Lorenzo wins home MotoGP

Wednesday, 06 June 2012 14:07

Written by Editor

Jorge Lorenzo has pulled a 20-point lead at the head of the MotoGP standings after a hard-earned victory over countryman Dani Pedrosa....

...in their home Catalunya round,the second of the four Spanish events. Lorenzo had been beaten by world champion Casey Stoner at Jerez, but the Australian was surprisingly off-pace on race day at Catalunya.

Barring an ill-fated pass for the lead by Lorenzo's team-mate Ben Spies on lap 3, victory was a straight fight between the two Spaniards. Honda’s Pedrosa held the early advantage, until he was levered from the lead by Lorenzo into turn one on lap 7 of 25. But Pedrosa clung with Lorenzo and slipstreamed back ahead on lap 12, then gained valuable breathing room when Lorenzo lost one-second after running wide.

It was a pivotal moment and the Factory Yamaha star dug deep to reel Pedrosa back in, and made the race-winning pass when Pedrosa’s bike wheelied onto the back straight with just over five laps to go. Eventually winning by five seconds, with the Yamaha president watching on, Lorenzo's third victory from five starts means his title lead has grown from eight to 20 points over Stoner, who finished fourth.

“I'm really happy with this victory as it was a very tough weekend,” said Lorenzo. “We performed a lot better than yesterday as in qualifying it was very hot.

Andrea Dovizioso meanwhile is celebrating after turning in his first MotoGP podium since joining the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team with a fine run to third at the Catalunya Grand Prix.Together with team-mate Cal Crutchlow, the Italian, who made the switch to the Yamaha team for 2012 after being frozen out of Repsol Honda's line-up, has been a constant figure in the upper echelons of the MotoGP reckoning since the start of the season, but this is the first time either has taken the satellite M1 to the podium.

Starting sixth on the grid, Dovizioso's strong start – coupled to Ben Spies's off – would lift him up to third in the early stages, whereby he maintained an impressive pace to stay in touch with leaders Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. Though a costly error would see him drop into the clutches of Casey Stoner in the final stages, Dovizioso clung on to secure what is a 17th career MotoGP podium finish, a result he hadn't expected so soon into his Tech 3 endeavour.