Daily Update MotoGP

Yamaha's racing department boss Masao Furusawa says the Japanese squad will renew Valentino Rossi's contract this year.
"Yes, because Valentino will be a winner for at least another couple of seasons," Furusawa told Gazzetta dello Sport when asked if they were renewing Rossi's deal.
He added: "Valentino can ride a Yamaha for as long as he wants to, while he manages to stay at the front."
The Italian rider's contract expires at the end of this year, but the he has made it clear he will be happy to stay at Yamaha now that he has a competitive bike.
Rossi has won the last two races to take the championship lead for the first time since the start of last year, where the seven-time champion finished in third place.
Furusawa said Rossi's frustrating season was down to Yamaha not giving him a good enough bike.
"It was Yamaha at fault, not Rossi's," he added. "The credit for our improvements must go to our technicians, who have found what we needed in a fair way, through calculating data.
"They've worked both on the track, and by getting up to date in the research facilities and on technical documentation.
"The M1 that will repeat last Sunday's triumphs is the result of this huge technical and organizational effort. We've taken some of Ducati's power, but not all, and rideability from Honda. And we're already working towards 2009."
Yamaha scored a 1-2-3 at last weekend's French Grand Prix, with Rossi leading Jorge Lorenzo and Colin Edwards.
Furusawa praised the Italian rider, whom he believes will take the title this year.
"That was a good result, well done to Lorenzo and Edwards," Furusawa said. "But most of all I love Valentino, at this moment more than Jorge, I'm sorry to say. Because what counted most at Le Mans was that Rossi was on the top step of the podium.
"He has demonstrated to be the strongest rider at the moment. Rossi will win his eighth title. Lorenzo and Pedrosa will be able to beat him in some races but in the end he will win."
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Valentino Rossi took a dominating victory in the French MotoGP leading a Yamaha 1-2-3, with the still-recovering Jorge Lorenzo finishing second and Colin Edwards in third.
This is the Italian's 90th Grand Prix victory, slotting him in second on the all-time winners list, tied with Spaniard Angel Nieto.

Rossi and 61-year-old Nieto celebrated this historic victory with the former stopping on his parade lap, and the latter, who wore overalls saying 'Bravo Valentino 90', jumping on Rossi's M1 bike and taking them both back to the pits, with Rossi waving a flag saying '90+90'.

Rossi, who now tops the championship table, took the lead with his Fiat Yamaha on lap seven of the 28-lap race from Ducati Marlboro's Casey Stoner and never relinquished it, opening a gap as wide as ten seconds over man-of-the-day Lorenzo.
The Spanish rookie, who dropped down to tenth at the start from fifth on the grid, began to really make an impression in the race on lap nine, when in a single lap he overtook John Hopkins's Kawasaki, Loris Capirossi's Suzuki and Nicky Hayden's Repsol Honda to slot into sixth.
The works Yamaha rider then made up a gap to Chris Vermeulen's Suzuki to overtake him for fifth place on lap 15, five laps before passing Edwards in fourth place and challenging Stoner for third.
When Lorenzo made a move on the Australian on the Le Mans front straight, the reigning champion's Ducati suffered a mechanical problem that dropped him down the order on lap 21. On the same lap the Spaniard overtook arch-rival and compatriot Dani Pedrosa's Repsol Honda for second place.
After his injury in China Lorenzo had to walk to the podium on crutches and sat on a chair during the celebrations.
Today's race was affected by the weather, with rain drops prompting the stewards to show the white flag on lap 16, thus allowing the riders to switch to bikes fitted with wet-weather tyres.
The rain increased for a couple of laps, with Rossi notably slowing down, but in the end only two riders switched bikes.
These were the two works Ducatis, with Stoner taking advantage of this rule to rejoin the track after his mechanical gremlins, and Melandri taking a gamble after his engine switched off at the start forcing him to be push-started by a mechanic.
In the end the two teammates finished the race in a disappointing 15th and 16th position for the Italian and the Australian respectively.
Three seconds behind Tech 3 Yamaha's Edwards came Pedrosa in fourth, followed a further eleven seconds back by Vermeulen, with JiR Team Scot Honda's Andrea Dovizioso in close pursuit.
Capirossi finished in seventh place, ahead of Hayden in eighth and the two customer Hondas of Randy de Puniet (LCR) and Shinya Nakano (Gresini).
Hopkins retired from seventh place on lap 17 after losing his Suzuki's chain, which almost went in the way of Dovizioso who was following.
Tech 3 Yamaha's James Toseland crashed out of the race from ninth place on lap 3.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 44:30.799
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) + 4.997
3. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 6.805
4. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) + 10.157
5. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 21.762
6. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 22.395
7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) + 27.806
8. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 27.995
9. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 29.344
10. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 30.822
11. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 35.154
12. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) + 36.216
13. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 52.038
14. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) +1:29.307
15. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) + 1 lap
16. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) + 2 laps

Retirements:

Rider Bike Laps
John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 16
James Toseland Yamaha (M) 2

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