Entering Round 13 at the Misano Circuit, Casey Stoner (#27) led the championship by 44 points. With a misty start, the white flag was out and the race was transitioned to a "wet race" within the first lap. Although the rain would never fall, the conditions would prove to be just enough to help Jorge Lorenzo (#1) hold Stoner in check.
Launching from from the middle of the front row, Lorenzo held the inside line and pulled into first, leading Stoner, Dani Pedrosa (#26) and Andrea Dovizioso (#4) on their Repsol Hondas, Yamaha teammate Ben Spies (#11) , and Valentino Rossi (#46) on his Ducati. From the start, Rossi rocketed from 11th to 7th, and then climbed into the 5th place slot within the first two laps.
Nicky Hayden crashed out in the third lap. And, Loris Capirossi pulled into pit lane with tire problems; a few minutes later he would rejoin in 16th place. Marco Simoncelli (#58), pursuing Rossi, closed the gap and made the inside pass with 24 laps to go, pushing Rossi to stand his bike up briefly.
Stalking Lorenzo at the front, Stoner attacked and nearly passed Lorenzo, but couldn't get through. With six laps remaining, after trailing Lorenzo and Stoner for most of the race in third, Pedrosa passed Stoner to take second.
The final three laps featured a fantastic battle between Spies, Dovizioso and Simoncelli, yielding the top seven finishers: Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Stoner, Simoncelli, Dovizioso, Spies, Rossi.
With five races remaining in the championship, this finish reduced the gap from Lorenzo to Stoner to 35 points.
Check out motogp.com for the complete race result. For continuing MotoGP coverage, subscribe above for email updates or follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/dcmotorcyclex.
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