Casey Stoner has taken the lead of the MotoGP world title by surviving a wet British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
From pole, Stoner dropped to third place on the first lap before picking off Jorge Lorenzo and team-mate Andrea Dovizioso in trying conditions.
It was Stoner's 27th MotoGP win, and he did it in dominating style.
Dovizioso held on to take second place, while the challengers around him failed.
Lorenzo threw away his title lead with a mistake, soon followed by Marco Simonchelli, who looked certain to score his first MotoGP podium before his crash.
The mistakes of the leading riders allowed Colin Edwards on his Tech 3 Yamaha to take a popular podium place. The Texan's result is remarkable, given that he is still recovering from recent surgery.
Nicky Hayden (Ducati) was consistent in fourth place ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki), a recovering Valentino Rossi (Ducati), Karel Abraham (Ducati), Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda), and Loris Capirossi (Ducati).
Lorenzo's accident was the second exit of the Yamaha factory entries. Just before Lorenzo went down, recently re-signed Ben Spies crashed out of sixth place.
The next round of MotoGP will be held at Assen next week.
Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
1 | 25 | 27 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 147.9 | 47'53.459 |
2 | 20 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 147.1 | +15.159 |
3 | 16 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 146.8 | +21.480 |
4 | 13 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 146.5 | +26.984 |
5 | 11 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | 146.1 | +35.569 |
6 | 10 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 144.6 | +1'04.526 |
7 | 9 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 143.3 | +1'32.650 |
8 | 8 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 142.3 | +1'51.938 |
9 | 7 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 142.3 | +1'52.350 |
10 | 6 | 65 | Loris CAPIROSSI | ITA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 141.8 | +2'03.312 |
11 | 5 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 139.7 | 1 Lap |
12 | 4 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 139.5 | 1 Lap |
Not Classified | ||||||||
58 | Marco SIMONCELLI | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 147.1 | 10 Laps | ||
1 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 146.7 | 12 Laps | ||
11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 143.8 | 13 Laps |