Rossi notches up number 46 at Donington.

Valentino Rossi capped his 100th grand prix in perfect fashion, by taking victory number 46 in front of a packed Donington Park crowd at the Cinzano British Grand Prix.

Having started from pole position, Rossi sat patiently behind leader Carlos Checa until the Spaniard crashed out with Rossi pressing on lap 18. That left the Italian free to take his win percentage to fifty in the blue riband class - having twenty wins from forty races - and left an adoring 60,000-plus crowd in raptures.

Rossi celebrated his win by crossing the line whilst riding side-saddle, and then by sticking a percent sign alongside his own number 46, the Italian clearly delighted at the landmark figure he had reached.

It was an important victory for the reigning world champion, who had suffered one of his most difficult weekends after cracking a bone in his thumb in Friday practice. A scan and hospital visit later found Rossi fit to ride and, after roaring to pole on Saturday, the Italian stamped his authority on the class once again, by winning his seventh race of the year and extending his lead in the standings to 87 points over his absent team-mate Tohru Ukawa.

"It has been a very hard weekend for me after the crash on Friday," admitted the 23-year old, "I was very lucky because the only real pain I had today was a slight headache. It was a tough race, but I got a good start and it was close between myself and Checa. When he crashed, it was still difficult because I had to stay concentrated, but I kept my lead and I am very happy."

Disappointment for the Marlboro Yamaha squad at Checa's crash was tempered somewhat by his team-mate Max Biaggi, who came through strongly to take second place. Brazilian rider Alex Barros had a poor start from the front row of the grid but picked his way through the field to take a clear third, guiding his West Honda Pons machine onto the podium for the second race in succession, after pushing Rossi for victory two weeks ago in Assen.

With the front group strung out over several seconds, the closest racing took place in the chasing pack, where Norick Abe eventually managed to escape to take fourth place. Behind him, the battle ensued all the way to the line, with Olivier Jacque fighting past Sete Gibernau and Daijiro Katoh for his best finish of the season in fifth. Behind Gibernau and Katoh came Hopkins, Aoki, Nakano and Harada, who suffered problems late on after lapping at the head of the second group for much of the race. McCoy, Ryo, Roberts and vd Goorbergh made up the points.

Another intriguing battle took place between the two championship leaders in 250, with Marco Melandri and Fonsi Nieto playing a game of cat-and-mouse at the front of the pack, until the Spaniard made a small error on the final curve of the race to hand a fourth victory in a row to his Italian rival.

Worse luck came for Sebastian Porto, however, who suffered the ignominy of his bike breaking down as he led the way until lap thirteen. The Argentine rider, also in his 100th grand prix, looked comfortable on the Yamaha until he pulled up around the Melbourne Loop. Toni Elias rode a superb race after an awful start to claim third, just pipping Franco Battaini after the Italian had ridden solidly throughout.

The Marseillaise was played in full force for Bastille Day in the 125 class, as Arnaud Vincent made a superhuman effort to claw his way up from sixteenth on the grid to take his second victory of the season.

The Frenchman battled through the pack to take advantage of a slight slip by the leader Daniel Pedrosa with three laps to go, and, from there, pulled out a small gap to assure himself of first place. Pedrosa consolidated second after holding off Manuel Poggiali, as he had done earlier in the race with Lucio Cecchinello. The Italian crashed out before the race finished, to leave the San Marino world champion on the podium once again.