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MUGELLO, Italy - Yamaha's MotoGP World champion Jorge Lorenzo won the 2013 Italian Grand Prix for the third year in a row on Sunday but team mate Valentino Rossi crashed on the first lap.
Lorenzo won comfortably from Honda's championship leader and fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa whose rookie team mate Marc Marquez crashed with two laps to go soon after he had moved into second place at Mugello.
The crash allowed Britain's Cal Crutchlow to take third for the Tech3 Yamaha team.
‘NOT AN EASY RACE’
Pedrosa now has 103 points, Lorenzo moving into second place on 91. Marquez, whose crash denied him the chance to become the first rider to finish on the podium in his first five MotoGP races, has 77.
"It wasn't an easy race - when it's hot it never is," said Lorenzo. "I gave it everything and managed to make the difference. The last two races have been really hard but finally we've had a good day."
Pedrosa was relieved to at least finish second after starting on pole.
"It was not my day today. We had many problems with this new tyre so we had to set up the bike in a different way," he said. "We finished second on a day we didn't expect to do that well so it was a good day for the team."
Rossi crashed after Spanish Honda rider Alvaro Bautista appeared to clip him as they took the same line going into the third corner.
"We crashed. I didn't see anything," Bautista told the BBC. "Just when I went in to enter the corner I felt Rossi's bike and we fell down."
Crutchlow said he was happy with third but would have preferred to have earned it by passing his rival.
"I hate to be given a podium, I want to work for it, but I was definitely working for it at the end," he said. "I was coming back to him (Pedrosa) quite fast and I think if I could have kept going I would have been able to catch Dani and be on the podium.
"As soon as I saw him (Marquez) crash I eased up but I was close anyway."
Result from the 2013 Italian Motorcycle GP
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 41min39.733
2 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 41min45.133
3 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha 41min46.145
4 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda 41min59.054
5 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati 41min59.273
6 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 42min06.054
7 Michele Pirro (Italy) Ducati 42min17.877
8 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia 42min19.535
9 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha 42min19.976
10 Hector Barbera (Spain) FTR 42min28.125
11 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia 42min28.213
12 Danilo Petrucci (Italy) Ioda 42min53.441
13 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati 42min54.334
14 Colin Edwards (US) FTR 43min00.982
15 Karel Abraham (Czech Republic) Aprilia 43min05.471
Standings after the 2013 Italian Motorcycle GP
1 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 103
2 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha - 91
3 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda - 77
4 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha - 71
5 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati - 50
6 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha - 47
7 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati - 45
8 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda - 38
9 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda - 30
10 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia - 28
11 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha - 24
12 Michele Pirro (Italy) Ducati - 22
13 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati - 21
14 Hector Barbera (Spain) FTR - 13
15 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia - 11
Lorenzo won comfortably from Honda's championship leader and fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa whose rookie team mate Marc Marquez crashed with two laps to go soon after he had moved into second place at Mugello.
The crash allowed Britain's Cal Crutchlow to take third for the Tech3 Yamaha team.
‘NOT AN EASY RACE’
Pedrosa now has 103 points, Lorenzo moving into second place on 91. Marquez, whose crash denied him the chance to become the first rider to finish on the podium in his first five MotoGP races, has 77.
"It wasn't an easy race - when it's hot it never is," said Lorenzo. "I gave it everything and managed to make the difference. The last two races have been really hard but finally we've had a good day."
Pedrosa was relieved to at least finish second after starting on pole.
"It was not my day today. We had many problems with this new tyre so we had to set up the bike in a different way," he said. "We finished second on a day we didn't expect to do that well so it was a good day for the team."
Rossi crashed after Spanish Honda rider Alvaro Bautista appeared to clip him as they took the same line going into the third corner.
"We crashed. I didn't see anything," Bautista told the BBC. "Just when I went in to enter the corner I felt Rossi's bike and we fell down."
Crutchlow said he was happy with third but would have preferred to have earned it by passing his rival.
"I hate to be given a podium, I want to work for it, but I was definitely working for it at the end," he said. "I was coming back to him (Pedrosa) quite fast and I think if I could have kept going I would have been able to catch Dani and be on the podium.
"As soon as I saw him (Marquez) crash I eased up but I was close anyway."
Result from the 2013 Italian Motorcycle GP
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 41min39.733
2 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 41min45.133
3 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha 41min46.145
4 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda 41min59.054
5 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati 41min59.273
6 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 42min06.054
7 Michele Pirro (Italy) Ducati 42min17.877
8 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia 42min19.535
9 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha 42min19.976
10 Hector Barbera (Spain) FTR 42min28.125
11 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia 42min28.213
12 Danilo Petrucci (Italy) Ioda 42min53.441
13 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati 42min54.334
14 Colin Edwards (US) FTR 43min00.982
15 Karel Abraham (Czech Republic) Aprilia 43min05.471
Standings after the 2013 Italian Motorcycle GP
1 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 103
2 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha - 91
3 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda - 77
4 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha - 71
5 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati - 50
6 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha - 47
7 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati - 45
8 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda - 38
9 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda - 30
10 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia - 28
11 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha - 24
12 Michele Pirro (Italy) Ducati - 22
13 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati - 21
14 Hector Barbera (Spain) FTR - 13
15 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia - 11