Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo ran away with the British MotoGP race from pole position for Yamaha yesterday to extend his championship lead to 37 points.
The 23-year-old was in a class of his own, winning by a hefty 6.743 seconds for his third victory in five starts this season.
The absence of his injured world champion team-mate Valentino Rossi was keenly felt, with empty seats in the grandstands and Lorenzo so far ahead of the rest by the midpoint that the television cameras focused largely on the battle for second place.
Italian Andrea Dovizioso, last year’s race winner at Donington Park, took the runner-up slot for Honda ahead of American Ben Spies making his first MotoGP podium appearance for the non-works Yamaha Tech3 team.
Lorenzo now has 115 points to Dovizioso’s 78.
Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, who had been second in the championship but crashed his Honda in qualifying, finished eighth and dropped to third overall with 73 points.
“It’s a very important day,” said the Majorcan rider, who celebrated his victory by donning a Sergeant Pepper style long coat and posing with three friends in Beatles wigs in a tribute to the Fab Four.
“Today was a race where you could crash or make a mistake or win,” he added. “The rear tyre was sliding but I think it was a little bit worse for the other riders.”
Lorenzo and Pedrosa battled for the lead on the first lap, with the former twice retaking it before his rival began to fade back down the order.
The championship leader was five seconds clear of Dovizioso after seven of the 20 laps and stretched his advantage to 8.562 before easing back with nobody else in sight to apply any pressure.
Looks like we are very much have a predictable world champion this year :)
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