Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi took an impressive victory in Shanghai today, his second at the circuit having won the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix with Yamaha in 2005. It was Rossi's 89th career victory but his first in seven races, since Estoril last year, as well as his first on Bridgestone tyres.

Rossi had looked strong from Friday morning and he was clearly in good shape for the race, but after two days of high temperatures and sunshine, heavy rain throughout the morning threatened to turn the established order on its head. The rain ceased in the late morning however and the track began to dry out with the aid of a warm wind, meaning the race was finally declared dry. Starting from second on the grid behind Colin Edwards, Rossi crossed the line first time in fourth but had made it back to second by the end of the third lap, passing Casey Stoner and pole-sitter Colin Edwards in the process. His next target was Dani Pedrosa and he made his move on the Spaniard at the end of the back straight to take the lead. From then on the Italian led to the chequered flag but it was nail-bitingly close for the majority of the remaining 17 laps, with less than half a second between them and the pair the only two lapping consistently in the 1'59s. On lap 19 Pedrosa began to tail off and Rossi eventually took victory by 3.890 seconds, with Casey Stoner over 15 seconds back in third.

Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 1st
After seven races it is a great feeling to win again; I am very happy! This is a very important result for us because above all I was able to ride exactly how I wanted from start to finish and this was great fun for me. I had a great battle with Pedrosa and he pushed me hard and to be doing 1'59s until the end was unbelievable! All weekend we were hoping the rain wouldn't come so when we saw it this morning we were quite disappointed, then it started to dry out so we were praying that it would dry completely; we were lucky today! We worked very well with Bridgestone and together with their technicians we made a late tyre change and it was the right choice because my tyre worked very well until the end, as my times showed! It's the first win for us with Bridgestone so this is a great moment also for this reason and I want to say thank you to them. We were fast from Friday morning here and step by step we've found the perfect set-up and today the hard work paid off for everyone. We've had four races and four different winners so this shows how close the championship is, now we need to keep going because our rivals are all very near. Lorenzo did a great race today with his injuries, so this is a good day for everyone in the team. Thank you to my team and everyone at Yamaha, it's great to be here again.

Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 2nd
I'm very happy with today's result. We had been expecting a wet race, so to get second today is fantastic and it's 20 good points for the championship. I started a bit cautious during the early laps because I didn't know what the track conditions were like, but then Valentino and I began to set an extremely fast pace. Lap by lap our rhythm got faster. I had the advantage through the middle section of the track, he had the advantage through the first and last sections. My Michelin tyres were working really well and we were riding at lap record pace all through the race. The wind was very strong today, so my engine was over-revving, which is why I decided to ride a little more conservatively in the final laps to secure second place and the world championship lead.

Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro - 3rd
I'm disappointed to be honest because I know we could have done better today. The bike has worked really well in practice and we thought we had the ideal set-up for today but we changed a couple of things and for one reason or another the package just wasn't as good as before. I made a good start and I was happy with that but even in the first corner I couldn't get the bike turned, Colin Edwards came past me, and that was the story of the race. As the race wore on my lap times improved but it was too little too late and in any case it wouldn't have been enough for me to stick with the lead guys. I'm disappointed this has happened today - not so really for third place which is a good result but for the big gap from the lead. I know we can do much better so we will put this behind us, wipe the slate clean and try to do better next time out.

Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha - 4th
Without a doubt, this result today is like a victory for me. On Friday I couldn't imagine being able to ride, then yesterday it was a little bit better and then finally today I was not able just to ride, but to be competitive and enjoy myself as well! I've ridden with a lot of pain in both legs but the staff of the Clinica Mobile made it possible for me to keep going, so I want to thank them. I lost a lot of places early on but in the second half of the race I found my rhythm and then step by step I started to move forwards; in fact I think I made more overtakes than in any race so far in this category! I stalled the engine on the start line for the warm-up lap, which was a scary moment, but luckily I was able to restart and it wasn't a problem. I want to say congratulations to Valentino for a great victory today as well, I think it's going to be an exciting year. I didn't have any pain in my arms today so hopefully the recent operation has been a success. Now I'm flying back to Barcelona to have treatment on my ankles and I will do everything I can to be back to my physical best in Le Mans. I want to thank Michelin, because my tyres were very good today, as well as Yamaha and all of my guys. I've had a great 21st birthday!

Marco Melandri - Ducati Marlboro - 5th
This was an important day - I think I did the best race possible and in general fifth place isn't bad. The team have done a great job, we've found a much better balance with the bike and the changes Ducati have made to the traction control allow me to have a much better feel for the engine. Things had started to look up yesterday and today we confirmed it. I got a good start, put my rhythm together and was able to get into some decent times. It was good fun and now I finally feel like I can ride my Ducati. Filippo (Preziosi) has always worked so hard to help me and now I hope we can continue in this direction. Spirits are high now and I can't wait for the next race.

Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - 6th
We knew starting tenth was never going to be easy. I crashed my number one bike in qualifying, then this morning I rode the other bike, so I started the race with the bike I'd crashed but it was fine. I got a really good start and a good first corner too, but I just couldn't go with the lead group today. We had a huge tailwind on the back straightaway, so I was running out of gear. It made it so hard to get it stopped for the corner at the end of the straight, so a lot of guys were running wide. Mid-race I had a few problems, felt a few drops of rain, and my corner speed in the long corners wasn't so good. Towards the end I changed a few little things with my lines and the traction control settings. I started to move forward and at the end I was going pretty good. There was a lot of good battling going on but it would've been better to have been battling for a better position. I didn't give up, kept pushing and picked off a few guys near the end.

Colin Edwards - Tech 3 Yamaha - 7th
I'm not particularly happy with that if I'm being honest. I knew what pace I could run and was just pushing as hard as I could in the beginning to try and get away from the guys behind me. I knew Casey was going to be there but I don't know what Valentino and Dani had but they were flying. As soon as they passed me they were gone. I was running third and I came into the hairpin after the back straight and braked at the same place but the rear end came up and I did the longest nose wheelie I've ever done in my entire life. I kept waiting for it to come back but at the end I had to let the brake off to get the rear wheel on the ground and I ran wide. I only lost three seconds but it was the places I lost that mattered. I rode as hard as I could and I'm tired of saying it, but I could not do anything else. We just missed something in the package today. At the end we needed to refine a couple of things to make it a little bit better but at the end of the day I made a mistake. But if I hadn't made it I still wasn't going to be on the podium. It just wasn't going to happen today. I wanted the temperature to be cooler but maybe not as cool as it was. I was licking my lips in the beginning because I thought some other guys had packages that would have worked better when it was hotter but it didn't happen. I have to say thanks to my guys for their effort this weekend. We got a pole position but obviously I expected more in the race. We'll look to put things right in Le Mans when I'll be giving it my all for Tech 3 and Michelin in their home race.

Toni Elias - Alice Ducati - 8th
Better I would say, but I expected more. Unluckily at the beginning of the race I lose too much time and after five or six laps I always have to come back. If we manage to solve the problems we encountered in the first part of the race I am sure we can obtain better results. The race rhythm was in fact good. I made it to pass other riders without many complications, in fact, I registered the fifth fastest lap in the race really close to Lorenzo who finished fourth. We have to work hard and I am sure we can do better starting from Le Mans. The Team is working well, like Bridgestone and Ducati.

Loris Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki - 9th
It's difficult to say that this was a positive day, but we did improve a lot and if it wasn't for my mistake early on it could have been a lot better. I didn't want to lose touch with the top guys and my rhythm was really good, but I ran off and that cost me some places. I got back up to seventh and then I had a technical problem and I lost two positions right at the end. Now we will go to Le Mans and make sure that we are competitive there - we had the potential to do much better today!

Shinya Nakano - Gresini Honda - 10th
The track conditions weren't easy today because there were still damp patches when we started. It wasn't actually a bad start for me and I made up some positions. In the second half of the race my pace improved and I was able to pass Dovizioso for tenth, although I'm not satisfied with that. Now we have to take the positives out of this weekend for the next race in France. If we can show the same kind of pace that we did here in practice and get a good grid position then I'm sure we can look forward to much better at Le Mans.

Andrea Dovizioso - JiR Scot Honda - 11th
The final result of today doesn't show our real potential. From 11th on the grid I knew I was still in a good condition to come up to the head of the race and fight for the top positions. During the first part of race I could really show my potential for a good result. I was so sorry to be further back at the chequered flag but the weather conditions forced us to make some technical choices that we had not really tested in these conditions. I tried to resist the attacks from Hayden and Melandri, but unfortunately the situation we had got worse and I had to slow down a lot meaning I didn't have the chance to fight. I'm sorry for the team as they all worked so hard and I was looking for a better result, which would give us more satisfaction after so much hard work was done over the course of the weekend.

James Toseland - Tech 3 Yamaha - 12th
I don't want to be finishing 12th but in my first season this type of result is going to happen. I had a few problems with the set-up all weekend, which hasn't helped with me learning the track. I got a decent start but really found it difficult with the setting I had. We were going to try something this morning but it was wet and we gambled with it for the race. On paper it looked really good but unfortunately it wasn't quite right. You don't need too many problems to finish 12th in MotoGP. I had a small problem and it was costing me a lot of time in the important places and that was the difference between a top eight finish and being down in 12th. On the brakes the weight transfer was really fast. As I was on the brakes and turning in the rear was skating and not planted on the way into the corner. I was waiting too long for it to load up again before I could get on the power. The problem with the 800s is they don't have a great deal of torque so you have got to keep the corner speed up. If you are struggling to get into the corner and carry that corner speed you can't square anything off so I was finding it difficult on the entry and exit. Because of that I was slow mid-corner and on the exit, but losing that time costs you a second a lap and that is massive against these guys. That is the disadvantage of not knowing the track though. My guys worked really hard to help me learn the track and I'll try and pay them back with a good result in France next time out. This is a French team and I'll be desperate to do well for them.

