Porto takes second ever 250 victory.

Sebasti?n Porto took his first win of the season and the second of his career in today's 250cc Italian Grand Prix, completing a near perfect weekend that saw him also claim pole position and the fastest lap of the race.

Porto got a great start, leading De Puniet and Pedrosa in a break from the chasing field over the opening laps, the trio interchanging places throughout the race until the Argentinean and the Frenchman stepped up the pace three laps from the end.

De Puniet looked primed for a last lap attack for victory but ran out of fuel in the final bend, coasting over the line in fourth place as Pedrosa and Poggiali took the final two podium positions.
Sebastian Porto - 1st: "It's an unbelievable day for me. It was an incredible race, very fast and I'm very happy. Now we need to concentrate on catching the (championship) leaders. I want to thank the team very much."

Dani Pedrosa - 2nd: "At the end I couldn't follow De Puniet and Porto because I had some problems with the front tyre. I thought it was too risky to follow them so preferred to finish third. But then De Puniet had some problems with his bike and I could finish second. Here in Mugello it's a good result for Honda and for us."

Manuel Poggiali - 3rd: "I'm not very happy because in the beginning of the race I had some problems with the rear tyre sliding and I couldn't follow the first three riders. After five or six laps the tyre went well and I could close on those ahead, but I'd already lost too much time in the first few laps."

250cc Italian Grand Prix - top ten:

1. Porto (Aprilia)
2. Pedrosa (Honda) +6.147secs
3. Poggiali (Aprilia) +8.415secs
4. De Puniet (Aprilia) +11.226secs
5. Nieto (Aprilia) +11.876secs
6. Elias (Honda) +11.888secs
7. Rolfo (Honda) +24.398secs
8. De Angelis (Aprilia) +27.550secs
9. Aoyama (Honda) +28.126secs
10. West (Aprilia) +38.025secs

17. Davies (Aprilia) +1min 7.196secs