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Mugello MotoGP: Hat trick for Jorge

MUGELLO,  Italy - Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo rode a totally dominant race to take the 2015 Italian MotoGP by a huge margin on Sunday.

It was his third win in a row.

The fight of the race, though, was Honda's Marc Marquez who blitzed through the pack from 13th on the grid early in the race to reach, a couple of times near the end, second but eventually his front tyre washed away and he fell with a couple of laps to go.

ROSSI STILL LEADS

That left pole-starter Andrea Iannone (Ducati) second place behind Lorenzo with crowd-pulling Italian Valentino Rossi third to give Yamaha two steps on the podium.

Rossi still leads the championship with 118 points, followed by Lorenzo on 112, Dovizioso on 83 and Iannone right behind him on 81.

AFP REPORTS FROM THE RACE: Spain's Jorge Lorenzo won his third successive MotoGP on Sunday as he coasted home to take the Italian race for Yamaha.

The 28-year-old double MotoGP champion - winning three in a row for the fourth time in his career - beat home pole-starter Andrea Iannone of on a Ducati with Italian legend Valentino Rossi third on another Yamaha - his 10th successive podium finish.

Rossi is leading the MotoGP championship standings but by only six points from Lorenzo.

Defending champion Marc Marquez failed to finish, crashing out on his Honda with six laps remaining.

'I WANT TO MAKE IT FOUR'

Lorenzo, champion in 2010 and 2012, said it was hard to judge if he was in the best form of his life. "I've been in this sort of form in the past," he said, puffing out his cheeks, “but the bike is in great shape. I took control of the race with a brave overtaking of Dovizioso and even though I lacked some pace I had enough to win.

"I've won three races in a row before but now I want to make it four (Catalunya in a fortnight),” added Lorenzo after his fourth Italian MotoGP win from five.

Iannone, who has adopted the nickname 'Maniac Joe' - was delighted to have secured second, especially as he is still recovering still from a dislocated shoulder.

His first win in this category is, however, still elusive.

"My head is strong, that is why I can ride like I do," said Iannone. "Victory was too difficult because Jorge was so strong but I never give up and I pushed a lot."

ROSSI: 'A DIFFICULT WEEKEND'

For Rossi, seeking his 10th championship in all categories, it was a better-than-expected result as he started eighth. "I'm happy because I made the podium," the 36-year-old said. He won two of the first three races of 2015.

"During the race I suffered and it has been a difficult weekend but ultimately I am satisfied with retaining the lead in the title race."

The race got off to a blistering start and Iannone looked to have got a jump start but he was overtaken by team mate Dovizioso and then Lorenzo, who then assumed the lead on the first lap while Marquez scorched through the field from 13th to fourth.

Rossi, though, had an awful start, dropping to 11th though he repaired the damage slightly by finishing that first lap ninth. Marquez moved into third on the opening half of the second lap of the 23-lap race, passing Iannone with nonchalant ease and then ate up Dovizioso to go second.

The Italian fought back to regain second spot with 17 laps remaining while Marquez' team mate Dani Pedrosa started to creep up on the leading quartet.

SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER

It developed into a thrilling battle between the Ducatis and the Yamahas with Marquez being demoted to fourth by Iannone to rapturous cheers from the near 90 000 spectators packing the stands before the Spaniard struck back and regained second.

As they exchanged positions regularly it was Rossi who edged closer to joining their party and going out into the country with 11 laps to go 'The Doctor' was on the shoulder of Dovizioso whom he took care of soon afterwards to stupendous roars from his devoted following.

Dovizioso's race seemed to be run and two laps later he steered his bike into the pits with mechanical trouble.

Disaster was to strike for Marquez with six laps remaining as he went low on the ground to try to overtake Iannone, only to come to grief and slide into the sand -- the Spaniard walking away shaking his head in frustration while cheers rang out from the stands.

The decibel level went even higher later on the lap as Rossi got the better of Pedrosa to move into third.

Full race report shortly.