Randy de Puniet - LCR Honda - 13th
I am very disappointed! My start was bad but at the end of the first lap before the main straight Hopkins tried to overtake me but he made a big mistake and I went wide. I was able to stay up to continue my race but the front-end did not work in the best way. The situation improved after some laps when I passed Guintoli. I also tried my best to pass Toseland but it was not possible. Honestly we expected a better result here and I hope to do a good race in Le Mans.

John Hopkins - Kawasaki Racing - 14th
We went out in the wet warm-up session this morning with high hopes of a good result in the rain or dry today. By the time we got to the race, the circuit had started to dry out and we had to make a decision on tyre choice, which maybe wasn't the best. I struggled right from the start with rear traction problems, and I pushed hard to make my way through the field. I made a few mistakes and ran off the track in places, it was a really tough race. I'm very disappointed as it's not the result I wanted for my hundredth Grand Prix, but we must stay focussed and try to make amends at the next round.

Sylvian Guintoli - Alice Ducati - 15th
In the first laps I made it to remain with the group, but slowly I lost the rhythm not making to recuperate. A pity that in the last few laps I lost two positions. The only thing I can do is work even more to try to improve. I am trying hard, the distance from the fastest is getting lower race after race. I hope that in Le Mans I will make it also to improve the final position. I really care of doing well there. I must congratulate with Toni who has done a good race. He has demonstrated that we have the potential to be competitive.

Alex de Angelis - Gresini Honda - 16th
We knew it wouldn't be easy for us in the dry but early in the race I was hit by Hopkins when we were braking into turn one and we both ran wide, although thankfully neither of us crashed. From then on it wasn't easy to stay in touch with the group and virtually impossible to get amongst them. The bike was becoming harder to ride as the race wore on and we have to study the telemetry to find out why. I think we need to go back to the setting we had in preseason and start again.

Anthony West - Kawasaki Racing - 17th
I was looking for a better result than this today. The conditions were not ideal as the track was quite slippery after being wet this morning and it gradually dried out during the race. I followed John for a few laps and I think we were both experiencing similar problems with a lack of rear grip. I ran off the track in places because I just couldn't make the bike stick. I'm frustrated, as we need to make headway with these issues we've been having, but I'm determined for us to make a step forwards very soon.

Chris Vermuelen - Rizla Suzuki - 18th/DNF
Obviously I'm not happy with today's result; in fact that's probably an understatement! I had a problem right from the start and the chain kept slipping making the bike really difficult to ride. I felt like my pace was quicker than the four guys in front of me, but every time I tried to pass them the chain would just slip and I'd lose my momentum. Then towards the end of lap six the chain came off and I had to go into the pits and that was the race over. I am really disappointed with what happened, but we have to learn from this and make sure that it doesn't happen again. We now have to re-group and come back even stronger in France!

2008 Shanghai MotoGP Results
 1. Rossi      Fiat Yamaha      (B)    44:08.061
 2. Pedrosa    Repspol Honda    (M)    +3.890
 3. Stoner     Ducati Marlboro  (B)    +15.928
 4. Lorenzo    Fiat Yamaha      (M)    +22.494
 5. Melandri   Ducati Marlboro  (B)    +26.957
 6. Hayden     Repsol Honda     (M)    +28.369
 7. Edwards    Tech 3 Yamaha    (M)    +29.780
 8. Elias      Alice Ducati     (B)    +30.225
 9. Capirossi  Rizla Suzuki     (B)    +31.440
10. Nakano     Gresini Honda    (B)    +35.969
11. Dovizioso  JiR Scot Honda   (M)    +36.246
12. Toseland   Tech 3 Yamaha    (M)    +43.191
13. de Puniet  LCR Honda        (M)    +43.442
14. Hopkins    Kawasaki Racing  (B)    +45.855
15. Guintoli   Alice Ducati     (B)    +46.330
16. de Angelis Gresini Honda    (B)    +50.593
17. West       Kawasaki Racing  (B)    +1:05.593
18. Vermeulen  Rizla Suzuki     (B)    +6 laps, DNF/Retired

2008 Championship Standings (after 4 of 18 races)
 1. Pedrosa   81
 2. Lorenzo   74
 3. Rossi     72
 4. Stoner    56
 5. Capirossi 33
 6. Toseland  33
 7. Edwards   31
 8. Hayden    29
 9. Dovizioso 26
10. Hopkins   26