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It's Lorenzo again at Mugello

Mugello, Italy - Spain's 2010 World champion Jorge Lorenzo won the Italian MotoGP here on Sunday to extend his lead in the overall standings.

The 25-year-old Yamaha rider - who ended a two-race winless run having last won most recently at the British MotoGP on June 17 - came home clear of compatriot Dani Pedrosa on a Honda while Italian Andrea Dovizioso was third on another Yamaha.

It was Lorenzo's 43rd career success and sees him extend his lead to 19 points over Pedrosa, who won the previous weekend's German race.

FIFTH WIN OF SEASON

However Pedrosa's Honda team mate and defending World champion Casey Stoner saw his chances of bowing out in his final year on the MotoGP circuit with the title fade further as he trailed home in in eighth.

Lorenzo, after his fifth win of the season, commented: "This black-mamba helmet has brought me the luck I was missing at Assen (a fortnight earlier, when he crashed, and was then second in Germany).

"We made no mistakes all weekend. The start was tough but, little by little, I gained confidence and then when I opened a little gap I was able to relax and I cruised after that."

Pedrosa, too, was delighted. "We did a good job in the race but it was very difficult with Jorge going at that pace," the 26-year-old said.
"It was so difficult and I couldn't catch him. Overall, though, it is a good moment; let’s try to keep it like this and push hard."

Dovizioso was ecstatic with his fourth podium finish in five races which has linked with higher-profile rides next season. "I'm really happy to get a podium finish in this race - every rider dreams of it," said the 26-year-old. "I thought I could stay with Lorenzo but it proved impossible."

STONER TRIED A MOVE

Lorenzo seized the lead on the second corner, coming up the inside of Pedrosa, while Dovizioso stormed from seventh to third. A lead group of five settled early on, Lorenzo leading Dovizioso with Pedrosa in third and German rookie Stefan Bradl fourth with Nicky Hayden fifth.

Stoner tried to make a move in passing Hector Barbera with 21 laps to go.

Pedrosa was desperately trying to pass Dovizioso to stop Lorenzo opening too much of a gap up front and managed to with 18 laps remaining but trailed his compatriot by more than a second.

Valentino Rossi was charging a bit, having started 10th, and passed 22-year-old Barbera, as did Cal Crutchlow with 17 laps remaining as they focused on trying to catch Stoner.

IMPRESSIVE BRADL

Lorenzo's dominance was in stark contrast to his American team mate Ben Spies who was sliding down the field and the former World Superbike champion was 12th with 16 laps remaining, not doing his chances of retaining his place at the stable much good.

He finished 11th.

Stoner moved into fifth, past Hayden, with 14 laps to go and in pursuit of fourth which was occupied by Dovizioso as he had been overtaken by the impressive Bradl.

Stoner's rough past couple of races continued as he exited the track a lap later and onto the gravel but was able to regain the race, but having fallen five spots into 10th.

Up front, though, Stoner's team mate Pedrosa had narrowed the gap on Lorenzo but the latter effortlessly increased it within a lap as he went up a gear and with 10 laps to go was almost two seconds ahead.

As Lorenzo sauntered to victory, Dovizioso reclaimed the final spot on the podium from Bradl with three laps remaining while Rossi seized fifth on the final lap from Hayden.

In the day's other races, Italian Andrea Iannone took first place in the Moto2 to cheer the home crowd and Spain's Maverick Vinales narrowly beat local boy Romano Fenati and Sandro Cortese in the Moto3.

