Lorenzo wins, Stoner crashes in France
Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo
Jorge Lorenzo has taken an important win in his MotoGP title campaign, winning the French Grand Prix at Le Mans.
The Yamaha star sat behind team-mate and pole sitter Valentino Rossi in the opening stages of the race. Lorenzo made a move past early on, but Rossi slipped immediately back past him. Eventually, Lorenzo made a move stick, built up a healthy lead and raced on to take a big win.
The win has maintained his championship lead and asserted himself as the championship favourite.
Behind the runaway Yamahas was Andrea Dovizioso, who moved up to third place in title with a podium finish in France. The Honda rider was poised to take fourth place, but his team-mate Dani Pedrosa dropped from third place to fifth after a horrible last lap.
Ducati’s Nicky Hayden also took advantage of Pedrosa’s difficult last tour to take fourth place.
It was heartache for Hayden’s team-mate Casey Stoner. The Australian slipped off the road on the second lap of the race, notching up his second DNF from the three races this year. The incident sees him placed 13th in the rider’s standings.
France’s home-town rider Randy de Puniet finished in seventh place.
The next round of the championship heads to Rossi’s home ground – Mugello, Italy.