Valentino Rossi storms back but just misses out on podium finish

Valentino Rossi just missed out on a remarkable podium finish on his return from a broken leg as Dani Pedrosa breathed life back into the MotoGP title race with victory in the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.

A fourth-placed finish yesterday capped an amazing comeback weekend from Rossi, who had qualified fifth on Saturday, exactly six weeks after suffering a compound fracture of his right shin in a horrific highside accident in Italian Grand Prix practice at Mugello.

The 31-year-old, who has only been able to walk around the paddock with the aid of a crutch, could not quite match the pace of title contenders Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo, but the Fiat Yamaha rider was more than a match for the rest of the field, enjoying a superb battle with old foe Casey Stoner during the closing laps.

For Repsol Honda rider Pedrosa the win ends Lorenzo's run of three straight victories and sees him close his Spanish compatriot's lead at the top of the standings to 47 points.

Pedrosa had got the jump to lead into turn one at the start, as Rossi dropped back to seventh, but Lorenzo made his move at the end of lap two to take over at the front.

Rossi moved up to fifth before the race was red flagged after a huge accident involving the Honda of Randy de Puniet. The Frenchman fell and his bike was hit by Aleix Espargaro and the Suzuki of Alvaro Bautista. With pieces of the three bikes scattered across the track, officials were forced to stop the race. De Puniet was diagnosed as having broken the tibia and fibula in his left leg.

Pedrosa again took the lead from Lorenzo at the restart, and once again the Yamaha man quickly reclaimed the advantage at the end of the opening tour.

Rossi, meanwhile, had dropped to sixth but he passed Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso to move to fourth.

At the front Lorenzo could not shake off the attentions of Pedrosa, and the Honda rider had an ambitious lunge at turn one on lap eight, but failed to make it stick. But just one lap later Pedrosa completed the pass and he would not be headed for the rest of the race, with Lorenzo forced to settle for second.

By now Rossi had worked his way onto the back wheel of 2007 world champion Stoner, and the two old rivals enjoyed a wonderful battle during the final nine laps which was eventually settled when Stoner forced Rossi wide at the final corner for an easy run to the finish line.