible farewell to the Donington circuit, the men of MotoGP put on a show that will not soon be forgotten. The final podium order is void of the top three riders, and yields the first ever MotoGP victory for Andrea Dovizioso as well as the first podium finishes for 2009 for Colin Edwards and Randy De Puniet.

The race was declared wet as the riders were set up on grid. The only team to strap their bullets with a wet set-up was Ducati, all other riders were strapped with slicks. As the lights ticked off, Toni Elias rocketed to the head of the pack and held an impressive lead for the first two laps.

By lap 3, Andrea Dovizioso had taken over the top spot trailed closely by Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. By the end of lap 3, Rossi had fallen into 5th position, behind Dani Pedrosa and Toni Elias who he immediately overtook to claim 4th position. Confusing?? Well, brace yourself because this will conitnue for the remianing 27 laps of the race!

Lap 4 - Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Pedrosa, Rossi, Elias.....

Lap 7 - Lorenzo, Rossi, Dovizioso, Elias, Pedrosa.... Tonis Elais crashes out when he nicks the white paint of the rumble strip.

Lap 8 - Lorenzo crashes out after nicking the white paint of the rumble strip

Lap 11 - Rossi, Dovizioso, De Puniet, Pedrosa - Pedrosa and De Puniet swap positions several times during this lap..... where's Casey Stoner? He has just been passed by Nicky Hayden who overtook him for FOURTEENTH position.

Lap 12 - Seizure-inducing game of leap frog between Pedrosa and De Puniet... leaving De Puniet ahead as they move into lap 13

Lap 13 - Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden have become lap traffic as Rossi and Dovizioso pass them while continuing the battle for first place.

Lap 14 - Rossi and Dovi find themselves 13 seconds ahead of the volley for 3rd - which is still being masterfully played out between De P and Pedrosa.

Lap 19 - ROSSI CRASHES OUT and Dovizioso takes the lead leaving De P and Pedrosa to now battle it out for 2nd. Rossi manages to pick up his bike and get back out on track.

Lap 22 - Loris Capirossi and Marco Melandri and Chris Vermeulen give in to the wet conditions and switch to their "water bikes" which have been warming up in the pits since lap 12.

Lap 24 - Mika Kallio trades his slicks for the wet-set. The running order is now Dovizioso, De Puniet, Edwards, de Angelis. Rossi has clawed his way back up into 6th place and settled in behind James Toseland.

Three laps to go and Colin Edwards and Randy De Puniet begin the battle for 2nd which ends up being an absolutely brilliant display of wet weather riding talent - on slicks. Randy doesn't want to give it up, but Edwards manages to overtake him in the last turn before the flag to finish the podium order - Dovizioso, Edwards, De Puniet.

Rossi manages to overtake Toseland for an overall 5th place finish... which still increases his points lead in the championship standings.

This was certainly an edge-of-your-seat race - for all 30 laps. MotoGP bids farewell to the Donington circuit for at least 5 years, as Silverstone will take over hosting the British round in the mean time. The riders will enjoy an extended 3 week break before resuming the season in Brno on August 18th. I will personally use this time to un-scramble my brain after what I have seen today!

1	A. Dovizioso	Honda
2	C. Edwards	Yamaha
3	R. De Puniet	Honda
4	A. de Angelis	Honda
5	V. Rossi	Yamaha
6	J. Toseland	Yamaha
7	M. Melandri	Kawasaki
8	N. Canepa	Ducati
9	D. Pedrosa	Honda
10	M. Kallio	Ducati
11	L. Capirossi	Suzuki
12	G. Talmacsi	Honda
13	C. Vermeulen	Suzuki
14	C. Stoner	Ducati
15	N. Hayden	Ducati

Until next time....

Rubb'er Down

Kristen