Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Jorge Lorenzo was unbeatable in Mugello today to claim a brilliant victory in the Gran Premio d'Italia, his third consecutive MotoGP win of the season. Teammate Valentino Rossi also gave a stunning performance, to finish third, making it three double podiums for the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team in a row.

Thousands of home fans of the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team gathered at the Autodromo del Mugello to see their dreams come true today. Not only did Jorge Lorenzo claim a flawless victory for the Gran Premio d'Italia, Yamaha's fifth of the season, but their local hero Valentino Rossi also battled his way onto podium. He secured third in a hard fought race, making it his sixth consecutive podium.

After a flying start from second on the grid, Lorenzo tucked in behind Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso to quickly make his intentions clear. He moved up from third to lead the way when he crossed the line for the first time. With a clear track ahead of him, the race went exactly as he planned. As his pit board signaled rival Marc Marquez's approach, he put the hammer down, setting a 1'47.700, the fastest lap of race.

He gradually built a gap and remained untouchable for the rest of the race. Riding consistent laps in the low 1'48s the Spaniard finished his perfect performance at the team's home GP with a 5.563s advantage. This win is Lorenzo's third win at the Mugello circuit in four years' time.

Starting from eighth on the grid, teammate Rossi lost time when he got caught up in the pack and finished the first lap in ninth. He quickly made his way through the field, hunting for Cal Crutchlow riding in sixth and overtaking him on lap eight. It took The Doctor four laps to close down a 2.5s gap to the group battling for second place. He immediately passed Dovizioso for fifth and went on chasing Dani Pedrosa, Marquez and Iannone.

Rossi had his mind set on the podium and, having watched Marquez crash out, he was quick to make a move on Pedrosa for third. He pushed hard to close in on Iannone, setting a personal best of 1.48.173, but was unable to catch his compatriot and secured the last podium place, 6.661s from his teammate, accomplishing a third consecutive double podium for Yamaha.

Lorenzo's 25 point score adds to his total of 112 points, keeping him in second position in the standings. He is six points behind teammate and championship leader Rossi, whose 16 points put him on 118 points.




Jorge Lorenzo - 1st / 41'39.173 / 23 laps 

"I'm very happy, because I didn't expect to escape with such a big margin, but sometimes it happens that you feel great on the bike. Today the track was not so quick so everyone has been a bit slower than we expected. I was the only rider to ride multiple 1'47s, so luckily for me I was gaining six or seven-tenths per lap, this was key to the win of the race. If someone would have told me before Jerez that I would win three races in a row I wouldn't have believed it, but this is what happened. We are in a great shape; Valentino is getting podiums in every race so that means he is strong and also the bike is working really well. It seems that this year could be our year, so we have to take advantage of it. It was a different situation when I was twenty-nine points behind than now when it's down to six, but even like that it's difficult to close in on Valentino in points because he is always on the podium. Today Iannone stayed in front of him so it's four points more and as I said six points difference is much better than twenty-nine, but we can't relax and neither can Yamaha. Our competitors are working really hard to fix the problems they seem to have with the stability of their bikes and they will arrive at a point that they will win races, but until then we need to make the most of our potential to improve the bike little by little."

Valentino Rossi - 3rd / +6.661s / 23 laps 

"Mugello was very busy, because I am very competitive and all the Italian fans expected a great race from me. It's a bit of a shame that it wasn't a fantastic race. I wasn't strong enough but at the end of the race I arrived on the podium after a great recovery and a hard race. To be on the podium with whole the crowd is always magical with the track being full of people. I've been suffering the whole weekend, I was never strong and didn't achieve a good level of speed. In the race I also suffered a lot, especially on the first lap. I think we have to improve, especially with Jorge being very strong, he is in a great shape and to match his level we need to be more competitive."

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director 

"To win anywhere is a fantastic result, but to win here in Mugello is even more special. It's an important circuit to dominate at so to have both riders on podium in front of thousands of Italian fans at our home race is perfect. Jorge has again been very impressive and shown us all weekend his determination and belief in his ability to win, it was a well deserved victory. Despite not having the best start position Vale also showed his skill and race craft to fight his way through to a podium finish. I have to thank both the riders and the whole team for their hard work and effort to deliver these results, they give us the motivation to continue like this. We leave here holding first and second in the championship having demonstrated that we have the riders, bike and team capable of consistently fighting for victory every weekend."


2015 MotoGP Italy  - Mugello 31/05/2015  

1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 41'39.173  
2 Andrea Iannone Ducati ITA 0'05.563  
3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'06.661  
4 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'09.978  
5 Bradley Smith Yamaha GBR 0'15.284  
6 Pol Espargaro Yamaha ESP 0'15.665  
7 Maverick Viñales Suzuki ESP 0'23.805  
8 Michele Pirro Ducati ITA 0'29.152  
9 Danilo Petrucci Ducati ITA 0'32.008  
10 Yonny Hernandez Ducati COL 0'34.571  
11 Scott Redding Honda GBR 0'38.553  
12 Loris Baz Yamaha FRA 0'42.158  
13 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 0'44.801  
14 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia ESP 0'50.435  
15 Eugene Laverty Honda GBR 0'53.060  

MotoGP World Standing  - Rider Standings After Race 6 of 18 

1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 118
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 112
3. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati ITA 83
4. Andrea Iannone Ducati ITA 81
5. Marc Marquez Honda ESP 69
6. Bradley Smith Yamaha GBR 57
7. Cal Crutchlow Honda GBR 47
8. Pol Espargaro Yamaha ESP 45
9. Maverick Viñales Suzuki ESP 36
10. Danilo Petrucci Ducati ITA 32
11. Aleix Espargaro Suzuki ESP 31
12. Yonny Hernandez Ducati COL 26
13. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 23
14. Scott Redding Honda GBR 18
15. Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 16
16. Loris Baz Yamaha FRA 10
23. Stefan Bradl Yamaha DE 1