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Race report

Lorenzo claims classic and vital victory at Silverstone

Reigning MotoGP Champion secures maximum points ahead of Marquez and Pedrosa

Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha

Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha

Yamaha MotoGP

Jorge Lorenzo claimed a thrilling victory in today’s Hertz British Grand Prix at Silverstone with the Yamaha Factory Racing rider crossing the line ahead of championship leader Marc Marquez who himself claimed a stunning second place for the Repsol Honda team after the rookie dislocated his shoulder in this morning’s warm up session. Dani Pedrosa was also a close third place but the Spaniard was unable to make permanent passes on either of the top two men.

This was one of the best races I’ve ever had. I’m really happy and really pleased.

Jorge Lorenzo

Lorenzo was ruthless in his quest for victory today and from the start he stamped his authority on proceedings and secured the holeshot from Marquez who showed no signs of his injury sustained just hours beforehand. The race didn’t pan out as well for home rider Cal Crutchlow who got pushed back into 7th place within a number of turns despite the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider’s front row start. Valentino Rossi got a great start and was circulating in third place early on with the Yamaha Factory Racing man being followed by Alvaro Bautista (Go&Fun Honda Gresini) and Stefan Bradl on the LCR Honda machine.

Pedrosa didn’t get away from the start line well but was quickly cutting through the field on his RC213V ad within a few laps he was back chasing the front two after passing Rossi who was also passed early on by Bautista and Bradl who were fighting for 4th place. Crutchlow meanwhile was doing his best to stay ahead of his teammate Bradley Smith who was leading the Ducati Team machines of Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso while the battle for top CRT machine was being contested by Aleix Espargaro and the Power Electronics Aspar team and the NGM Mobile Forward Racing machine of Colin Edwards.

Marc Marquez
Marc Marquez

Photo by: Repsol Media

The front three men continued to circulate in formation for the first half of the race with Lorenzo not giving an inch to Marquez while Pedrosa was happy to sit on his teammates rear wheel while Rossi was now ahead of Bradl and in pursuit of 4th placed Bautista. Crutchlow was still ahead of Smith but unable to make any progress in catching the riders ahead while Hayden moved ahead of Smith and Dovizioso with Espargaro steadfast in top CRT machine.

The race then began to heat up moving into the final 6 laps with Marquez all over the back of Lorenzo while Pedrosa seemed destined to remain in third place. The battle for 4th was also red hot with Rossi hassling Bautista for a way a passed and he took his chance but Bautista showed his mettle and re-took Rossi only to be overtaken on the following lap by the seven time MotoGP Champion. Lorenzo was riding perfectly moving into the final three laps but a sudden lunge from Marquez showed his fellow countryman the battle wasn’t over and within the final two laps the lead changed once more but Lorenzo wasn’t to be denied victory and made a breathtaking move on the final turn to take the victory.

Lorenzo was ecstatic with his victory and said it was vital for his championship hopes. He said, “This was one of the best races I’ve ever had. I’m really happy and really pleased. It’s a very important win. I pushed from the beginning to try and open a gap, even more than in recent races but it was impossible. Marc never gives up, even if he’s a little bit injured after the warm up. He overtook me three laps from the end so I studied him a little for one lap and I saw he was struggling in some braking so I overtook him on the corner where he crashed.

I pushed in the last lap to the maximum, I opened a little gap but I made a mistake in braking and almost crashed. When he overtook me three corners from the end I thought it was over again and second place but then he opened a little gap in the last corner so I thought "now or never" and I tried and got it. To be honest I’m not thinking about the championship, I’m thinking just to enjoy this victory which was very special to get then focus on Misano!” Lorenzo added.

Dani Pedrosa
Dani Pedrosa

Photo by: Repsol Media

Marquez was happy to be able to race after his high-speed crash this morning. Speaking afterwards he said, “I'm very happy with how things went today. This morning when my shoulder popped out I thought that my weekend was over, but the doctors were able to put it back in place quickly and that allowed me to be up there at the front, fighting with Jorge. I didn't feel much pain, because I received an injection to dull the pain, but I was lacking strength and was feeling tired by the end. Despite all this, I was able to battle all the way until the final corner with Jorge, who eventually emerged victorious today. Congratulations to him! For me these 20 points are like a win!"

Fighting to catch up with the front two, Pedrosa said he used up vital grip from his Bridgestone tires. “I'm disappointed with the result today,” said Pedrosa who continued, “I rode well but got a bad start and conceded a lot of seconds on the opening two laps, so I had to really push in order to recover ground. I gradually caught up with Marc and Jorge, but I wore my tires out in the process and at the end of the race I lacked grip on the right-hand corners. I tried to calm down and slow my pace in order to lower the tire temperature, although finally I wasn't able to match their performance. That meant that when I attempted to pass the bike slid out a lot and I was unable to really get involved in the fight for the win. I will have to give it another go at Misano.”

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