Lorenzo back on top with Mugello win

Jorge Lorenzo revitalised his MotoGP championship campaign by beating Dani Pedrosa to Italian Grand Prix victory at Mugello.

Marc Marquez was set for second until he crashed out in the closing laps, while home hero Valentino Rossi’s race lasted just two corners before he tangled with Alvaro Bautista.

Although Pedrosa surged into a clear lead by the first corner, Lorenzo immediately made his intentions plain by forcing his Yamaha past the Honda at the apex.

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Further back, Rossi’s slow-starting Yamaha was side by side with Alvaro Bautista’s fast-starting Gresini Honda, and when the latter fell, he took Rossi with him.

Both men flew into the barriers, but were unhurt.

The works Hondas kept Lorenzo under huge pressure for the first half of the race, with Pedrosa nosing alongside a few times.

Then Pedrosa began to lose pace as Lorenzo simultaneously raised his game, and a three-second gap quickly opened.

Marquez grew impatient behind his team-mate, who was not keen to let the rookie past easily.

Positions finally changed with three laps to go, but Marquez then crashed by himself, ending up distraught in the gravel trap after throwing away a secure podium.

Untroubled at the front, Lorenzo came home five seconds clear of Pedrosa to end Honda’s three-race winning streak.

Cal Crutchlow had a lonely race to third for Tech 3 Yamaha, closing in on Pedrosa at the end.

Stefan Bradl spent the race with Ducatis on his tail, fending them off for a MotoGP career-best fourth.

Andrea Dovizioso completed the top five as team-mate Nicky Hayden fell away.

Ducati’s test rider Michele Pirro beat top CRT man Aleix Espargaro and Crutchlow’s team-mate Bradley Smith to seventh.

Results – 23 laps:
 
Pos  Rider             Team/Bike                Time/Gap
  1.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha                 41m39.733s
  2.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda                    + 5.400s
  3.  Cal Crutchlow     Tech 3 Yamaha            + 6.412s
  4.  Stefan Bradl      LCR Honda               + 19.321s
  5.  Andrea Dovizioso  Ducati                  + 19.540s
  6.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati                  + 26.321s
  7.  Michele Pirro     Ducati                  + 38.144s
  8.  Aleix Espargaro   Aspar Aprilia           + 39.802s
  9.  Bradley Smith     Tech 3 Yamaha           + 40.243s
 10.  Hector Barbera    Avintia FTR-Kawasaki    + 48.392s
 11.  Randy de Puniet   Aspar Aprilia           + 48.480s
 12.  Danilo Petrucci   Ioda-Suter-BMW        + 1m13.708s
 13.  Andrea Iannone    Pramac Ducati         + 1m14.601s
 14.  Colin Edwards     Forward FTR-Kawasaki  + 1m21.249s
 15.  Karel Abraham     Cardion Aprilia       + 1m25.738s
 16.  Yonny Hernandez   PBM Aprilia           + 1m27.339s
 17.  Michael Laverty   PBM-Aprilia           + 1m27.758s
 18.  Bryan Staring     Gresini FTR-Honda     + 1m44.424s
 19.  Lukas Pesek       Ioda-Suter-BMW        + 1m45.227s
 
Retirements:
 
     Marc Marquez      Honda                     20 laps
      Claudio Corti     Forward FTR-Kawasaki      17 laps
      Hiroshi Aoyama    Avintia FTR-Kawasaki      16 laps
      Alvaro Bautista   Gresini Honda              0 laps
      Ben Spies         Ducati                     0 laps
      Valentino Rossi   Yamaha                     0 laps
 

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/other-news/motorcycles/motogp/lorenzo-back-on-top-with-mugello-win

David Carl Allison