Brno

Italian Loris Capirossi, starting from second in the grid on a Ducati, won the Czech MotoGP, the 12th leg of the world championship, in Brno on Sunday 16 years after his maiden victory in the 125cc category. Capirossi took an early lead in the 22-lap race, at one point opening up a near-eight-second gap on the chasing pack.

World champion Valentino Rossi, riding a Yahama, snatched his ninth victory of the season in the Czech motorcycling Grand Prix on Sunday. The six-time world champion led an Italian sweep to finish 1,837s ahead of Loris Capirossi on a Ducati with Max Biaggi third on his Honda at 3,444s.

The manager of a popular café vowed on Thursday to keep controversial portraits of the Czech Republic president and premier painted on the inside of café urinals. ”It’s democracy,” said Radek Helia of the Spolek café, a hangout for artists and bookworms in Brno.