by Tracy Hagen

Jorge Lorenzo scored a vital victory at Mugello on Sunday to put his MotoGP championship quest back on track following a disastrous race at Le Mans two weeks ago. Indeed, with the benefit of hindsight it was clear that the Yamaha rider taught his rivals at Honda, Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez, that it is better to lead from the start and then make a getaway rather than follow along and wait for a two-time MotoGP champion to make a mistake.

 

Dani Pedrosa, fresh off of wins at Jerez and Le Mans, looked to be riding with complacency and not taking opportunities to grab the lead after pulling alongside Lorenzo on Mugello’s wavy front straight. On lap 13 Lorenzo blitzed the first and second segments to gap Pedrosa. Pedrosa couldn’t switch off the auto-pilot and Lorenzo scampered away.

Pedrosa’s teammate, Marc Marquez, probably learned a lot at Mugello. Despite crashing hard earlier in the weekend, the junior factory Honda rider was on form in the race and stayed right in Pedrosa’s shadow. On lap 19 Marquez passed Pedrosa and started dropping his lap times. Two laps later he dropped his Honda in the gravel and was out, unhurt.

Marquez’s crash allowed Cal Crutchlow to score another podium for Monster Yamaha.

Well behind Crutchlow came Honda’s Stefan Bradl and the factory Ducati’s of Andrea Dovzioso and Nicky Hayden.

Notable non-finishers were none other than Valentino Rossi (again) and Alvaro Bautista. The pair collided two turns into the race were given scooter rides back to the pits.

Pedrosa leads the championship with 103 points. Lorenzo trails by 12 and Marquez by 26 with Crutchlow 36 away.

Next race: Catalunya, June 16