Casey Stoner hangs on to his World Championship lead after finishing third at Mugello on Sunday. Factory Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso passed him on the last lap to take second as they both chased reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo on the factory Yamaha.
Stoner looked to be heading for victory as he charged away from pole position and into an early lead. He soon had a small gap but it never really became a comfortable margin as Lorenzo and Dovizioso kept him in sight, battling for second and trading places as they chased the Australian hard.
Looking as though he had things under control, Stoner lapped perfectly. But with three quarters of the 23 laps gone it all changed. Stoner's tyres had been causing him problems for a number of laps and in the end he couldn't stay ahead of Lorenzo and Dovizioso. Stoner was obviously frustrated to have lost a race that he felt he should win but he still has a handsome 19-point lead in the World Championship with 10 of the 18 races remaining.
“I'm a bit disappointed,” said Stoner. “The potential of myself and the bike was a lot higher today. This morning in the warm-up we found out that the tyre grip went away as the temperature went up. We wanted to change something for the race but were advised to go with the same tyre temperatures. That didn't work because as soon as the temperature got up, the contact patch got smaller and the grip was going away. Still we've got to look forward to Sachsenring, that should be a good track for us.”
Dovizioso, on the other hand, was thrilled with his great result at home. “It's a hard track and 23 laps is a long race and to keep this pace was very very tough. The fans gave me a lot of support and I thank them very much for the energy they gave me. This track was always difficult for me so this an especially sweet result for me. I must also thank the team for giving me a great bike today."
Dani Pedrosa finished a good eighth in his comeback ride from injury and Hiroshi Aoyama was 11th, back on his satellite team Honda after riding Pedrosa's factory bike at Assen last week.
Marquez, another brilliant Moto2 win.
Just a week after his fantastic victory at Assen, Marc Marquez put in another superb display of skill to win again in Mugello. The reigning 125cc World Champion set off from pole position and straight into the lead.
The intense competition in the Moto2 class meant that he was never able to open up a comfortable margin and was under extreme pressure from World Championship points leader Stefan Bradl and Bradley Smith.
Marquez pushed the pace harder and harder and had just opened up an advantage of half a second when he braked too deep at the end of the long main straight. He only ran a fraction wide but it was enough to let Bradl through with five laps to go.
The Spanish 18-year-old fought back though and forced his way back into the lead. The last few laps saw Marquez defend brilliantly to score his third victory of the year.
Asked whether he enjoyed the race, he had a grin: “I enjoyed just when I crossed the line at the end. It was so difficult, such a hard race but the bike was so good. I didn't have such a good feeling in the first few laps but step by step it came to me and in the end I had a good feeling and it worked out well.”
Terol from Zarco in 125 duel
Ex Red Bull Rookies Cup champion Johann Zarco rode a superb race only to lose the slipstream battle to the line with Nico Terol, the World Championship leader. Zarco leaps to second in the points standings though.
Red Bull Ajo Motorsports rider Jonas Folger slips to fourth in the standings after crashing out as he tried to make up for a lowly qualifying position. His team-mate Danny Kent picked up a point for 15th after starting from way down on the grid.
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