Lorenzo savours 'sweet' MotoGP victory after faultless ride at Le Mans

Despite missing out on the front row for the second straight race, Lorenzo was in aggressive mood from the outset and had moved into the lead before the end of the first lap.

He rapidly extended his advantage in the early stages, when no-one could live with his pace, and was ultimately untroubled en route to a victory which earned him an eight-point lead over Honda's Casey Stoner in the 2012 championship standings.

"The flavour of this victory is very sweet. In the dry it is complicated but in the wet it's even more," Lorenzo said. "The race feels much longer and it's really difficult to hold concentration.

"You have to remember where the corners are slippery every lap, and if you forget one you can crash very easily."

Lorenzo's lead only ever looked in jeopardy when Stoner began closing around the sixth lap, but the moment proved fleeting and he was soon extending his advantage again over his main points rival.

"When I saw Casey was catching me I didn't lose it, I kept calm and didn't force it too much," Lorenzo said. "It would have been easy to push a bit more and make a mistake at that moment but I waited for a few more laps to see what happened then opened the gap again to win this fantastic race.

"A big thank you to my team who worked very hard in difficult conditions to make a set up that worked for me."