Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo put in another textbook performance at the weekend, leaving his rivals trailing as he led from the front at this round seven event to win the 80th Dutch TT at Assen and take his fourth victory of the season.

In doing so he becomes only the seventh rider in history to have won in three or more classes at the historic racetrack, with 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP wins to his name.

Fellow Spaniard Daniel Pedrosa (Honda) finished runner-up with Australian Ducati rider Casey Stoner rounding out the podium.

Meanwhile Tech 3 Yamaha rider Ben Spies, of the United States, ensured that there were still two Yamahas in the top four, despite the absence of injured world champion Valentino Rossi, with another brilliant performance to back up his maiden podium last week.

Mallorcan Lorenzo had looked the man to beat all weekend after topping both practice and qualifying and he got a great start from pole position and quickly pulled out a second’s gap, but by lap five Pedrosa and Stoner were looming large behind him and for a few laps it looked as if a tense three-way battle was in the offing.

However Lorenzo’s choice of the harder Bridgestone tyre soon began to pay off and, with a lighter fuel load by mid-race distance, he was able to step things up a notch and gave himself an unassailable lead, crossing the line 2.935 seconds ahead of Pedrosa, with Stoner third and Spies fourth.

The Fiat Yamaha man’s second win on the bounce sees him extend his championship lead to an impressive 47 points from Pedrosa, while Rossi remains fourth in the standings. The next round comes in just a week’s time at Barcelona in Spain, when Wataru Yoshikawa will join the Fiat Yamaha Team to fill in until Rossi is back on board his M1.

“This race was a bit more difficult than Silverstone because Dani was so fast with the softer tyre early on in the race and I had to really keep my concentration to stay in front of him at that point,” sais Lorenzo.

“I was confident that my harder Bridgestone tyre would help me later on and this was the case, so we made the right choice. It wasn’t easy though and at the end I was sliding quite a lot, in fact I made a mistake at the chicane and nearly crashed so I was quite glad to finish! I am really happy that I have won here in all three classes because it’s such a historic place and the football I had in Parc Ferme was to celebrate this ‘hat-trick.’ Thanks to all my Yamaha guys and also to Bridgestone for this win, we have a big lead in the championship so we can afford to stay calm and relaxed. Now we go to my home in Barcelona and I am excited about another chance to race in front of the Spanish fans.”

2010 MotoGP Netherlands – Assen 26/06/2010

1       Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP    41’18.629

2       Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP     0’02.935

3       Casey Stoner Ducati AUS      0’07.022

4       Ben Spies Yamaha USA 0’13.265

5       Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA  0’15.323

6       Randy De Puniet  Honda FRA 0’15.772

7       Nicky Hayden Ducati USA      0’25.867

8       Colin Edwards Yamaha USA   0’28.991

9       Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA  0’35.658

10     Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP    0’35.837

11     Mika Kallio Ducati FIN  0’56.769

12     Hector Barbera Ducati ESP    0’56.890

13     Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA     1’00.615

14     Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP   1’08.074

15     Kousuke Akiyoshi Honda JPN  -1Laps

RIDER STANDINGS   26/06/2010

1.      Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP    140

2.      Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP     93

3.      Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA  89

4.      Nicky Hayden Ducati USA      61

5.      Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA  61

6.      Randy De Puniet  Honda FRA 56

7.      Casey Stoner Ducati AUS      51

8.      Ben Spies Yamaha USA         49

9.      Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA  39

10.    Colin Edwards Yamaha USA   34

11.    Marco Melandri Honda ITA     32

12.    Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP    28

13.    Hector Barbera Ducati ESP    28

14.    Mika Kallio Ducati FIN          20

15.    Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN   18