Jorge Lorenzo tamed treacherous conditions to take his second win of the 2012 MotoGP season at the French Grand Prix at Le Mans.
Yamaha rider wins amid tricky conditions at Le Mans
Jorge Lorenzo tamed treacherous conditions to take his second win of the 2012 MotoGP season at the French Grand Prix at Le Mans.
The Yamaha rider cruised home to take a comfortable victory ahead of Valentino Rossi, who showed glimpses of his old form as he got the better of Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner in a battle for second.
Lorenzo's victory means he also takes over the lead in the MotoGP championship standings, with Stoner's third place leaving him eight points adrift of his Spanish rival.
Dani Pedrosa had started on pole position but saw Lorenzo and Stoner get past him early one, while the sole French rider Randy de Puniet fell coming off his starting slot.
Up ahead Lorenzo started to stretch his lead, pulling out over four seconds before easing back a bit and remaining cautious in the wet conditions.
Progress
Rossi was making quick progress and fought his way up to third, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso also looking racy behind him.
The trio were eventually embroiled in an action-packed battle for the final podium spot, but both Dovizioso and British rider Crutchlow would fall back after crashing in the slippery conditions.
Rossi forged on ahead and began to close on Stoner, who had himself been catching Lorenzo before the leader stepped his pace up a notch once more.
The Ducati veteran in the top class eventually passed the reigning champion on the last lap and went on to record his first podium finish since the same race last year, much to the delight of many of the 80,000-strong crowd that braved the rain to attend.
Pedrosa and German rookie Stefan Bradl completed the top five while Crutchlow eventually came home eighth with fellow Brit James Ellison 11th.
