Mugello MotoGP: Lorenzo beats Pedrosa, Marquez and Rossi crash out
Jorge Lorenzo revitalised his MotoGP championship campaign by beating Dani Pedrosa to Italian Grand Prix victory at Mugello
Marc Marquez was set for second until he crashed out in the closing laps, while home hero Valentino Rossi's race lasted just two corners before he tangled with Alvaro Bautista.
Although Pedrosa surged into a clear lead by the first corner, Lorenzo immediately made his intentions plain by forcing his Yamaha past the Honda at the apex.
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Further back, Rossi's slow-starting Yamaha was side by side with Bautista's Gresini Honda, and when the latter fell, he took Rossi with him.
Both men flew into the barriers, but were unhurt.
The works Hondas kept Lorenzo under huge pressure for the first half of the race, with Pedrosa nosing alongside a few times.
Then Pedrosa began to lose pace as Lorenzo simultaneously raised his game, and a three-second gap quickly opened.
Marquez grew impatient behind his team-mate, who was not keen to let the rookie past easily.
Positions finally changed with three laps to go, but Marquez then crashed by himself, ending up distraught in the gravel trap after throwing away a secure podium.
Untroubled at the front, Lorenzo came home five seconds clear of Pedrosa to end Honda's three-race winning streak.
Cal Crutchlow had a lonely race to third for Tech 3 Yamaha, closing in on Pedrosa at the end.
Stefan Bradl spent the race with Ducatis on his tail, fending them off for a MotoGP career-best fourth.
Andrea Dovizioso completed the top five as team-mate Nicky Hayden fell away.
Ducati's test rider Michele Pirro beat top CRT man Aleix Espargaro and Crutchlow's team-mate Bradley Smith to seventh.
Results - 23 laps: Pos Rider Team/Bike Time/Gap 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 41m39.733s 2. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 5.400s 3. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha + 6.412s 4. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda + 19.321s 5. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati + 19.540s 6. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 26.321s 7. Michele Pirro Ducati + 38.144s 8. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia + 39.802s 9. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha + 40.243s 10. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki + 48.392s 11. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia + 48.480s 12. Danilo Petrucci Ioda-Suter-BMW + 1m13.708s 13. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati + 1m14.601s 14. Colin Edwards Forward FTR-Kawasaki + 1m21.249s 15. Karel Abraham Cardion Aprilia + 1m25.738s 16. Yonny Hernandez PBM Aprilia + 1m27.339s 17. Michael Laverty PBM-Aprilia + 1m27.758s 18. Bryan Staring Gresini FTR-Honda + 1m44.424s 19. Lukas Pesek Ioda-Suter-BMW + 1m45.227s Retirements: Marc Marquez Honda 20 laps Claudio Corti Forward FTR-Kawasaki 17 laps Hiroshi Aoyama Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 16 laps Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 0 laps Ben Spies Ducati 0 laps Valentino Rossi Yamaha 0 laps
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