Australian Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen won his first ever MotoGP race when he upstaged the favourites to beat home Honda's Marco Melandri and fellow Aussie Casey Stoner on his Ducati in a rain-hit French Grand Prix at Le Mans on Sunday.
Stoner's third place finish extended his lead at the top of the world championship standings to 21 points over Italian Valentino Rossi, who struggled all weekend, and finished sixth behind Spain's Dani Pedrosa in fourth and Germany's Alex Hofmann in fifth.
Rossi, who started behind the front row for the first time this season, took the lead after a couple of corners but was soon attacked by local favourites Randy De Puniet and Sylvain Guintoli.
Kawasaki rider De Puniet took command of the race after five laps with Rossi suddenly dropping back four places as the drizzle turned into heavier rain 20 laps from the finish, causing Guintoli, De Puniet and Toni Elias to crash out, with John Hopkins taking the lead.
The American made a pit-stop along with Rossi, Stoner and Pedrosa on the 10th lap to change tyres, but Melandri opted not to make a change and he was soon overtaken by Vermeulen.
The Australian, whose previous best result was second place in last year's rain-hit Australian GP behind Melandri, never looked back.
"When I saw all those riders on the ground I just tried to keep it together," Vermeulen told a news conference.
"(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."
Difficult race
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: 'Okay, Chris, this is your race'."