LAST-LAP DRAMA
World MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo passed fellow Spaniard Marc Marquez on the final straight of the Italian Grand Prix to win a race that went right down to the finish Sunday.
Honda’s Marquez passed Lorenzo briefly on the final corner but Lorenzo pushed his Yamaha ahead once the road became straight again and won by just 0.019 seconds at the Mugello circuit.
“I thought Marquez would have more energy at the end when he passed me,” Lorenzo said. “I thought to stay in second place and take the points but finally I remembered a little bit 2005 when I was in 250 and I passed (Alex) De Angelis in this corner in the last chicane for second and I thought maybe I could do the same.
“I tried a crazy move and it was OK but I was going right in the second corner of the chicane,” Lorenzo added. “My bike was quite fast and I could get past Marc for an unexpected victory.”
Italy’s Andrea Iannone (Ducati) finished a distant third, 4.742 seconds behind.
Pole sitter Valentino Rossi was right behind Lorenzo in second position midway through the race when he ran into technical problems. With white smoke blowing out of his bike, he was forced to withdraw.
The seven-time world champion in the elite series had to return to his garage and retire, a huge disappointment for the majority of the more than 100,000 spectators.
Lorenzo increased his lead over Marquez to 10 points, with Rossi 37 points back in third.
Lorenzo, Rossi’s team-mate, blew an engine during warm-up.
“I was very unfortunate,” Rossi said. “I had the same problem as Jorge but his happened in the warm-up and mine during the race. It’s a huge loss … It’s always disappointing to have a breakdown but to do it here, in front of my fans, hurts even more. Especially because I felt really fast and I could definitely have won.”
French rider Johann Zarco won the Moto2 race and South African Brad Binder won the Moto3 race.
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RESULTS & STANDINGS:
Italian GP result:
1. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 41m 36.535s
2. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 41m 36.554s
3. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 41m 41.277s
4. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 41m 41.445s
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 41m 42.791s
6. Maverick Viñales ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 41m 45.205s
7. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 41m 49.875s
8. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 41m 51.133s
9. Aleix Espargaro ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 41m 55.178s
10. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 41m 58.833s
11. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 42m 4.471s
12. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 42m 12.247s
13. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 42m 14.567s
14. Stefan Bradl GER Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 42m 16.629s
15. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 42m 36.346s
16. Yonny Hernandez COL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 42m 40.932s
Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) DNF
Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) DNF
Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) DNF
Alvaro Bautista ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) DNF
Loris Baz FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) DNF
STANDINGS AFTER ROUND SIX OF 18:
1. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 115 points
2. Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 105 points (-10)
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 78 points (-37)
4. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 66 points (-49)
5. Maverick Viñales SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 59 points (-56)
6. Aleix Espargaro SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 49 points (-66)
7. Pol Espargaro SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 48 points (-67)
8. Hector Barbera SPA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 43 points (-72)
9. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 41 points (-74)
10. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 36 points (-79)
11. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 34 points (-81)
12. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 29 points (-86)
13. Stefan Bradl GER Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 25 points (-90)
14. Alvaro Bautista SPA Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 21 points (-94)
15. Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) 18 points (-97)
16. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 17 points (-98)
17. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 16 points (-99)
18. Tito Rabat SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V)* 11 points (-104)
19. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 10 points (-105)
20. Loris Baz FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 8 points (-107)
21. Yonny Hernandez COL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 3 points (-112)
22. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 2 points (-113)

