Lorenzo won in MotoGP's return to Silverstone from Dovizioso and Spies.

World championship leader Jorge Lorenzo took victory from pole position at the AirAsia British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday as he stretched his lead at the top of the standings to 37 points over Andrea Dovizioso, who placed second in the race. Ben Spies achieved his first MotoGP podium with third place.

“This was an important day for me and an important win, because I felt so strong and I enjoyed riding my Yamaha so much,” Lorenzo beamed. “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!”

For Spies, the result was a surprise, taking his first podium just five races into his full time premier class career.

“I didn’t expect to get my first podium so quickly, especially after yesterday which wasn’t the best for me,” the current WSBK champion said. “I got a decent start but once I got by Dani and Simoncelli I just tried to stay on the back of the group battling for the podium.

“Once I realised I could stay in contention I just tried to save the rear tyre as much as I could and it all worked out. The last few laps I pushed as hard as I could and made some good passes and it is great for Yamaha and the Monster Tech 3 Team. I’m also pretty happy about it to o and this is good for my confidence.

“That last lap was difficult to pass Nicky but I got a really good drive onto the back straight and tried to pass him at Stowe Corner but he came back by. On the next straight I managed to get by him and then had to ride quite defensively on the last part of the lap. I was on the edge but I had to go for the podium and it worked out. It will be hard to duplicate this but right now I’ll let it sink in and make the most of it. But on this day I can say I was the third best rider in the world and it is a good feeling.”

Lorenzo flew off from pole position as he and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) immediately engaged in a duel which saw them swap the early lead on the opening lap a number of times.

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati) were all involved as well, whilst Casey Stoner (Ducati) suffered misfortune as he dropped to dead last from his starting position of sixth as the riders entered the first turn.

Marco Melandri suffered disappointment as he crashed out on the opening lap, but his San Carlo Honda Gresini team-mate Marco Simoncelli enjoyed better fortunes as he climbed positions.

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. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider 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 the race 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 do so on lap 13, and then proceeded to make up further ground.

Loris Capirossi’s race was ended early when the Rizla Suzuki rider crashed out at Copse as he ran off and fell whilst trying to overtake Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar). At the front end Dovizioso, De Puniet and Hayden were separated by less than half a second as they continued their tactical tussle for the final two podium spots – Spies keeping a tag on as well – with Lorenzo’s lead by now an unassailable one.

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 Grand Prix podium.

Ducati duo Hayden and Stoner took fourth and fifth after fine individual rides, with De Puniet sixth. Rookie Simoncelli took his best premier class result to date with seventh, as Pedrosa finished eighth. The top ten was completed by Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing).

“I’m not happy with fifth place because we were capable of more today,” Stoner explained. “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.

“The tyres were fresh on before the warm-up lap so in the early laps I had to be really careful before being able to start overtaking and I lost a lot of seconds. The race then was fun, we were able to find a good rhythm and to make our way forward but the time lost at the beginning prevented us by fighting for the podium.”

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.

Jules Cluzel celebrated the first win of his World Championship career after a stunning Moto2 race, riding his Forward Racing Suter to victory ahead of Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Racing) and Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar).

From the start Fonsi Nieto (G22 Holiday Gym) flew up to third from tenth on the grid as he wasted no time in pushing his way forward, and with the pack tightly bunched on the opening lap there were a pair of fallers as front row starter Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) and Simone Corsi (JiR Moto2) – third in the Championship standings before the race – collided and crashed out.

The Forward Racing pair of Claudio Corti and Cluzel, who started from the front two spots on the grid, became embroiled in a battle with Nieto at the head of the race, a fight which Simón soon became involved in as Nieto’s challenge faded shortly after.

Cluzel, Corti and Simón threatened to become slightly detached at the front as the scrap for fourth involving a host of riders took place, but Lüthi and Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) – who had fallen to 17th after the start – began to regain ground as they swallowed up track behind the trio.

Lüthi’s superb pace meant that by lap 12 of 18 a gap that had stood at almost two seconds to the front three had been diminished as he and Redding caught the leading group, making for a fantastic final third of the race which became a marvellous five-way contest.

Former 125cc World Champion Lüthi pushed his way to the front as he rode an unforgiving and admirable race and with two laps to go Corti crashed out as he lost his Suter bike going through Turn 8, the entry to the chicane approaching Club. The Italian returned to the race to finish 30th.

The final lap provided great drama and as Lüthi ran wide going into the corner where Corti had crashed shortly before Cluzel went through on him to take the lead, holding it until the finish line to take his debut World Championship win. Lüthi and Simón both took their second podiums of the campaign with second and third places respectively, with Redding achieving his best result of the season so far with fourth in his home GP.

Debón, Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP), Mike di Meglio (Mapfre Aspar), Xavier Simeon (Holiday Gym G22), Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP) and Championship leader Toni Elías (Gresini Racing Moto2) completed the top ten, as Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX) and Alex Baldolini (Caretta Technology Race Dept) both crashed out on the final lap.

Elías remains at the top of the Championship standings on 80 points, with Tomizawa still second on 65. Lüthi climbs to third on 58, with Simón and Corsi both on 51 in fourth and fifth.

Marc Márquez took his second win of the season at Silverstone after a fierce battle with compatriot Pol Espargaro. Pole holder Márquez managed to pull away with Espargaro as they moved to almost three seconds ahead of Bancaja Aspar riders Nico Terol and Bradley Smith before the halfway point of the race had even arrived.

Efrén Vázquez (Tuenti Racing) joined the Bancaja Aspar duo shortly after and managed to go through on both, taking third spot as the trio began a fight for third place whilst Márquez and Espargaró extended the distance to the chasing group even further.

With four laps to go Márquez and Espargaró were over ten seconds clear as Terol, Smith and Vázquez continued the scrap for third. Vázquez ran wide however and appeared to drop off enough momentarily to give Smith and Terol some breathing space.

The final laps provided an edge-of-the-seat finish and the fight between Márquez and Espargaró became just that as the two touched twice while pushing one another to the limit. Further back Vázquez crashed as he touched tyres with Terol, allowing Smith enough space to get through and into third.

At the front a mistake from Espargaró two corners from the end saw him run wide, which gave Márquez enough room to get clear and take the win, eventually crossing the line 2.576s ahead of Espargaró who now leads the Championship by a single point from Terol. The Bancaja Aspar man finished fourth, behind team-mate Smith who secured his first podium of the season in front of a delighted home crowd and became the first non-Spaniard to make it into the top three this season.

Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany), Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo), Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) and Johann Zarco (WTR San Marino Team) completed the top eight, with British rider Danny Webb (Andalucia Cajasol) tenth. Vázquez managed to remount his bike and cross the line in 11th.

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