Lorenzo wins at Silverstone
The Fiat Yamaha rider led from start to finish, having begun the race on pole.
Last year’s winner Andrea Dovizioso came in second while American Ben Spies grabbed his first podium spot in third.
For Lorenzo, it was his third win of the season in five races. The 23-year-old is favorite for the title after team-mate and world champion Valentino Rossi broke his leg in practice for the Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago.
I’m so excited. I didn’t expect to go so fast at the beginning, the track was quite cold and it was difficult to go fast with these tires," he said. “Today was very important for the Championship."
Dovizioso moved up from fourth to second in the standings after his second place, with Pedrosa dropping to third.
“We had a controlled race," said Dovizioso. “We didn’t have the pace to fight with Lorenzo, he was so fast, but second is very important for the Championship." BBC Sport
Marlboro Ducati’s Hayden moved into third place with a few laps remaining but he had Spies breathing down his neck. The Texan made a move that stuck on the final lap, the World Superbike Champion earning his first-ever MotoGP podium as he finished some .3 of a second behind Dovizioso. Hayden was another .3 behind for his fourth fourth-place finish of the year.
Fifth place, and right on Hayden at the finish, was his teammate Casey Stoner. Stoner started from the second row, but botched the start badly and dropped all the way back to dead last in the first corner. From there he fought forward, passing Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, San Carlo Honda’s Marco Simoncelli and de Puniet in the latter stages to move into the battle for second. He ran out of laps, however, and ended up fifth.
De Puniet was sixth with Simoncelli having his best MotoGP finish in seventh, almost a second ahead of Pedrosa, the Spaniard feeling the effects of his Saturday qualifying crash.
Spies’ Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Colin Edwards finished ninth with Pramac Racing’s Aleix Espargaro rounding out the top 10. There were 13 finishers with Italian’s Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi both crashing out of the race.
Jorge Lorenzo – 1st, 41'34.083
"This was an important day for me and an important win, because I felt so strong and I enjoyed riding my Yamaha so much. I had a different feeling today; I felt that it was going to be a good race. It was quite hard to be fast at the start and the first lap with Dani was difficult, but once I got past him I felt very relaxed and comfortable. I thought he would follow me for a bit longer but he didn't and then I was on my own, so I just had to focus on myself; I didn't even know who was behind me! I never dreamt of taking three wins from five races but here we are and I am feeling very strong mentally at this moment. I want to thank my team, Yamaha and Bridgestone for this victory. The Beatles celebration was something fun for the fans, I love their music and I thought it was nice to make a homage to them, since we're in England!"
Results
|
Pos. |
Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| 1 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | ESP | 41'34.083 |
| 2 | Andrea Dovizioso | Honda | ITA | 0'06.743 |
| 3 | Ben Spies | Yamaha | USA | 0'07.097 |
| 4 | Nicky Hayden | Ducati | USA | 0'07.314 |
| 5 | Casey Stoner | Ducati | AUS | 0'07.494 |
| 6 | Randy De Puniet | Honda | FRA | 0'09.055 |
| 7 | Marco Simoncelli | Honda | ITA | 0'14.425 |
| 8 | Daniel Pedrosa | Honda | ESP | 0'15.313 |
| 9 | Colin Edwards | Yamaha | USA | 0'27.954 |
| 10 | Aleix Espargaro | Ducati | ESP | 0'42.394 |
| 11 | Hector Barbera | Ducati | ESP | 0'43.365 |
| 12 | Alvaro Bautista | Suzuki | ESP | 0'43.408 |
| 13 | Mika Kallio | Ducati | FIN | 0'43.580 |
RIDER STANDINGS
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Points |
| 1. | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | ESP | 115 |
| 2. | Andrea Dovizioso | Honda | ITA | 78 |
| 3. | Daniel Pedrosa | Honda | ESP | 73 |
| 4. | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | ITA | 61 |
| 5. | Nicky Hayden | Ducati | USA | 52 |
| 6. | Randy De Puniet | Honda | FRA | 46 |
| 7. | Ben Spies | Yamaha | USA | 36 |
| 8. | Casey Stoner | Ducati | AUS | 35 |
| 9. | Marco Simoncelli | Honda | ITA | 32 |
| 10. | Marco Melandri | Honda | ITA | 32 |
| 11. | Colin Edwards | Yamaha | USA | 26 |
| 12. | Hector Barbera | Ducati | ESP | 24 |
| 13. | Aleix Espargaro | Ducati | ESP | 22 |
| 14. | Hiroshi Aoyama | Honda | JPN | 18 |
| 15. | Mika Kallio | Ducati | FIN | 15 |
MANUFACTURER STANDINGS
| Pos. | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1. | Yamaha | 120 |
| 2. | Honda | 97 |
| 3. | Ducati | 65 |
| 4. | Suzuki | 23 |