MotoGP

Lorenzo Draws Level with Rossi after Brno Win

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Jorge Lorenzo has taken the MotoGP championship lead for the first time this season after winning the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno. The Yamaha rider saw off the challenge of Marc Marquez and with Valentino Rossi finishing third, the pair head to Silverstone level on points with Lorenzo leading on countback.

Rossi appeared to have done much of the hard work in his pursuit of victory by qualifying on the front row but it was all undone by a dreadful opening lap. On the drag race towards turn one, the Italian was swallowed up by the factory Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone with Bradley Smith also powering past.

Smith and Iannone were dispatched by the end of lap one but Dovizioso proved a much tougher obstacle to overcome. After a failed attempt at turn four on the second lap, Valentino finally made a decisive move on the no.04 machine at the final esses but 2.8 seconds of empty tarmac had already opened up between himself and the leading duo, a margin that would only grow before the finish.

In scenes reminiscent of Indianapolis last weekend, Marquez shadowed Lorenzo in the early laps but Jorge made sure this afternoon’s Grand Prix wouldn’t mirror their previous duel in the United States. At half distance, Lorenzo’s relentless pace eventually broke Marquez’s resolve with the lead easing out to almost two seconds, causing the reigning champion to settle for second, six seconds clear of Rossi.

Andrea Iannone won the battle of the Ducatis after muscling past Andrea Dovizioso on lap eight with ‘Dovi’ later falling into the clutches of a brave Dani Pedrosa. Despite the obvious pain from his injured ankle, Dani fought his way past the second Ducati with two laps remaining to secure a sensational fifth by 0.075s.

After proving powerless to keep the factory bikes in check, Bradley Smith faded to seventh although he did hold off teammate Pol Espargaro to lead the satellite fight once again. Aleix Espargaro brought the sole remaining Suzuki home in ninth after Maverick Vinales’ crash brought about his first DNF in MotoGP while Danilo Petrucci profited from a late crash for Cal Crutchlow to finish tenth.

 

2015 bwin GRAND PRIX ČESKÉ REPUBLIKY: RACE RESULT (22 LAPS)

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