2010 MotoGP Round 7 - Catalunya

July 4, 2010 - Jorge Lorenzo took an emphatic home win in front of a passionate Catalan crowd at Montmeló this afternoon, his fifth victory of the season and third in a row.

This means that Yamaha now has more wins than any other manufacturer in the four-stroke MotoGP era, with 57. Wataru Yoshikawa, standing in for the injured Valentino Rossi, put in a brave performance to finish 15th in extremely hot conditions, taking a championship point in the process.

Starting from pole, also for the third consecutive race, Lorenzo lost ground to Dani Pedrosa into turn one but his fellow Spaniard then ran wide on his Honda, leaving the Fiat Yamaha man in the lead.

The next few laps saw Lorenzo at the head of a tight trio, as Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner pushed hard to stay with him. Early in lap four the Italian Dovizioso briefly got his nose in front but Lorenzo soon got back by him to lead once again the next time around.

On lap six the trio became a twosome when Stoner ran off track, but it looked like Lorenzo might have a battle on his hands as Dovizioso showed no signs of letting him get away.

With ten laps to go however Dovizioso crashed out, leaving Lorenzo nearly six seconds clear of Pedrosa in second. From then on it was just a case of keeping his head as the tires started to slide more and more in the extreme heat, but the 23-year-old is a cool customer these days and he eventually flew over the line 4.754 seconds ahead of Pedrosa, with Stoner third.

Lorenzo has taken a hat-trick of wins once before in his career, in his 250cc days, and is the first Yamaha rider to take three wins from three poles since Eddie Lawson in 1986.

Having not raced competitively since 2002, Yamaha test rider Yoshikawa was faced with a near impossible task this weekend in the testing conditions at a track he had never seen before. The 41-year-old fought on to the finish however, gathering important information for the M1's future development in the process, and was rewarded with a championship point for his efforts.

Lorenzo now has an impressive 52-point lead in the standings ahead of Pedrosa, whilst Rossi drops to seventh after missing four races. Following three punishing weeks on the road, the MotoGP paddock now has a ten-day rest before it reconvenes at the Sachsenring in Germany for round eight.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1stTime: 43'22.805: "This is very special. After losing so closely last year I was happy but not completely so and today I can say I am completely happy, winning here at my home race.

It was very difficult today because it was so hot and the front tire was sliding a lot. I thought I was going to have a big battle with Dovizioso because he was pushing very hard but then he crashed and I was alone; it was lucky for me because then I was able to take it more gently to the finish.

I think I rode a clever race today. I am so grateful to my team and to everyone at Yamaha and Bridgestone because they are working so hard to make our bike competitive at every track. I also want to say thank you to all the fans that came to watch today, it is a great feeling for me to win here in front of them all."

Catalunya (Montmeló) Race Circuit

2010 MotoGP Round 7 - Catalunya - July 4, 2010

Circuit Length: 4,727 m. Weather: Dry.

Lap Record: 1'43.195 (Valentino Rossi, 01/01/2005)

Fastest Lap Ever: 1'41.186 (Casey Stoner, 08/06/2008)

Last Year's Winner: Valentino Rossi

Race 1 - 25 Laps

1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 43'22.805

2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'04.754

3 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 0'04.956

4 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 0'18.057

5 Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP 0'21.361

6 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 0'21.503

7 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 0'24.181

8 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'27.941

9 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'28.046

10 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 0'32.439

11 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'38.406

12 Mika Kallio Ducati FIN 0'58.257

13 Kousuke Akiyoshi Honda JPN 1'09.348

14 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 1'32.402

15 Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha JPN 1'35.237

Rider Standings as of July 4, 2010

1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 165

2. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 113

3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 91

4. Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 69

5. Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 69

6. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 67

7. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 61

8. Ben Spies Yamaha USA 59

9. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 39

10. Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 39

11. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 39

12. Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 34

13. Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 28

14. Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 25

15. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP 25

19. Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha JPN 1

Manufacturer Standings as of July 4, 2010

1. Yamaha 170

2. Honda 137

3. Ducati 97

4. Suzuki 37

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