 1 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 Mugello, in the rolling hills of Tuscany, Italy, is one of the most beautiful and challenging tracks in the world. Valentino Rossi has won 7 premier class titles in a row here and is looking for win number 8. |
 2 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 Race conditions, wet; air temperature, 18°. The track is drying and is another flag-to-flag race relying on the pit stop. Once again, riders can be penalised for speeding in the middle of the race. Sounds very much like Formula 1. |
 3 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 Just like the previous race at Le Mans, the 250 race was carried out in wet conditions. |
 4 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 Mugello is Rossi's home race and each year on race day he comes with a special helmet for the event. This year it is hands grasping his head as though shrieking in fear. Rossi could be saying that he is feeling the pressure of winning 8 in a row and recording his 99th GP victory. |
 5 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 This is the back of his helmet and his two dogs are holding their heads as well. |
 6 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 As everyone no doubt remembers, Valentino's beloved bulldog Guido died after the Australian round last year and he had this special sticker made to honour him. |
 7 50 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 Front row: Jorge LORENZO, Casey STONER, Loris CAPIROSSI Second row: Valentino ROSSI, Randy DE PUNIET, Colin EDWARDS. Lorenzo spins the rear wheel on launch and immediately drops from pole back five places. Vermeulen leads in the early stages of the wet race. |
 8 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 Part way through the first lap and Rossi is chasing Pedrosa. Vermeulen, Stoner and Dovizioso are leading. |
 9 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 At the end of the first lap, Vermeulen is followed by Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso. At this stage, Valentino is back in 5th behind Pedrosa. |
 10 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 On lap 2 Casey Stoner moves into the lead. |
 11 50 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 On lap 4 Dovizioso moves into the lead while Rossi closes down on Vermeulen on lap 5. The track is drying rapidly. |
 12 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 Toseland is the first to pit on lap 4. It takes two laps for his tryes to come up to temperature but then he starts to fly. |
 13 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 On lap 6 Dovizioso takes the lead and Valentino passes Stoner to take second place. Melandri is doing well at this stage of the wet race. |
 14 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 Casey drops further back as Lorenzo closes in. |
 15 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 Colin Edwards pits at the end of lap 8. |
 16 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 With 13 laps to go, Rossi and Lorenzo pit and change to hard slicks. Casey Stoner had already pitted and was on medium front and rear slicks. |
 17 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 With 3 laps to go, Lorenzo and Rossi are 2 seconds down on the leader, Casey Stoner, and over half a second a lap faster. |
 18 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 Casey goes on to win by 1 second from Lorenzo with another 1 second back to Rossi in third. Casey's gamble on the softer tyres paid off. Tellingly, Lorenzo beats his team mate yet again - a brand new experience for Rossi. |
 19 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 Lorenzo congratulates Casey on his second win of the season. |
 20 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 Rossi put on a brave face and claims that he is satisfied with the result because he hasn't done too well with the flag-to-flag format in the past. |
 21 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 A huge crowd assembles to congratulate the victors but the winner is not Rossi as hoped. |
 22 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 The racing was at least reasonably close for the first five places. Sadly, Dani Pedrosa crashed out of the race on lap 12 - rider OK. Dani had injured himself again during free practice when he had a near highside and landed heavily on the tank tearing muscle and damaging his hip. |
 23 Round 5 - Mugello, Sunday, May 31, 2009 The race wasn't too bad although the flag-to-flag format, or rather races on a drying track, always increase the element of luck. Casey moves back into the lead with Valentino 9 points behind. Nicky Hayden continues to pick up minor points. |