Results from the 2012 Italian MotoGP
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 41min37.477
2 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 41min42.700
3 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Yamaha 41min48.142
4 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda 41min48.188
5 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati 41min49.172
6 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha 41min49.537
7 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 41min49.712
8 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda 42min08.094
9 Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati 42min09.205
10 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda 42min12.066
11 Ben Spies (US) Yamaha 42min35.339
12 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia 42min37.440
13 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia 42min48.677
14 James Ellison (Britain) Aprilia 42min48.935
15 Mattia Pasini (Italy) Aprilia 42min49.305

Standings after the 2012 Italian MotoGP
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha - 185
2 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 166
3 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda - 148
4 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Yamaha - 108
5 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha - 95
6 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati - 82
7 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda - 75
8 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati - 74
9 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda - 73
10 Ben Spies (US) Yamaha - 66
11 Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati - 60
12 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia - 28
13 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia - 27
14 Michele Pirro (Italy) FTR - 16
15 Mattia Pasini (Italy) Aprilia - 13

SUPPORTING RACES

Result from the 2012 Italian Motorcycle GP Moto2 race
1 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Speed up 39min52.523
2 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Kalex 39min52.613
3 Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Suter 39min53.420
4 Bradley Smith (Britain) Tech 3 39min53.548
5 Marc Marquez (Spain) Suter 39min56.319
6 Scott Redding (Britain) Kalex 39min56.434
7 Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) Kalex 39min56.948
8 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter 40min03.889
9 Claudio Corti (Italy) Kalex 40min05.340
10 Johann Zarco (France) Motobi 40min05.554
11 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex 40min05.652
12 Randy Krummenacher (Switzerland) Kalex 40min05.885
13 Nicolas Terol (Spain) Suter 40min07.692
14 Julian Simon (Spain) Suter 40min09.761
15 Ricard Cardus (Spain) AJR 40min29.079

Standings after the 2012 Italian Motorcycle GP Moto2 race
1 Marc Marquez (Spain) Suter - 163
2 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Kalex - 129
3 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Speed up - 129
4 Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Suter - 123
5 Scott Redding (Britain) Kalex - 96
6 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex - 77
7 Bradley Smith (Britain) Tech3 - 69
8 Claudio Corti (Italy) Kalex 59
9 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter - 52
10 Esteve Rabat (Spain) Kalex - 51
11 Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Suter - 48
12 Johann Zarco (France) Motobi - 47
13 Simone Corsi (Italy) FTR - 40
14 Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) Kalex - 36
15 Toni Elias (Spain) Suter - 34

Result from the 2012 Italian Motorcycle GP Moto3 race
1 Maverick Vinales (Spain) Honda 39min57.374
2 Romano Fenati (Italy) Honda 39min57.394
3 Sandro Cortese (Germany) KTM 39min57.445
4 Niccolo Antonelli (Italy) Honda 40min03.162
5 Danny Kent (Britain) KTM 40min03.210
6 Efren Vazquez (Spain) Honda 40min03.234
7 Alex Rins (Spain) Honda 40min03.280
8 Jakub Kornfeil (Czech Republic) Honda 40min15.569
9 Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Malaysia) KTM 40min16.606
10 Hector Faubel (Spain) Kalex 40min16.682
11 Niklas Ajo (Finland) KTM 40min33.229
12 Alexis Masbou (France) Honda 40min33.246
13 Adrian Martin (Spain) Honda 40min33.549
14 Kevin Calia (Italy) Honda 40min33.569
15 Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Italy) Honda 40min33.644

Standings after the 2012 Italian Motorcycle GP Moto3 race
1 Sandro Cortese (Germany) KTM - 164
2 Maverick Vinales (Spain) Honda - 155
3 Luis Salom (Spain) Kalex - 104
4 Romano Fenati (Italy) Honda - 85
5 Alexis Masbou (France) Honda - 75
6 Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Malaysia) KTM - 66
7 Alex Rins (Spain) Honda - 63
8 Louis Rossi (France) Honda - 56
9 Niccolo Antonelli (Italy) Honda - 55
10 Danny Kent (Britain) KTM - 53
11 Efren Vazquez (Spain) Honda - 50
12 Hector Faubel (Spain) Kalex - 44
13 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Honda - 39
14 Arthur Sissis (Australia) KTM 38
15 Alberto Moncayo (Spain) Kalex - 36


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