SACHSENRING (Germany), July 21: Italian Valentino Rossi came from behind to win the German Grand Prix on Sunday and widen his enormous lead in the MotoGP championship with an eighth victory in nine races this season.

World champion Rossi, riding a Honda, also put to rest the demons that have plagued him on the difficult Sachsenring circuit with a dramatic victory that was aided by a spectacular crash in front of him just three laps before the finish.

Max Biaggi of Italy finished second on a Yamaha and Japan’s Tohru Ukawa came in third on a Honda before a crowd of 80,000 on the undulating 3.7-km course in eastern Germany.

With his seventh consecutive win, Rossi now holds a commanding 96-point lead in the championship after nine of 16 races. The championship now takes a four-week summer holiday.

Rossi’s team mate Ukawa, the only rider to beat Rossi this season, is second in the standings with 124 points while Biaggi is third with 109.

In the 250cc race earlier, Italian Marco Melandri won despite crashing just before a cloud burst ended the race after 22 laps. Roberto Rolfo of Italy on a Honda was second and Argentina’s Sebastian Porto, riding a Yamaha, was third.

In the 125cc race, Frenchman Arnaud Vincent, riding an Aprilia, took first, Alex De Angelis of San Marino was second and Germany’s Steve Jenker finished third, both also on Aprilias.—Reuters