A third victory of the 2010 season was forthcoming at the AirAsia British Grand Prix for the Fiat Yamaha rider as he won by a margin of 6.743s with a commanding display. Andrea Dovizioso and Ben Spies completed the podium.

World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo took victory from pole position at Silverstone on Sunday as he stretched his lead at the top of the standings to 37 points over Andrea Dovizioso, who placed second in the race. Ben Spies achieved his first MotoGP podium with third place.

Lorenzo flew off from his pole position and he and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) immediately engaged in a duel which saw them swap the early lead on the opening lap a number of times. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) were all involved as well, whilst Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) dropped to the back of the field from his starting position of sixth as the riders entered the first turn.


Marco Melandri suffered disappointment as he crashed out on the opening lap, but his San Carlo Honda Gresini team-mate Marco Simoncelli enjoyed better fortunes as he climbed positions.

Lorenzo wasted little time in finding a rapid rhythm and by lap seven his advantage at the head of the race was a substantial one at over five seconds. Meanwhile Dovizioso and De Puniet ignited an intense contest for second spot, with Hayden hot on their tails. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Spies was also making progress as he moved through to enter the top five and latched onto the chase for a podium spot.

Midway through Stoner’s lap times were almost identical to race leader Lorenzo’s, but in eighth place he was forced to chase down Pedrosa and the Australian found it hard work trying to pass the Spaniard. He eventually managed to do so on lap 13, and then proceeded to make up further ground.

Loris Capirossi’s race was ended early when the Rizla Suzuki rider crashed out at Copse as he ran off and fell whilst trying to overtake Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar). At the front end Dovizioso, De Puniet and Hayden were separated by less than half a second as they continued their tactical tussle for the final two podium spots – Spies keeping a tag on as well – with Lorenzo’s lead by now an unassailable one.

With three laps to go Hayden and Spies both managed to pass De Puniet, and Stoner scented the chance to get in the hunt. He soon made a move on the Frenchman to slot into fifth in a rousing finale.

The final lap provided a fitting climax as Spies got through on Hayden at Farm Curve to take third spot, a position he held to the finish whilst ahead Lorenzo crossed the line first. Dovizioso’s second place was his fourth podium finish and best result of the season, with Spies completing the top three for a first World Championship podium.

Ducati Marlboro duo Hayden and Stoner took fourth and fifth after fine individual rides, with De Puniet sixth. Rookie Simoncelli took his best premier class result to date with seventh, as Pedrosa finished eighth. The top ten was completed by Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing).

Absent from the race was Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP) who attended hospital to assess his condition following a crash in the morning warm up session. World Champion Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) also remains out whilst he recovers from his broken right leg.