Valentino Rossi sent a Misano crowd into raptures as he ended a 23 race winless streak with victory in the San Marino Grand Prix.
The Yamaha rider once again showed signs he has lost none of his talent that took him to seven MotoGP world titles as he broke team-mate Jorge Lorenzo to take the chequered flag.
The victory was Yamaha's maiden win of the 2014 campaign and Rossi‘s first since a triumph in the 2012 Dutch Grand Prix at the famous Assen circuit.
Honda's Dani Pedrosa completed the podium as he took advantage of a rare fall for reigning world champion and championship leader Marc Marquez.
The Spaniard lost the front while battling Rossi for the lead. Marquez was able to re-mount his Honda to score a solitary point in 15th position.
It was Lorenzo who made the best start as he led Rossi and Marquez into Turn 1 as Pramac Ducati's Andrea Iannone, who started from second, found himself boxed in.
The fast starting Marquez immediately latched onto the back of Rossi on the opening lap, while Lorenzo began to open up a lead.
All eyes were fixed on the battle for second with Marquez and Rossi swapping positions from corner to corner, while also catching leader Lorenzo in the process.
Lorenzo soon found himself in third spot as the battling duo swept around him.
With a grandstand battle poised to unfold, the complexion of the race took a dramatic twist as Marquez lost control of his Honda machine. Luckily, he was able to rejoin the race but found himself in 20th spot.
Once the threat of Marquez disappeared, there proved to be no stopping Rossi as he comfortably took the win from fellow Yamaha stablemate Lorenzo with Pedrosa in third.
Andrea Dovizioso managed to bring his Ducati home in fourth spot ahead of the satellite machine of Iannone.
Monster Yamaha's Pol Esparagaro was sixth leading home team-mate Bradley Smith and Alavaro Bautista.
Cal Crutchlow returned to the top 10 in ninth ahead of Yonny Hernandez.
Having dropped all the way down the order, Marquez fought hard to cross the finish line in 15th position.
Meanwhile, in Moto3, Jack Miller witnessed his lead reduce to nine points as he finished third behind title contenders Alex Rins and Alex Marquez.
Rins pipped Marquez to the victory by just 0.042s while rising Australian motorcycle star Miller finished 3.4s adrift of the top two, having started from pole position.
“I am happy to have been able to get on the podium, especially after the little mistake I made on the fourth lap,” said Miller.
“I was having a good race, I felt comfortable and luckily I was able to stay on the bike.
“We have to be satisfied with the final result of this race.”
Miller will return to action at the Grand Prix of Aragon in Spain on September 28.
MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix Results
Position | Rider | Team/Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 44:14.586s |
2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | +1.578 |
3 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | +4.276s |
4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | +5.510s |
5 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | +11.771s |
6 | Pol Espargaro | Yamaha | +18.999s |
7 | Bradley Smith | Yamaha | +23.100s |
8 | Alvaro Bautista | Gresini Honda | +36.458s |
9 | Cal Crutchlow | Ducati | +38.480s |
10 | Yonny Hernandez | Ducati | +45.878s |
11 | Karel Abraham | Honda | +54.765s |
12 | Hiroshi Aoyama | Honda | +56.775s |
13 | Scott Redding | Honda | +1:02.734s |
14 | Alex de Angelis | Forward Yamaha | +1:13.546s |
15 | Marc Marquez | Honda | +1:15.948s |
16 | Leon Camier | Honda | +1:20.760s |
17 | Michael Laverty | PBM/Aprilia | +1:26.422s |
18 | Broc Parkes | PBM/Aprilia | +1 Lap |
19 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Kawasaki | +1 Lap |
DNF | Aleix Espargaro | Forward Yamaha | |
DNF | Stefan Bradl | Honda | |
DNF | Danilo Petrucci | ART/Aprilia | |
DNF | Mike Di Meglio | Avintia Kawasaki |