Imposing Silverstone win for Lorenzo

World championship leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) took victory from pole position at Silverstone on June 20 to stretch his lead at the top of the standings to 37pts over Andrea Dovizioso (Honda), who placed second in the race. Ben Spies achieved his first MotoGP podium with third place on his Yamaha, with Australia's Casey Stoner (Ducati) a fast-finishing fifth after a poor start from the second row of the grid.

"This was an important day for me and an important win, because I felt so strong and I enjoyed riding my Yamaha so much," said Lorenzo.

"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 never dreamt of taking three wins from five races, but here we are and I am feeling very strong mentally at this moment."

Lorenzo flew off from his pole position and he and Dani Pedrosa (Honda) immediately engaged in a duel which saw them swap the early lead on the opening lap a number of times. Randy de Puniet (Honda), Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden (Ducati) were all involved as well, while Casey Stoner - who was fastest in the pre-event warm-up -- dropped to the back of the field.

Lorenzo wasted little time in finding a rapid rhythm and by lap seven his advantage at the head of the race was a substantial one at over five seconds. Meanwhile Dovizioso and De Puniet ignited an intense contest for second spot, with Hayden hot on their tails. Spies was also making progress as he moved through to enter the top five and latched onto the chase for a podium spot.

Midway through Stoner's lap times were almost identical to race leader Lorenzo's, but in eighth place he was forced to chase down Pedrosa and the Australian found it hard work trying to pass the Spaniard. He eventually managed to make his move on lap 13, and then proceeded to make up further ground.

With three laps to go Hayden and Spies both managed to pass De Puniet, and Stoner scented the chance to get in the hunt. He soon made a move on the Frenchman to slot into fifth in a rousing finale.

The final lap provided a fitting climax as Spies got through on Hayden at Farm Curve to take third spot, a position he held to the finish whilst ahead Lorenzo crossed the line first. Dovizioso's second place was his fourth podium finish and best result of the season, with Spies completing the top three for a first world championship podium.

Ducati Marlboro duo Hayden and Stoner took fourth and fifth after fine individual rides, with De Puniet sixth. Rookie Marco Simoncelli (Honda) took his best premier class result to date with seventh, as Pedrosa finished eighth. The top 10 was completed by Colin Edwards (Yamaha) and Aleix Espargaró (Ducati).

"I'm not happy with fifth place because we were capable of more today," said Stoner.

"I don't know if we could have challenged Jorge for the win, but we definitely found something in warm-up and made more improvements in the race, but we paid the price for a terrible start. As I let the clutch out the bike started jumping and hopping around and I had to pull the clutch in and go again, by which time everybody was past."

Absent from the race was Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP) who attended hospital to assess his condition following a crash in the morning warm up session. World champion Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) also remains out whilst he recovers from his broken right leg.

Australia's Anthony West (MZ) was 17th in the Moto2 race, won by Suter rider Jules Cluzel in a thrilling four-way finish.

Click on the following link for full results and standings in all three classes.

Meanwhile, the riders won't be off the leash for too long after Silverstone, with the next GP to be held this Saturday at Assen in Holland.