Valentino Rossi stamped his authority on the MotoGP field this afternoon in Le Mans, taking the win by five seconds and leading a Yamaha podium clean sweep with team-mate Jorge Lorenzo second and Colin Edwards third.
The Doctor also takes the championship lead away from Honda's Dani Pedrosa who could only manage to finish fourth. Reigning world champion Casey Stoner finished just outside the points after a mechanical failure forced him to change bikes under the white flag rules.
Rain started to spit at half distance, so riders are allowed to change bikes but must leave pitlane with different tyrees on. Team-mate Melandri had a problem on the start and came in early to change tyres but the track stayed dry so no advantage was forthcoming.
Britain's James Toseland crashed out at half race distance. 1 25 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 44'30.799 157.948
2 20 48 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 44'35.796 157.653 4.997
3 16 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 44'37.604 157.546 6.805
4 13 2 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 44'40.956 157.349 10.157
5 11 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 44'52.561 156.671 21.762
6 10 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP Honda 44'53.194 156.634 22.395
7 9 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 44'58.605 156.320 27.806
8 8 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team Honda 44'58.794 156.309 27.995
9 7 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 45'00.143 156.231 29.344
10 6 56 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 45'01.621 156.146 30.822
11 5 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team Ducati 45'05.953 155.896 35.154
12 4 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 45'07.015 155.835 36.216
13 3 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team Ducati 45'22.837 154.929 52.038
14 2 13 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 46'00.106 152.837 1'29.307
15 1 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 46'10.422 146.830 1 Lap
16 1 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 44'47.085 145.777 2 Lap