MILAN, Italy: Valentino Rossi believes he has no chance of catching
MotoGP leader Casey Stoner of Australia after he was forced to retire
during the San Marino Grand Prix.
Rossi's Yamaha broke down on lap five Sunday at the Misano circuit
while he was in fourth position. Stoner won the race on his Ducati for
his eighth victory of the season to extend his lead over Rossi to 85
points with five races to go.
"I really needed a podium finish," Rossi was quoted as saying by
Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday. "By now, the world championship is
over."
Chris Vermeulen of Australia was second and John Hopkins took third
on their Suzukis.
Rossi, a seven-time motorcycling world champion, was using the new
Fiat Yamaha M1 engine for the first time in a race in an attempt to
challenge Stoner.
The Italian rider just missed out on beating Stoner in qualifying for the
pole position, but Yamaha team director Davide Brivio said the gamble
in changing engines had backfired in the race.
"We had already tried the engine in tests conducted at Brno," Brivio
told Gazzetta. "We bent over backwards to use it. Perhaps we took one
risk too many."
Rossi, who has been hampered by engine and tire performances this
season, said Stoner deserved to be champion-- but that the role of the
rider in winning races was… click on ozzy go to the full story on iht.com