Lorenzo wins first ‘real' race in 2011

A fantastic MotoGP race at Mugello in Italy on July 3 race saw world champion Jorge Lorenzo stalk down Casey Stoner to clinch his second win of the season, while Andrea Dovizioso also got past his team-mate on the last lap to finish second.

“It has been one of the sweetest victories in a long time,” said Lorenzo. “The victory in Jerez was not ‘real’ because it was raining. It was a tough race because of the hot conditions without water in the camel back. I pushed and tried to be there with all of my heart!

“I tried to overtake Andrea in the downhill at the chicane and then I did the same with Casey because I thought it was the perfect corner for it. Now we have a competitive bike and I hope to keep this pace. I am more motivated and confident for the future after this great result.

“I think it was one of my most demanding races in my career. It reminded me a bit the 125cc times, with many overtakings. I did a good start again and now I just want to watch the race again on TV. Congratulations to all of my team, they never gave up. I knew it would have been difficult today, but the ‘martillo’ is back!”

Stoner started from pole position to break from the field early and looked set to have victory in the bag, until with nine laps remaining, Lorenzo began to chip away at the Australian’s more than two-second lead, finally catching and taking over the lead with six laps to go. The Spaniard’s win closes the world championship standing lead of Casey Stoner to 19pts.

"I can't say I'm totally happy with the result today, we started the race very strong and everything felt fantastic on the bike, however, we had a problem with the tyres after a few laps,” said Stoner. “We believe this was related to incorrect tyre pressures for today's track temperature and we should have probably reduced them a little compared with what we used in warm-up because as soon as the tyres got up to a certain pressure, I lost all the grip in the rear and this led to me starting to close the front.

“I think this is why we were able to be so fast in the beginning of the race, as the tyres were able to warm-up very quickly, but then the tyre overheated and I lost all grip. I'm disappointed as our potential to win today was high, I thought I might still have potential to fight with Jorge and Andrea, but Jorge came past and he was too fast for me. Then Andrea came past and I thought I could respond, but I didn't have any traction. It's still a podium, and important points but I'm here to win races."

Dovizioso hunted down and passed Stoner on the very last lap to grab second position in front of his home crowd. The Italian remains third in the championship with 119pts, ahead of Valentino Rossi (Ducati) with 91.

Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) battled with San Carlo Honda Gresini Team’s Marco Simoncelli for fourth position, both of whom started on the front row. The two made multiple late braking passes on one another until the American got the better of the Italian on the last lap.

A five-man battle for sixth between Rossi, Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar Ducati), Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki), Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) ensued throughout the race, with Barberá dueling with Rossi at the front of the pack. Rossi broke away at 11 laps to go, putting his GP11.1 in the sixth spot, ahead of the Ducati of Barberá in seventh.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), who dominated the Italian Grand Prix last year, was eighth across the line after starting from the same grid position on his return to racing. The Spaniard finished just in front of Edwards and Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden, who had an early run off to finish in 10th.

Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) retired to the pits with front tire issues, the second race in a row he has suffered with the same problems.

In Moto2, Marc Marquez (Suter) edged out Stefan Bradl (Kalex) and Bradley Smith (Tech 3) in a thriller, with Australian Anthony West (MZ) 21st.

And in the Red Bull Rookies, Australian Arthur Sissis won the ninth race of the season to extend his points lead to 17 over Lorenzo Baldassarri, who finished fourth. Sissis, 16, had to fight all the way to the line, holding off 18-year-old Czech Tomas Vavrous and 13-year-old Spaniard Aaron Espana.

“That was such a fun race,” said Sissis. “The tyres were pretty destroyed and the bike was sliding around a lot but that was the same for everyone. I only had one really scary moment. I had tried to get away at the start but the others came with me and we had a great race. My bike was running so well and I enjoyed it, it was one of the best races we have had.

“The most important thing for me was finishing in front of Lorenzo, that's what I had to do.”

Click on the following link for full results from Mugello.