MotoGP: Three Straight Wins For Jorge Lorenzo At Mugello

The picturesque setting of the Tuscan hills played host to a spectacular MotoGP race at the Gran Premio d'Italia TIM. With track temperatures at the Autodromo del Mugello hitting 50 degrees, the Italian fans were treated to another dominant performance from Movistar Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo as he claimed his third straight victory by over 5.5s.

As Lorenzo disappeared off into the distance, the real battle would be for second place. This fight was originally between the two Factory Ducati’s of Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone, and the Repsol Honda’s of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, although Valentino Rossi would join in before the end of the race.

Marquez had an amazing start, moving up from 13th on the grid into 6th at the very first corner. In contrast, Rossi suffered a disastrous opening lap that would see him down drop down to tenth, before mounting an incredible charge through the field to join the podium fight with eight laps to go.

There was more drama to come though, as Dovizioso was forced to retire due to rearend chatter issues, and then Marquez, who was once more involved in an excellent scrap with Iannone for second, crashed out of the race leaving Iannone to claim second ahead of the Rossi in third.

With his third win in a row, Lorenzo has closed the gap to six points behind Rossi at the top of the World Championship standings. After starting the season plagued with troubles, the Spaniard has responded brilliantly to answer any critics.

Iannone claimed his second podium of the season as he rode through the pain of his fractured humerus from a testing crash in Mugello before the French GP. The Italian delighted his hometown fans by putting the GP15 on the podium after getting the better of Marquez and holding off Rossi. Iannone has not finished outside the top six this season.

Rossi showed all of his class to work his way back from tenth on the first lap to claim third, and remain the leader in the championship standings. The Italian has not finished off the podium yet in 2015 and once again saved his best for the race after having to start from 8th on the grid. The Doctor maintains a slim six-point lead over teammate Lorenzo in the World Championship standings.

Dani Pedrosa rode a solid race to claim fourth, just over three seconds behind Rossi, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith in fifth. Smith, the leading Satellite rider, benefitted from Cal Crutchlow’s crash with just three laps remaining. Smith’s teammate Pol Espargaro was next across the line in sixth, while Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), wild card Michele Pirro (Ducati Team), Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) and Yonny Hernandez completed the top ten.

Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS’s Scott Redding again struggled, finishing down in eleventh. Loris Baz took his first Open class victory for his Athina Forward Racing team, as he crossed the line in the 12th spot ahead of Hector Barbera, Alvaro Bautista and Eugene Laverty, who claimed the last championship point of the race.

MotoGP Mugello Race Results

Not Classified

Cal CRUTCHLOW (35) CWM LCR Honda HONDA
Marc MARQUEZ (93), Repsol Honda Team HONDA
Andrea DOVIZIOSO (4) Ducati Team DUCATI
Stefan BRADL (6) Athinà Forward Racing YAMAHA
Nicky HAYDEN (69) Aspar MotoGP Team HONDA
Aleix ESPARGARO (41) Team Suzuki Ecstar SUZUKI
Jack MILLER (43) CWM LCR Honda HONDA
Alex DE ANGELIS (15) Octo IodaRacing Team ART