Result from the 2015 Motorcycling Grand Prix of Italy
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 41min39.173
2 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati 41min44.736
3 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 41min45.834
4 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 41min49.151
5 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha 41min54.457
6 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Yamaha 41min54.838
7 Maverick Vinales (Spain) Suzuki 42min02.978
8 Michele Pirro (Italy) Ducati 42min08.325
9 Danilo Petrucci (Italy) Ducati 42min11.181
10 Yonny Hernandez (Colombia) Ducati 42min13.744
11 Scott Redding (Britain) Honda 42min17.726
12 Loris Baz (France) Yamaha Forward 42min21.331
13 Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati 42min23.974
14 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Aprilia 42min29.608
15 Eugene Laverty (Ireland) Honda 42min32.233

OTHER RACES

Italian Moto2 result


1 Tito Rabat (Spain) Kalex 39min40.545
2 Johann Zarco (France) Kalex 39min40.853
3 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Kalex 39min45.825
4 Sam Lowes (Britain) Speed up 39min46.099
5 Luis Salom (Spain) Kalex 39min48.038
6 Xavier Simeon (Belgium) Kalex 39min48.441
7 Julian Simon (Spain) Speed up 39min51.040
8 Sandro Cortese (Germany) Kalex 39min57.925
9 Axel Pons (Spain) Kalex 39min58.320
10 Lorenzo Baldassarri (Italy) Kalex 39min59.381
11 Alex Rins (Spain) Kalex 40min01.243
12 Alex Marquez (Spain) Kalex 40min01.468
13 Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) Kalex 40min02.978
14 Randy Krummenacher (Switzerland) Kalex 40min03.307
15 Azlan Shah (Malaysia) Kalex 40min08.260

Moto2 points

1 Johann Zarco (France) Kalex 109
2 Tito Rabat (Spain) Kalex 78
3 Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Kalex 68
4 Sam Lowes (Britain) Speed up 67
5 Jonas Folger (Germany) Kalex 57
6 Alex Rins (Spain) Kalex 54
7 Franco Morbidelli (Italy) Kalex 54
8 Xavier Simeon (Belgium) Kalex 49
9 Julian Simon (Spain) Speed up 34
10 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex 31
11 Hafizh Syahrin (Malaysia) Kalex 31
12 Sandro Cortese (Germany) Kalex 30
13 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Kalex 26
14 Luis Salom (Spain) Kalex 25
15 Lorenzo Baldassarri (Italy) Kalex 23

Italian Moto3 result

1 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) KTM 39min39.510
2 Danny Kent (Britain) Honda 39min39.581
3 Romano Fenati (Italy) KTM 39min39.637
4 Francesco Bagnaia (Italy) Mahindra 39min39.640
5 Enea Bastianini (Italy) Honda 39min39.710
6 Niccolo Antonelli (Italy) Honda 39min39.891
7 Jorge Navarro (Spain) Honda 39min41.008
8 Isaac Vinales (Spain) Husqvarna 39min41.086
9 Alexis Masbou (France) Honda 39min41.495
10 Brad Binder (South Africa) KTM 39min41.649
11 Hiroki Ono (Japan) Honda 39min44.476
12 Niklas Ajo (Finland) KTM 39min44.652
13 Livio Loi (Belgium) Honda 39min44.671
14 Andrea Locatelli (Italy) Honda 39min44.671
15 Andrea Migno (Italy) KTM 39min45.160

Moto3 points

1 Danny Kent (Britain) Honda 124
2 Enea Bastianini (Italy) Honda 78
3 Romano Fenati (Italy) KTM 67
4 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) KTM 66
5 Efren Vazquez (Spain) Honda 60
6 Isaac Vinales (Spain) Husqvarna 55
7 Fabio Quartararo (France) Honda 52
8 Francesco Bagnaia (Italy) Mahindra 50
9 Brad Binder (South Africa) KTM 50
10 Alexis Masbou (France) Honda 33
11 Niccolo Antonelli (Italy) Honda 29
12 John McPhee (Britain) Honda 28
13 Jorge Navarro (Spain) Honda 21
14 Karel Hanika (Czech Republic) KTM 18
15 Jakub Kornfeil (Czech Republic) KTM 17

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