Italian Loris Capirossi won the MotoGP Czech Grand Prix on Sunday after leading from start to finish.

The Ducati rider, attacking from second place on the grid, sustained a gap he built in the early stages to finish 4.90 seconds in front of defending world champion and compatriot Valentino Rossi [Images], who made a slow start from pole position.

Championship leader Nicky Hayden of the United States finished ninth.

"The team decided to work a lot and we changed everything on the bike ... I am impressed about today," said Capirossi, second last year to Rossi in Brno.

"This was one of my best races ever," added the 33-year-old veteran who set a new track record in one minute 58.16 seconds at the 5.4-km Brno circuit.

Rossi, cheered on by the enthusiastic crowd on the 10th anniversary of his very first Grand Prix win in Brno, fended off a late challenge from Spain's Dani Pedrosa who took third.

"My start was not one of the best ... [but] my race was not bad," said Rossi.

"Loris was very fast from the beginning and I tried to keep my rhythm, hoping he may have a problem some lap down the road. But that never happened."

Hayden retained his overall lead but his advantage over Pedrosa shrunk to 25 points. Rossi moved up from fourth to third overall, 38 points behind Hayden. Capirossi is fifth 50 points behind.

"I think this is a funny championship because with five races to go we still have five riders who are able to fight for the championship [crown]," said Rossi, bidding to win his sixth consecutive MotoGP title.

The next championship race is due September 10 in Malaysia.

ROSSI BATTLE

With Capirossi holding a comfortable lead, Rossi was forced to engage in a hard-fought battle with Pedrosa to defend second place.

The young Spaniard managed to overtake Rossi a few times in the final stages before losing ground.

"We did good overtaking manoeuvres and some very aggressive ones, but in the end I missed one corner and lost one second there with three laps remaining and could not recover, so in the last lap I focused on finishing third," said Pedrosa.