Dovizioso triumphs at Donington

Castle Donington - Italy's Andrea Dovizioso took advantage of mistakes by title chasers Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo to win the British MotoGP on Sunday.

The 23-year-old, who won the 250cc race at the same venue two years ago, finished ahead of Yamaha Tech3 rider Colin Edwards of the U.S. and Honda's Randy De Puniet of France to secure his first MotoGP win.

"It is like my (2007) 250cc win, but this is MotoGP, the best riders and the best class, so this important," Dovizioso told a news conference.

"I am really happy with the podium and especially the win."

The near-90 000 spectators were hoping for another battle between Italian Rossi and Spain's Lorenzo after their epic finish at Germany's Sachsenring last Sunday.

Instead, Lorenzo was forced to retire on lap nine after falling off his bike and hurtling across the track and Yamaha team mate Rossi relinquished his lead with 10 laps remaining after losing control before remounting to finish fifth.

"It was a mistake for sure, the other laps I didn't catch the line... it was impossible to keep on the track," Lorenzo told reporters.

"Today would be a real possibility to win some points but we lost the opportunity. Valentino's crash helped us a little bit."

"I keep thinking our goal is not to win the championship, if we are third or second it is a good result for us. If we can win it is unbelievable, but it is not our goal," Lorenzo added.

Rossi's recovery to fifth increased his championship lead over Lorenzo to 25 points and Australian Casey Stoner, third in the standings, finished a modest 14th for Ducati.

MotoGP's only British driver, James Toseland, equalled a career-best finish with sixth place for Yamaha Tech3.

Intermittent rain at the windy Donington circuit, which is scheduled to trade MotoGP for Formula One with Silverstone next season, caused problems with tyre selection throughout race day.

In the 250cc category, championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama finished first for Honda using wet tyres on a dry track, ahead of title rival Alvaro Bautista and Italy's Mattia Pasini, both of Aprilia.

The 125cc race ended with a five-lap sprint after rain forced a restart, with Spaniard Julian Simon taking advantage of a late slip-up from KTM's Marc Marquez to win for Aprilia and stretch his championship lead to 50 points.

Italian Simone Corsi finished second with last year's winner, Scott Redding in third on his home circuit to make it an all-Aprilia podium.

The riders now enjoy a three-week break before the next race in Brno, Czech Republic on August 16.