Rossi one 'second' from 2005 title.

Valentino Rossi put one hand on the 2005 MotoGP World Championship title after taking a hard fought ninth victory from eleven rounds in the Czech Republic Grand Prix at brno on Sunday.

The Italian overcame another brave resistance from Sete Gibernau that lasted just short of the 22-lap distance at Brno, the Spaniard suffering from a fuel problem just three corners from the finish and losing any slim hopes he had of reacting to a pass from Rossi at the end of the penultimate lap.

Rossi, Gibernau, Czech MotoGP Race 2005
Rossi, Gibernau, Czech MotoGP Race 2005
© Gold and Goose

Valentino Rossi put one hand on the 2005 MotoGP World Championship title after taking a hard fought ninth victory from eleven rounds in the Czech Republic Grand Prix at brno on Sunday.

The Italian overcame another brave resistance from Sete Gibernau that lasted just short of the 22-lap distance at Brno, the Spaniard suffering from a fuel problem just three corners from the finish and losing any slim hopes he had of reacting to a pass from Rossi at the end of the penultimate lap.

For Rossi, the victory represented a record-breaking achievement as he became the first rider in the history of the series to win nine races for five consecutive seasons.

"That was one of the hardest races of the season," declared Vale. "After the warm-up I saw Sete's time and I wasn't sure that I could beat him in the race. I had confidence in the bike but I knew I was a bit slower than him.

"I spoke with Jeremy Burgess to ask for some modifications to be made to the bike in order to make a better compromise for the whole race and, like always, he and the rest of the team worked at 100% to improve the situation.

"The first few laps were fantastic as Gibernau and myself kept passing each other. There were a lot of fast riders out there but Gibernau was my hardest opponent so I tried to push him and put the pressure on from the start," he revealed. "It was a great fight. In the middle of the race I decided to try to go and make a gap, but Sete came back.

"At the end I did three or four good laps, made the pass on Sete at a strange place and then did a perfect final lap. Unfortunately Sete had a problem, which was bad luck for him because he deserved to be on the podium. Anyway this is a good win for me and now I just need one more for the title, but it is not over yet," explained a delighted Rossi, who changed into a waiters outfit to serve his team champagne from the victory rostrum (pictured).

With Rossi now holding a 132-point lead over Max Biaggi - and only 150-points still up for grabs - a second place at the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi in three-weeks time would guarantee Rossi the MotoGP world title at the home race of his Yamaha (and former employer Honda) with five rounds still remaining.

"I have to congratulate and thank the whole team, particularly Valentino's engineers because they followed his requests to modify the bike precisely and gave him the package he needed to take victory today," said team director Davide Brivio.

"He made the bike work and put on a great show for the fans with Sete Gibernau, who deserved to be on the podium. Valentino has a good advantage in the championship now and we will go to Motegi looking for the same result."

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