Chris Vermeulen, of Australia, upstaged the favourites to record his first MotoGP victory at a rain-hit French Grand Prix yesterday. The Suzuki rider beat Marco Melandri, last year’s winner, on a Honda after coping perfectly with the tricky conditions at Le Mans.

Casey Stoner, of Australia, extended his lead over Valentino Rossi at the top of the World Championship standings to 21 points, steering his Ducati to third place. Rossi, seven times the world champion, struggled to finish sixth behind fourth-placed Dani Pedrosa, of Spain, and Alex Hofmann, of Germany.

The worsening conditions put paid to the chances of Randy de Puniet and Sylvain Guin-toli, the early pace-setters from France, and Toni Elias, of Spain, who all crashed, leaving John Hopkins to take the lead.

However, the American made a pit-stop along with Rossi, Stoner and Pedrosa on the tenth lap to change tyres. Melandri opted not to make a change and he was soon overtaken by Vermeulen.

“When I saw all those riders on the ground I just tried to keep it together,” Vermeulen said. “[Deciding] when to come to the pits and change tyres was the hardest part. I must admit I followed my instincts, I did not really think. Then I saw my lead increase until Marco came closer, but I realised he was at the limit.”

Melandri said: “It was very tough at the start when it was only drizzle. When it started to really rain, it was much easier. We just had to change tyres.

“I tried to catch him but when I came close, it started to rain more and it became much more difficult for me. Then I just told myself: ‘OK, Chris, this is your race.’ ”

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