Marco Melandri clinched his second consecutive MotoGP win in today's Gran Premio betandwin.com de la Comunitat Valencia, putting on an impressive performance to fend off the challenge of Nicky Hayden.

"This is an unbelievable situation for me, I can't find the words to describe how I feel," said Melandri after the race. "I started the race thinking about the championship but I took the lead into turn one and realised I could win it. When I saw Nicky was behind I tried to escape but he was too strong. I thought about letting him pass but I know how hard it is to overtake at this circuit so in the end I stayed in front and held on."

Melandri made a good start from second of the grid to snatch the holeshot ahead of Hayden, while poleman Sete Gibernau slipped back to third. The Spaniard ended his campaign on another blow, his engine breaking out on lap three.

Qualified in a low 15th, World Champion Valentino Rossi made a strong charge, gaining seven places on the first lap and challenging Carlos Checa for third five laps later. By mid-race, the Yamaha rider was chasing Melandri and Hayden after passing Checa, but only managed to close the gap to little less than three seconds.

At the front, Melandri rode a flawless race despite Hayden pushing hard on his tail, but never close enough to have a clear shot at the lead. With this second consecutive win, Melandri consolidated his second position in the Championship, finishing best runner-up behind Valentino Rossi.

Ducati Marlboro's Carlos Checa took fourth, crossing the line more than 15 seconds after Rossi, followed by Honda veterans Alex Barros and Max Biaggi. Loris Capirossi took seventh on his comeback at Ducati after missing the last two races through injury, ahead of Colin Edwards. Makoto Tamada and Toni Elias completed the final top 10.