Share

Lorenzo wins Silverstone MotoGP

Silverstone, England - Jorge Lorenzo cruised to a comfortable win over defending World champion Casey Stoner in the British MotoGP here on Sunday.

The Yamaha star, winner here in 2010 when he went on to claim the World title, extended his lead at the top of the championship with this his 42nd career success.

CRUTCHLOW THE HER0

Stoner, who will retire at the end of the 2012 season, narrowly managed to fend off his Honda team mate Dani Pedrosa for second.

Aside from Lorenzo, who now leads the championship by 25 points, the feat of the race belonged to British rider Cal Crutchlow, who crashed heavily in Saturday practice and competed with a broken and dislocated left ankle.

Despite his injuries the gutsy Yamaha rider finished an admirable sixth, having left his hospital bed and starting at the back of the grid after missing qualifying.

A drained Crutchlow, an absentee in 2011 after also crashing, though in qualifying, told the BBC: "In all honesty it's been an emotionally draining and tough weekend. It was a long day yesterday; they told me at the hospital I wasn't going to be allowed to ride but the medical staff here did a great job.

"Now I need to make sure I'm fit for the next race."

In dry conditions, American Ben Spies, alongside surprise pole-starter Alvaro Bautista on the front row, shot into an early lead. The Yamaha man was closely tracked by Stoner, with Bautista lying third and Nicky Hayden (Ducati) fourth.

This quartet was clear of a chasing pack headed by Lorenzo, who turned up at Silverstone having rejected an offer to fill Stoner's place at Honda in 2012. He has signed a new two-year contract with Yamaha.

MARMITE FUEL

Stoner, who won by 15sec on a wet track here in 2011, pounced on a mistake by Spies to hit the front on lap five as Lorenzo moved up to fourth.

Lorenzo, perhaps spurred on by having his first taste of a British delicacy - a Marmite sandwich - before the race, was up to second by lap seven of 20.

Stoner was being hard-pressed by the Spaniard who in turn had acres of daylight between him and Bautista.

Midway through this the sixth leg of the championship the front pair were treating the Silverstone crowd to a nail-biting battle, with Lorenzo eventually snatching the lead on lap 11.

Having dealt with his Australian rival, Lorenzo surged clear and raced in isolation over the closing laps to register an ultimately effortless victory.

'QUALIFYING NOT GOOD'

Lorenzo, though, said later his win had been harder than it may have appeared. "I enjoyed it but there was also a lot of tension. I didn't want to make mistakes so had to wait a little to overtake.

"It was wonderful fighting with Casey - we're having a fantastic season, we can't ask for more."

Stoner reflected: "We weren't good in qualifying, the bike didn't feel right before the race, it was just horrible. I struggled during the whole race. I wanted to get in front of Ben (Spies) as soon as possible but knew if they got past it would be difficult to keep up."

The next race will be in two weeks at Assen in The Netherlands

Results from the MotoGP at the British GP at Silverstone on Sunday min
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 41min16.429
2 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda 41min19.742
3 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 41min20.028
4 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda 41min21.625
5 Ben Spies (US) Yamaha 41min27.960
6 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha41 min31.541
7 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 41min31.956
8 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda 41min38.950
9 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati 41min52.567
10 Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati 41min57.757
11 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia 42min19.586
12 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia 42min19.872
13 Michele Pirro (Italy) Honda 42 min23.719
14 James Ellison (Britain) Aprilia 42 min31.211

MotoGP points standings after Sunday's British GP
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha - 140
2 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda - 115
3 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 101
4 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha - 66
5 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Yamaha - 60
6 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati - 58
7 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda - 58
8 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda - 51
9 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati - 49
10 Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati - 37
11 Ben Spies (US) Yamaha - 35
12 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia - 20
13 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia - 11
14 Michele Pirro (Italy) FTR - 9
15 James Ellison (Britain) Paul Bird Motorsport - 7

Moto2 results from the British MotoGP at Silverstone
1 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Kalex 38min29.792
2 Scott Redding (Britain) Kalex 38min31.254
3 Marc Marquez (Spain) Suter 38min31.313
4 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Speed up 38min32.643
5 Simone Corsi (Italy) FTR 38min33.595
6 Claudio Corti (Italy) Kalex 38min36.901
7 Bradley Smith (Britain) Tech 3 38min37.419
8 Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Suter 38min37.461
9 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter 38min45.639
10 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex 38min49.971
11 Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Suter 38min50.242
12 Toni Elias (Spain) Suter 38min52.809
13 Esteve Rabat (Spain) Kalex 38min52.947
14 Randy Krummenacher (Switzerland) Kalex 38min53.028
15 Ratthapark Wilairot (Thailand) Moriwaki 38min54.299

Moto2 points standings
1 Marc Marquez (Spain) Suter - 102
2 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Kalex - 96
3 Thomas Luethi (Switzerland) Suter - 96
4 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Speed up - 84
5 Scott Redding (Britain) Kalex - 70
6 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex - 46
7 Claudio Corti (Italy) Kalex - 45
8 Bradley Smith (Britain) Tech 3 - 37
9 Esteve Rabat (Spain) Kalex - 34
10 Simone Corsi (Italy) FTR - 30
11 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter - 29
12 Johann Zarco (France) Motobi - 28
13 Toni Elias (Spain) Suter 27
14 Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) Kalex - 23
15 Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Suter - 21

Moto3 results from the 2012British GP at Silverstone
1 Maverick Vinales (Spain) Honda 38min55.210
2 Luis Salom (Spain) Kalex 38min56.143
3 Sandro Cortese (Germany) KTM 38min56.233
4 Alexis Masbou (France) Honda 39min03.310
5 Efren Vazquez (Spain) Honda 39min03.624
6 Danny Kent (Britain) KTM 39min03.847
7 Romano Fenati (Italy) Honda 39min04.150
8 Arthur Sissis (Australia) KTM 39min04.256
9 Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Malaysia) KTM 39min04.418
10 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Honda 39min10.823
11 Jakub Kornfeil (Czech Republic) Honda 39min15.607
12 Hector Faubel (Spain) Kalex 39min15.769
13 Niccolo Antonelli (Italy) Honda 39min16.579
14 Niklas Ajo (Finland) KTM 39min22.736
15 Alberto Moncayo (Spain) Kalex 39min22.918
 
Moto3 points after the 2012 British GP at Silverstone
1 Maverick Vinales (Spain) Honda - 105
2 Sandro Cortese (Germany) KTM - 103
3 Luis Salom (Spain) Kalex - 75
4 Romano Fenati (Italy) Honda - 61
5 Louis Rossi (France) Honda - 45
6 Alex Rins (Spain) Honda 44
7 Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Malaysia) KTM- 44
8 Alexis Masbou (France) Honda - 42
9 Niccolo Antonelli (Italy) Honda - 38
10 Alberto Moncayo (Spain) Kalex - 36
11 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Honda - 33
12 Arthur Sissis (Australia) KTM - 31
13 Hector Faubel (Spain) Kalex - 28
14 Danny Kent (Britain) KTM - 26
15 Efren Vazquez (Spain) Honda - 22
We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE