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Honda's Marco Melandri has taken a major step to finishing second overall in this year's MotoGP after winning the first ever Turkish Grand Prix this weekend in Istanbul.

It was a weekend of firsts with Melandri celebrating his virgin victory in MotoGP, and Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi failing to finish in the number one spot for the first time in six races.

Melandri led from the first corner and, although Rossi battled his Yamaha back from eighth to second by the end of lap eight, he could find no way past his countryman and had to settle for the number two spot.

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"Marco had an incredible race and didn't make any mistakes," explained a typically gracious Rossi.

"For me, the weekend was tough and there were a lot of problems. When the tyres started to slide, I was in difficulty so I was happy with second place."

Rossi went into the race with the opportunity to break Mick Doohan's record of 12 MotoGP wins in one season and 54 MotoGP career wins. However, Melandri's win means that the best he can do this year is equal both records at the last race of the season in Valencia in a fortnight.

The day belonged to Melandri though who is now nine points clear of third place man Nicky Hayden in the overall classifications.

"Rossi was right behind me most of the time and what I did was to keep my concentration high," said Melandri. "I'm happy to be on the podium after so much bad luck."