British MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo romps to Silverstone success

Jorge Lorenzo romped to an easy British MotoGP victory at Silverstone this afternoon to extend his advantage in the overall rankings to a commanding 37-points.

Lorenzo got a great start from pole position and only briefly surrendered the lead when title rival and fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa passed him at Stowe Corner on lap one. 

But the Repsol Honda rider made a big mistake on the approach to the fast Farm Curve left-hander to hand the lead back to Fiat Yamaha rider Lorenzo.
It was a lead he never looked in any serous danger of relinquishing and only five laps had been completed and the 23-year-old was streaking away from the chasing pack.

On lap 12 his advantage was a massive 8.393s and the double world 250GP champion cruised to his third win of the season and his eighth premier class success.
Even more significant was Lorenzo’s victory stretched his series lead over  Pedrosa with the Repsol Honda rider struggling after a crash-strewn weekend.

The triple world champion was already nursing badly bruised knees following a massive qualifying crash and he crashed heavily in this morning’s warm-up session at the Vale chicane.

Pedrosa gradually dropped down the field to finish in a disappointing eighth and immediately blunted the momentum gained from his dominant victory in Mugello earlier this month.

Lorenzo’s dominant charge at the front didn’t turn the 20-lap race into a dull affair and behind there was an enthralling five-rider battle for the podium unfolding.
Factory Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso continued his impressive form in 2010 with the Italian notching his fourth podium in the opening five races with a gritty second.

Dovizioso first claimed second from Randy de Puniet on lap seven at Stowe Corner before the Frenchman struck back on lap ten.

But Dovizioso claimed second again a lap later and he was able to fend off a ferocious challenge behind him that included de Puniet and American duo Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies.

Dovizioso moved into second place in the series with Pedrosa struggling home in eighth.

With Dovizioso in control in second, behind him was a superb scrap between Hayden and Spies, which the reigning World Superbike champion won on a nail-biting final lap.

Hayden had taken third from de Puniet at Village Corner on lap 17 and the factory Ducati rider looked like he’d done enough to claim only his second podium for the Bologna factory.

But the 2006 world champion made a vital mistake at the fast Abbey Corner on the final lap and Spies pounced to claim his first MotoGP podium finish with Hayden unable to respond.

Hayden had to settle for fourth spot for the fourth time in five races as he finished just 0.217s behind Spies on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1.

Aussie Casey Stoner produced one of the performances of the day to finish fifth and just under 0.5s away from an unlikely podium.

The 24-year-old made a shocking start from the second row of the grid and was only 14th at the end of the first lap.

LCR Honda rider de Puniet ended in sixth place with Marco Simoncelli seventh.
Italian duo Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi both crashed out of the race unhurt.

Melandri was running seventh on lap one when he lost the front at Brooklands Corner, his San Carlo Gresini Honda machine narrowly missing hitting Spies.