Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The MotoGP World Championship race at Mugello, Italy was stopped on lap 17 of 23 for rain falling on the dry race.

Competitors were given a set period of time to change tires but during that time the rain stopped.

The race will be restarted for six laps. Aggregate scoring, combining total race times from both legs, will not be used. The first rider across the line at the end of the re-start will be the winner.

At the time the race was stopped, Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau were having a terrific battle for the lead.

Several riders had retired by the time the race was stopped and will not be allowed to re-start the race. Riders out of the race included Kenny Roberts (mechanical), Carlos Checa (crash), Nicky Hayden (crash), Makoto Tamada (mechanical) and Shinya Nakano, who suffered a catastrophic Bridgestone rear tire failure on the front straightaway and crashed at an estimated 170 mph.