Mugello MotoGP: Lorenzo takes second victory of season

Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) took his second victory of the season at Mugello, after battling with Repsol Honda team mates Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner who finished in second and third respectively.

Lorenzo had a strong start to the race, moving from his qualifying position of fifth to second, whilst Dovizioso took third ahead of Marco Simoncelli. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team), who has won at Mugello nine times, moved into tenth on his revised GP11.1 Ducati.

On the fourth lap Dovizioso started challenging Lorenzo for second place, whilst Rossi began scathing his way through the pack, passing Hector Barbera (Mapfre Aspar Team) to take seventh on lap seven. Lorenzo ran wide on lap eight, gifting Dovizioso the opportunity to take second, whilst Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Cal Crutchlow retired suffering from further front-end grip problems.

Rossi traded places with Barbera, briefly moving into sixth before being re-passed, whilst Lorenzo ran wide attempting to pass Dovizioso, allowing the Italian rider to maintain second place. Two laps later Rossi was able to pass Barbera, on the satellite Ducati, to take sixth.

Lorenzo overtook Dovizioso at Arrabiata with twelve laps remaining and upped his pace to begin closing the gap on Stoner. A mistake under braking from Marco Simoncelli provided Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) the opportunity to move into fourth place. Lorenzo set a new circuit record closing in on Stoner, who had started battling with tyre wear, and took first from the Australian on lap eighteen. Dovizioso clung to Stoner’s back wheel, before passing his team-mate on the first corner of the last lap.

Spies managed to take fourth position from Simoncelli in the final lap by once again passing the Italian under braking. Valentino Rossi finished in sixth place, ahead of Barbera in seventh. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa’s comeback ride saw the Spaniard take eighth place, whilst Americans Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) completed the top ten in ninth and tenth.

1 Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha Factory Racing 41’50.089
2 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team +0.997
3 Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team +1.143
4 Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing +8.980
5 Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini  +9.076
6 Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Team +26.450
7 Hector Barbera SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP +28.745
8 Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team +32.043
9 Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3  +33.421
10 Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team  +34.724
11 Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini  +37.359
12 Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing +43.964
13 Alvaro Bautista SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +47.654
14 Randy De Puniet FRA Pramac Racing Team +48.840
15 Toni Elias SPA LCR Honda MotoGP +1’15.199