Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo extended his lead in the overall standings yesterday as he won his second successive race, the Catalunya MotoGP.
The Yamaha-riding 2010 world champion came home clear of compatriot Dani Pedrosa on a Honda while Andrea Dovizioso, on a Yamaha, edged world champion Casey Stoner for third.
Lorenzo, 25, was winning his third race of the season and 20th MotoGP, having taken the opener in Qatar and then added the French race last time and holds a 20-point lead over Stoner heading into the British MotoGP in a fortnight.
“It was a very tough race, very complicated,” said Lorenzo, who stopped off halfway through his victory lap and let off a bizarre puffball-type explosion out of a pot of paint.
“Dani and Ben (Spies) were so close and it would have been very easy to hit them and crash.
“However, later I just waited for Dani to make a mistake and he duly coughed one up.”
Pedrosa got a terrific start bursting past those in front of him on the grid, including Cal Crutchlow and the two riders on the front row, Lorenzo and Stoner.
Pedrosa was closely followed by Ben Spies on a Yamaha as Lorenzo dropped back to third and Stoner in fifth.
Spies looked to have rediscovered some of his great form from last year as he pressured Pedrosa going into a corner on the second lap and the American duly passed the Spaniard but disaster struck as he went too wide and slid into the gravel.
Pedrosa carried on in front until Lorenzo swooped with 19 laps remaining to pass him and unlike his Yamaha team-mate did not make an error on taking the lead.
Pedrosa and Lorenzo were having a thrilling battle up front with the lead changing hands on several occasions, the former moving back into the lead with 14 laps to go.
Lorenzo was probing the whole time at his rival and was repelled on several occasions before he finally got the better of him with six laps remaining and from then on he cruised to victory as Pedrosa eased off.
Among the also-rans, Valentino Rossi finished a res-pectable seventh on his Ducati while Spies did get into the points after fighting his way back to 10th spot.
Top positions
1. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 115; 2. Stoner (Honda) 95; 3. Pedrosa (Honda) 85; 4. Dovizioso (Yamaha) 60; 5. Crutchlow (Yamaha) 56; 6. Rossi (Ducati) 51; 7. Bautista (Honda) 45; 8. Bradl (Honda) 43; 9. Hayden (Ducati) 40; 10. Barbera (Ducati) 31.