Brilliant Rossi shines in the gloom

LAST weekend's British Moto GP at Donington Park put motorcycle racing commentators in a bind ? all the superlatives have been used and they're having to invent new ones to describe the phenomenal Valentino Rossi.
Racing in appalling conditions, that left several top contenders on their backsides, Rossi once again demonstrated the complete mastery that continues to reinforce the view he may well be the finest racer to ever sit astride a motorcycle.
After trailing Brazilian Alex Barros for much of the race, Rossi made his move with seven laps to go and vanished from his pursuers at more than 2sec a lap.
He crossed the finish line standing on his footpegs and pretending to play a tune on a violin ? a perfectly fitting finale from the maestro.
Rossi has now won seven of this year's nine races, and with a second and a third in the others, leads the championship by a country mile. The show continues this weekend at the Sachsenring circuit in Germany.