Italy's Valentino Rossi continued his domination of MotoGP with victory in the French Grand Prix on Sunday. The world champion made it three wins in four races on his Yamaha by narrowly beating Honda rider Sete Gibernau into second place at Le Mans.
The 26-year-old grabbed the lead with just over seven laps remaining to stop Spain's Gibernau becoming the first rider with three Le Mans wins.
Rossi's team mate Colin Edwards led for most of the race but finished third.
The victory was Rossi's third this year, bringing him to 95 points - well ahead of countryman Marco Melandri in second with 58 points.
 |  It was a perfect weekend for us |
Gibernau climbed two places with his second-place finish and now has 53 points.
Rossi, who won at Le Mans in 2002 but is not fond of the track, was delighted with the victory after a poor start.
"I made a mistake at the start and the tyres needed a few laps to reach the right temperature but after that, it was fun," he said. "I like Le Mans better now.
"It was a fantastic race, the conditions were very good and we made the most of them.
"Pole position, best lap of the race, victory, third place for Colin, it was a perfect weekend for us."
French MotoGP results:
1. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 44:12.223
2. Sete Gibernau (Spa) Honda 44:12.605
3. Colin Edwards (US) Yamaha 44:17.934
4. Marco Melandri (Ita) Honda 44:19.499
5. Max Biaggi (Ita) Honda 44:19.926
6. Nicky Hayden (US) Honda 44:33.993
7. Loris Capirossi (Ita) Ducati 44:36.887
8. Shinya Nakano (Jap) Kawasaki 44:48.163
9. Toni Elias (Spa) Yamaha 44:50.285
10. Troy Bayliss (Aus) Honda 45:04.830 
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