Valentino Rossi won the Italian Grand Prix for the sixth consecutive time Sunday and moved within nine points of MotoGP series leader Casey Stoner.
It was the second victory this season for Rossi, who also won the Spanish GP in March.
Riding a Yamaha, Rossi timed 42 minutes, 42,385 seconds over 23 laps on the Mugello circuit.
Dani Pedrosa finished second, 3,074 seconds behind, and Alex Barros was third, 5,956 back.
Stoner finished fourth after starting from pole.
Stoner leads the series with 115 points, followed by Rossi with 106 and Pedrosa with 82.
Rossi had a slow start, dropping from third to eighth after the first lap. The five-time world champion quickly worked his way through the field and passed Stoner on the seventh lap to move into second, then overtook Pedrosa on the ninth lap to take the lead.
”I had a terrible start but then my tires warmed up,” Rossi said. ”This victory is for the fans here at Mugello. It’s always very emotional to race here.”
Alvaro Bautista won the 250cc race from pole after coming into contact on the last lap with series leader Jorge Lorenzo, who fell.
Alex De Angelis finished second and Hector Barbera was third.
Lorenzo remounted and placed eighth.
In the 125cc race, Hector Faubel followed up the first pole position of his career with a victory, beating teammate Sergio Gadea and Simone Corsi on the final straight.
Faubel also won the season opener in Qatar and leads the standings. – Sapa-AP