Australia's world champion Casey Stoner won the German MotoGP on Sunday riding a Ducati to give the team their first win in the race and record Australian riders’ 100th victory in the top category.
Stoner - winning his third successive race - beat home five-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi of Italy, on a Yamaha, while Stoner's compatriot Chris Vermeulen was third on a Suzuki.
Rossi took the overall lead ahead of Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, who crashed out with 26 laps remaining when holding a commanding advantage.
Stoner's achievement was all the greater as he had been feeling sick since Saturday morning.
‘I have been feeling sick since Saturday morning and my concentration levels were low,’ admitted Stoner.
‘I was losing it in all different places. We were lucky to come out of this with the victory.’
Rossi too was delighted with the result as it saw him move 16 points ahead of Pedrosa - 187 to 171 while Stoner is on 167.
‘I am very excited about the result as it has seen me take back the overall lead,’ purred the extrovert Italian.
‘I eventually got up to a great pace and very close to Casey. These 20 points are very important,’ he added.
Vermeulen was equally ecstatic especially as he had to hold off a stern challenge from Alex de Angelis for the final podium spot.
‘The team did a great job and I am sick in the positive Aussie sense of the word!’ he said.
Pedrosa got a great start in the wet conditions which saw Stoner fail to take advantage of his pole position and drop to third after the first lap as nearly 100,000 spectators literally soaked up the atmosphere.
The Spaniard - whose compatriot Jorge Lorenzo had become the first casualty of the race on the third lap - had built up an enormous lead of over five seconds over Stoner, who had moved into second place, by the third lap.
However, his storming start came to an abrupt end with 26 laps remaining as he came off the bike and slid into a safety barrier leaving Stoner in front with Rossi hot on his tail while Vermeulen climbed into third.
Italian Marco Melandri - who had prior to the race had it confirmed that his wish of having the second year of his contract cancelled by the Ducati team had been granted - was also a casualty with another 21 laps still to race as the conditions took their toll.
Colin Edwards too came a cropper when in a promising fifth position with 10 laps remaining as Stoner kept his lead over Rossi.
German Grand Prix MotoGP result:
1. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati - 47mins 30.057secs
2. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha - 47:33.765
3. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki - 47:44.059
4. Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Honda - 47:44.181
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda - 48:12.079
6. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Ducati - 48:16.705
7. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Suzuki - 48:34.540
8. Randy de Puniet (France) Honda - 48:34.645
9. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Honda - 48:46.830
10. Anthony West (Australia) Kawasaki - 48:59.332
11. James Toseland (Britain) Yamaha +1 Laps
12. Toni Elias (Spain) Ducati +1 Laps
13. Nicky Hayden (US) Honda +2 Laps
