Stoner, Vermeulen and Hopkins 1, 2, 3 at Misano - On a circuit which has not hosted a World Championship MotoGP race since September 5, 1993 — almost exactly 14 years to the day — Marlboro Ducati’s Casey Stoner won today’s Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. His eighth victory of the 2007 season, Stoner now enjoys an otherworldly 85 point margin in the World Championships title fight. Second on the day was Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen, who finished 4.851 seconds behind Stoner’s Ducati GP7. Vermuelen’s teammate, John Hopkins, crossed the finish line 11 seconds later, and in doing so, earned yet another podium position.

“I was still trying my hardest,” up to the final lap, Vermeulen said of keeping Stoner honest during the first seven of 28 laps before his front tire began to push. “I was having a lot of issues with the front. If Stoner made a mistake, I knew I was going to be right there.”

Hopkins, meanwhile, was never really in the mix. “I just had to hang on to him and do the best I could,” Hopkins said.

Stoner’s adversaries for the 2007 MotoGP World Championship had a bad day in Misano. Primary rival Valentino Rossi was forced out of the race with mechanical problems on lap number five. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, who came to Italy third in the points, never even made it around the opening lap having been crashed by Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet. The incident also collected Nicky Hayden, who had to first scratch and claw his way out of the gravel trap before charging back through the field to finish a disappointing 13th. Fourth overall in Italy went to Honda Gresini’s Marco Melandri while Marlboro Ducati’s Loris Capirossi finished fifth.

With six races remaining, Stoner holds an 85 point lead over Velentino Rossi, 271 points to Rossi’s 186. Pedrosa remains is third with168 points, while Rizla Suzuki’s Hopkins is fourth with 144.