Lorenzo wins, Rossi back in podium in Le Mans

Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Racing) rode a masterly race in the utterly wet conditions of Le Mans to victory after claiming lead in the 3rd corner of the opening lap. The race started with Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa on pole and Casey Stoner as favorite for the victory as Lorenzo was 4th fastest in qualifying beaten even by Cal Crutchlow of Tech 3 Racing on a satellite Yamaha.

But as the green lights was on the Repsol Honda riders Pedrosa and Stoner rocketed into the lead but amazing Lorenzo gobbled both the Honda riders at the same corner in a well executed move by the Yamaha rider as the Honda riders were suffering from lack of traction. Lorenzo started to pull away from the pack  even the reigning World Champion Stoner wasnt able to mount a challenge.

Further behind was a surprise for the racing fans as it was Valentino Rossi on his Ducati right on the tail of the Honda of Dani Pedrosa in third and was challenging for top positions. The Ducati has an unusual characteristic of performing well in the wets and as the rains were pouring it was meant to be Rossi's day.

Rossi soon outwitted Pedrosa and started to catch up on Stoner by lap 6. It clearly showed that Rossi's skills were hampered by the Ducati's performance and the rider hasn't lost any of his antics. As the conditions were a leveler the skills of rider were put to test.

Pedrosa's problems worsened and was overtaken by both the Tech 3 Satellite Yamaha riders who were fast catching Stoner and Rossi in 2nd and 3rd. Rossi was hooked to the tail of Stoner for few laps as Dovizioso and Crutchlow followed suit. Stoner started to pick up pace and eased away from the following trio of Vale, Dovi and Cal. Stoner looked like as if chopping on Lorenzo who was 4secs ahead while Rossi suddenly dropped down to 5th from 3rd on what seemed to be the ride of the year falling in vain for the Ducati pilot but later Rossi revealed he had problem with the visor as it got fogged obstructing visibility and he managed overcome the problem in couple of laps by letting some air inside the vizor..

Within a couple of laps Rossi regained pace and attacked Crutchlow and Dovizioso and started to catch on Stoner again. Crutchlow tried to keep up pace with Rossi but crashed out immediately after Rossi overtook him while team Dovizioso too did the same and crashed few laps later when Rossi started to break away. Both Tech 3 rider rejoined the race after picking up the bike from the gravel.

 MotoGP fans and the French were getting ready to witness a battle royale brewing as the 9time world champion Rossi was on charge and closing in on Stoner lap by lap with 9 laps to go. By lap 22 Rossi was again on the tail of Stoner. Rossi was surely looking to make the most of the rainy condition and the performance of the bike to get his best result with Ducati after having lackluster opening rounds and previous year.

Stoner started to loose pace due to the overspining of the tyres while Rossi was all set to challenge the Honda. With 3laps to go Rossi made a move on the brakes to the chicane having the line to the exit but Stoner got back on the power delivery. But the Ducati rider was on a roll and made another move on the next lap which was again retook by Stoner.

On the final corners to the last lap Rossi was looking more stronger and right on the exhaust of Stoner. It was sure Rossi would make another move on the entry to the chicane and so he did but this time he made it stick on the exit preventing Stoner to come back at him in the immediate corners.

As Lorenzo was on the way to victory with a lead of 9secs from Rossi in 2nd, Stoner suddenly started to drop down as Rossi put down the hammer.

Lorenzo took the chequered flag for the second time this season with almost 10secs lead. Rossi took an emphatic 2nd which is his best result for Ducati after coming 3rd last year at the same venue, the LeMans becoming a favorite place of Rossi and Ducati combo. Stoner crossed 3rd with team mate Pedrosa on 4th.

Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) finished 5th with a close following Hayden on 6th on the other Ducati while the Tech3 Yamaha rider Dovizioso and Crutchlow followed.

Hector Barber  (Pramac Ducati) and  Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Gresini Honda) rounded the top 10 while James Ellison (Paul Bird Motorsport) was the top CRT rider and finished 11. Ben Spies on the other works Yamaha had a disastrous race finishing 16th.