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Lorenzo takes dominant first MotoGP victory of the year at Jerez

Jorge Lorenzo thrilled his home fans by sealing his first win of 2015 at Jerez in masterful fashion, the factory Yamaha rider leading from start to finish.

Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Yamaha MotoGP

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team and Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing and Bradley Smith, Yamaha Tech 3
Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing
Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team
Bradley Smith, Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Andrea Iannone, Ducati Team and Cal Crutchlow, Team LCR Honda
Aleix Espargaro, Team Suzuki MotoGP
Pol Espargaro, Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Yonny Hernandez, Pramac Racing
Hector Barbera, Avintia Racing

Taking the holeshot as the lights went out, Lorenzo immediately made a break at the front, with Marc Marquez following closely behind and Pol Espargaro jumping to third ahead of Valentino Rossi.

The gaps between the leaders continued to grow as the race progressed. After the first 10 laps the difference between Lorenzo and teammate Rossi, who passed Espargaro for third early on, had grown to nearly four seconds, while Marquez was unable to match Lorenzo's pace in second.

Indeed, Lorenzo continued his metronomic pace to extend the gap until the finish, taking his first win since Motegi last October by a margin of 5.5s.

"The weekend has been perfect," enthused Lorenzo. "I felt good on braking, which is what I often struggle with on Sundays, and I was fast everywhere on the circuit.

"I was able to profit from my pace and from my talent to win this special race after a long time [since I last won]."

Rossi continued to push, and had the gap to Marquez's Honda down to just over 1.5s nearing the end, but the gap proved too much in the end and the Italian ultimately settled for third and the 200th podium finish of his career across all classes.

"I lost too much at the beginning," admitted Rossi. "I was faster than Marc at one stage and I tried to catch him, but it it was took risky; I started having problems with the front."

LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow caught up and passed Espargaro for fourth after the Tech 3 man slipped behind Rossi, and the Spaniard held on for fifth despite coming under late pressure from Andrea Iannone's factory Ducati.

Iannone suffered a terrible start from third on the grid, nearly dropping outside the top 10 early on, but the Italian fought his way back to sixth place at the finish with a strong ride, ahead of the Suzuki of Aleix Espargaro.

Bradley Smith put in another solid performance on the Tech 3 Yamaha, holding off the recovering Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso for eighth. An early trip through the gravel at the final corner saw Dovizioso drop all the way down to 21st, and he spent the rest of the afternoon battling his way back through the order.

Yonny Hernandez completed the top 10 after getting the better of his Pramac Ducati teammate Danilo Petrucci, who then dropped behind the second Suzuki of Maverick Vinales in the closing stages.

Marc VDS Honda man Scott Redding meanwhile found himself demoted to 13th, one place ahead of the Avintia Ducati of top Open class rider Hector Barbera.

Rossi continues to lead the riders' standings by an increased margin of 15 points ahead of Dovizioso, who is just five clear of Lorenzo with Marquez 29 adrift of Rossi in fourth.

Race results:

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 44m57.246
Marc Marquez Honda 5.576
Valentino Rossi Yamaha 11.586
Cal Crutchlow Honda 22.727
Pol Espargaro Yamaha 26.620
Andrea Iannone Ducati 27.021
Aleix Espargaro Suzuki 35.445
Bradley Smith Yamaha 36.296
Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 41.933
10  Yonny Hernandez Ducati 51.072
11  Maverick Vinales Suzuki 51.674
12  Danilo Petrucci Ducati 52.421
13  Scott Redding Honda 53.052
14  Hector Barbera Ducati 53.200
15  Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 57.344
16  Stefan Bradl Forward Yamaha 59.018
17  Nicky Hayden Honda 1m01.506
18  Eugene Laverty Honda 1m03.163
19  Marco Melandri Aprilia 1m06.895
20  Jack Miller Honda 1m14.182
21  Alex de Angelis ART 1m26.832
22  Mike Di Meglio Ducati 1 Lap
           Retirements
Hiroshi Aoyama Honda  
Loris Baz Forward Yamaha  
Karel Abraham Honda  

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