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Rossi wins fifth consecutive race with Dutch GP

World champion Valentino Rossi chalked up his fifth straight win of the season Saturday at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Rossi took his sixth win from seven races this season in 38 minutes, 41.808 seconds, stretching his lead in the overall standings. His is trailed by fellow Italians Marco Melandri and Max Biaggi.

The six-time defending champion dropped from pole position to fifth, but took the race lead on the 10th lap when he overtook Marco Melandri. Melandri finished second, 1.583 seconds back.

The TT Assen track was muddy after a heavy night of rainfall, although no rain fell during the race.

"Today was difficult," Rossi said. "I lost some space on the first lap when I didn't race aggressively enough. When I took the lead, I was able to race some good laps and hold on to the lead."

Rossi's victory was his 74th in MotoGP and marked a record 10th straight top three finish. The next race is in two weeks at Laguna Seca in the US.

Max Biaggi, who finished in sixth place, was fined US$6,000 (5,000 euros) for start violations and riding in "an irresponsible manner, causing danger to other riders," the International Motorcycling Federation said in a statement.

Also Saturday, Sebastian Porto of Argentina notched his second consecutive Dutch GP win in the 250cc class. Porto took the lead in the next-to-last lap, passing Spain's Jorge Lorenzo and Daniel Pedrosa.

In the 125cc, Gabor Talmacsi of Hungary took first after leader Marco Simoncelli of Italy slid and crashed out on the final lap of the race. Hector Faubel of Spain was second, with Italy's Mattia Pasini third.
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