Ukawa takes his first win in MotoGP class.

Tohru Ukawa won Africa's Grand Prix today despite the race seeming to be Rossi's for the taking. The Repsol Honda pair dominated the race from start to finish, Ukawa barely challenging Rossi's lead until the Italian gave him a chance to shine.

Rossi had flown from his pole position to lead the field with team mate Ukawa close behind straight away.

A poor start from front row qualifier Biaggi put the Italian back into 9th place, where as a powerful start from Gibernau took him from 10th on the grid to 5th within the first lap.

McCoy did well to hold onto his fifth position, but went slightly wide on lap four letting Carlos Checa slip by on the inside.

McWilliams race was over prematurely on lap six due to a gear selection failure, leaving the Briton disappointed with a non result.

Kenny Roberts took a trip into the pits on lap nine for front and rear tyre changes as the bike did not feel right. At the same time his team mate gibernau took a trip off the track, losing him 25 seconds and numerous positions. The luck for the Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki team continued to get worse when Roberts pulled back into the pits after only one lap on his new tyres, and retired from the race.

The battle for fifth place heated up at half distance with Katoh fighting hard with both McCoy and Jacque for the lead of the close nit group. Rossi and Ukawa remained leagues ahead of the rest and seemingly untouchable in first and second place, with Capirossi and Checa constantly playing catch up.

With nine laps to go Rossi gave up the lead to his team mate, providing Ukawa with the opportunity to discover the full potential of his bike set-up. Rossi also had the chance to see where Ukawa was fast and where he might have the advantage himself.

Back to fourth place and Checa was feeling the heat as Katoh caught him up and put pressure on the Spaniard.

Excitement mounted with three laps to go when Rossi took back the lead and pushed his bike to the limit, producing lap times lower and lower. The racing was hard till the last minute when a mistake by Rossi cost him the win with three turns to go. Ukawa took advantage of Rossi going wide, nipping in on the inside before powering off to meet the chequered flag for his first win in the MotoGP class.

Capirossi lead the rest to the finish, celebrating his place on the podium, the first for a two-stroke this season. Katoh brought his bike back in fourth having overtaken Checa in the closing stages of the race.

Top ten finishers:

1. Tohru Ukawa
2. Valentino Rossi
3. Loris Capirossi
4. Daijiro Katoh
5. Carlos Checa
6. Olivier Jacque
7. Norick Abe
8. Shinya Nakano
9. Max Biaggi
10. Garry McCoy

Full results to follow.