Max Biaggi's third win of the season in the MotoGP 500cc Championship has left him just ten points behind his arch rival Valentino Rossi. The Marlboro Yamaha rider started today's German GP from pole position and dominated from start to finish as he finished ahead of three other Yamaha riders. Biaggi's Spanish team-mate Carlos Checa came home second with the Japanese pair of Shinya Nakano and Norrick Abe finishing third and fourth respectively.
Rossi tried earnestly to catch his fellow Italian but as he started from 11th position on the grid he had a battle on his hands and when he got caught up in a separate fight for positions with Alex Barros and Loris Capirossi, he ended up finishing a disappointing seventh.
Meanwhile, in the 250cc Championship, Ulster's Jeremy McWilliams crashed out on lap eight when lying in second spot. The Aprilia rider was battling for the lead with Italian Marco Melandri, Japan's Tetsuya Harada and Japanese championship leader Daijiro Katoh before he crashed out and could only watch while Melandri captured his first-ever win in the 250 class.
In the 125cc championship race, Italian Lucio Cecchinello did not live up to his nickname of "Lucky" today when he lost out on first place and eventually ended up finishing a lowly fifth. The Aprilia rider was passed during a tense battle in the closing stages and it was his fellow countryman Simone Sanna who triumphed with his first-ever GP victory.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
