Pulling Away: Jorge Lorenzo Widens Moto Grand Prix Championship Lead With Laguna Seca Victory
Oakley’s MotoGP hot shot is now leaving everyone in his dust.
Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo widened the gap between himself and his most worthy rivals to a 72 point Championship lead following his exciting win at Laguna Seca (Calif.) this past weekend.
Boldly making a statement in the historically (past) Spanish-owned Golden State, Lorenzo owned the U.S. GP ahead of fellow Oakley athlete Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi. Fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa was on track to challenge, but he flamed out early on.
A trademark lightning fast start from Pedrosa saw him lead into turn one of the first lap – and the winner of the previous GP stop appeared to be making a similar break for victory. He led for the early part of the race whilst setting a fierce pace. However, on Lap 11 and with Lorenzo pressuring him for the lead, the Repsol Honda rider crashed out at turn five, leaving his fellow Spaniard to take a sixth win of the season – as he tasted victory on the Californian circuit for the first time.
In second place at 3.517s behind, Oakley teammate Casey Stoner scored his best result of the season so far – his fourth podium in a row – and a comfortable finish with a distance of almost ten seconds in front of third place. The third spot was taken by Valentino Rossi, the reigning World Champion, achieving a superb podium finish in only his second race back from injury.
As the tires started come off towards the end, there were changes further down the order, as Ben Spies and Nicky Hayden fought for the honor of highest placing American: A duel that presented plenty of enthralling moments of its own.
Lorenzo eventually crossed the line comfortably ahead of Stoner, with Rossi managing to hold off Dovizioso for the final podium spot. Hayden edged out Spies for fifth place, with the latter’s teammate Colin Edwards, coming in seventh. Lorenzo now has 210 points, with Pedrosa remaining second in the standings with 138 and Dovizioso third with 115.
A huge congratulations to Jorge and Casey for an amazing race in California!
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