Lorenzo Wins in Le Mans

Jorge Lorenzo has won an intriguing Moto Grand Prix from veteran mastermind Marco Melandri and fast finishing Dani Pedrosa after a race that saw strategy and tyre choice come into play and unto reigning champ Valentino Rossi. In a wet race riders were given the option to change bikes to a dry tyre mid way through and it was Marco Melandri who played the strategy the best.

After a crash in Jerez Jorge Lorenzo bounced back in the best possible fashion with his win that was set up in the opening laps. Off the line it was Dani Pedrosa who got a blinder, carrying a huge lead into the first corner ahead of Stoner and Lorenzo with Rossi in fourth, but it wasn’t long before Lorenzo lept to the lead ahead of compatriot and bitter rival Pedrosa.

As Casey Stoner dropped back to seventh first Lorenzo, then Rossi and finally teammate Andrea Dovizioso rounded up Dani Pedrosa but it was Lorenzo who was streaking ahead of the field. With a rapidly drying track it was left to the riders to decide when to change on to the dry tyre and it was Valentino Rossi who jumped first.

The Italian pitted on lap 5 with Pedrosa and Capirossi following close by. It was a decision Rossi would soon rue however, and the #46 Yamaha was down in the gravel just a lap later. Rossi rejoined but was unable to get back into the points, eventually finishing sixth.

Marco Melandri showed his experience on lap six, pitting for dry tyres from fifth position and setting up a ride that would see him a chance for a win, and eventual second place getter. As the laps counted down the front runners Lorenzo, Casey Stoner, Andrea Dovizioso and Chris Vermeulen all stayed out. The trio pitting on lap 11, one lap before Jorge Lorenzo.

On lap 12 Jorge Lorenzo and Toni Elias both swapped bikes, leaving all riders on dry tyres in a final sprint to the flag. After the stops it was Lorenzo, by a few seconds on cold tyres from Melandri, with Dovi, Stoner and Vermeulen defending from Dani Pedrosa on warm tyres.

The race became all about the timing screens for the next few laps as Melandri and Pedrosa took advantage of their warm tyres and their time feeling out the conditions to reel in the riders ahead. The times between Lorenzo and Melandri stabillised, the underfunded and underdeveloped Kawasaki unable to reel in the factory Yamaha.

Dani Pedrosa though, was catching those in front of him hand over fist, powering past Vermeulen and Stoner on his hunt for his teammate, and the final podium spot. Catching Dovi at around a second a lap, Pedrosa still looked too far behind to make a pass coming into the final lap, but a last minute dive late in the final lap saw the fast fnishing Pedrosa snatch third from his teammate.

The story of the race though was the commanding performance by Jorge Lorenzo, and the rider of the season from a man many wrote off as a MotoGP refugee after the collapse of the Kawasaki team in the pre-season. It was a delighted Lorenzo who crossed the line in typical flamboyant fashion ahead of the equally delighted and demonstrative Melandri.

The championship is now once again closed up with Lorenzo reclaiming his lead by one point from Rossi and Stoner tied on 65 points and Dani Pedrosa on 57.