It took a number of attempts for Marc Marquez to complete the pass on Jorge Lorenzo. Image: MotoGP.com.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez is edging ever closer to a fairytale rookie MotoGP title win after claiming his fourth Grand Prix victory in a row at Brno in the Czech Republic.

The 22-lap race began with Monster Tech3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow in pole position, but when the lights went out it was the Yamaha Factory Racing machine of Jorge Lorenzo with the best start, threading his way through from the second row to take the lead into turn one.

The sense of urgency for Lorenzo was obvious, with a win at Brno crucial to keeping his championship defense alive.

The Hondas of Marquez and Dani Pedrosa found their way into positions two or three, resuming the battle that has been running all season long.

Unlike previous races, Lorenzo was unable to push his lead beyond a second, with the differing strengths of the Yamaha and Hondas making for an evenly-matched battle up front.

Beyond the top three it was Crutchlow attempting to make amends for a slow start, but the Briton’s day went from bad to worse when he crashed out of fourth on lap eight.

He was able to remount and forge on, though out of the points, with Valentino Rossi and Alvaro Bautista left to argue over the place.

Grey skies overhead offered the first signs of warning when small drops of rain began to fall on lap 13. White flags were shown to riders momentarily as teams rushed to prepare ‘wet’ bikes in pit lane, but the need for any change was negated when the conditions soon cleared.

With the wick turned up once more, Marquez and Pedrosa began to shave away the lead of Lorenzo, and on lap 15 the rookie showed his hand with a forceful move on turn three.

Lorenzo countered and quickly re-passed the points leader, and the pair would change places in a similar move soon after before Marquez began to make his break.

Pedrosa, who had been biding his time, soon bought in to the battle. He shadowed Lorenzo for a series of laps before making a move by with three laps remaining, sitting his countryman up running into a corner to ensure the move was completed.

The pass locked in another Honda 1-2 finish, and confirmed Marquez’ fourth win in a row, taking his season tally to five and extending his lead to a significant 26 points – one point more than the full haul awarded for a race win.

Pedrosa’s pass on Lorenzo could prove crucial in the closing stages of the championship. Not only did Pedrosa solidify his second placing, he also forced the Yamaha rider to give up more points to his younger teammate.

Outside the podium it was Rossi who held on to fourth place by a narrow margin over Bautista. Stefan Bradl was a lonely sixth, while the factory Ducati pairing of Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden were again evenly-matched, this time avoiding a repeat of a final-corner clash to finish seventh and eighth.

Andrea Iannone brought his Energy TI Pramac Ducati home in ninth, while Aleix Espargaro beat home Colin Edwards as the first CRT bike in tenth place overall.

Aussie Bryan Staring finished in 20th, and four riders – Bradley Smith included – were non-finishers.

Victory in the Moto2 class went to first-time winner, Finn Mika Kallio, with the Marc VDS man holding out eventual podium placers Takaaki Nakagmi and Thomas Luthi.

Title frontrunner Pol Espargaro was fourth, ahead of Johann Zarco, Nicolas Terol and Esteve Rabat.

Scott Redding maintains the class lead though an eighth place finish saw him lose considerable ground to Espargaro, with only 21 points separating the pair after the season’s 11th grand prix.

QMMF Racing Team rider, Aussie Ant West, was 17th, unlucky to miss a points finish after crossing the line in a close three-rider fight.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom won a gripping Moto3 race that included a typical high rate of passing in the closing stages.

Riders regularly ran three abreast in a five-way fight for the top spot, with Salom in the right place to secure another win from Maverick Vinales and Jonas Folger.

Aussie Jack Miller rode his Caretta Technology – RTG Honda to a strong seventh despite breaking his collarbone just a week prior. Countryman Arthur Sissis scored a pair of points in 14th.

Action will continue at the Grand Prix of Great Britain this week, hosted by the Silverstone circuit.

2013 MotoGP World Championship
Round 11 – Brno, Czech Republic

MotoGP race:
1. Marc MARQUEZ
2. Dani PEDROSA +0.313
3. Jorge LORENZO +2.277
4. Valentino ROSSI +10.101
5. Alvaro BAUTISTA +10.178
6. Stefan BRADL +19.807
7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO +35.015
8. Nicky HAYDEN +35.354
9. Andrea IANNONE +51.149
10. Aleix ESPARGARO +56.392
11. Colin EDWARDS +57.420
12. Michele PIRRO +1m05.430
13. Danilo PETRUCCI +1m12.364
14. Hiroshi AOYAMA +1m13.500
15. Randy DE PUNIET +1m14.128
16. Yonny HERNANDEZ +1m14.991
17. Cal CRUTCHLOW +1m20.640
18. Michael LAVERTY +1m34.462
19. Karel ABRAHAM +1m49.713
20. Bryan STARING +1m50.024
21. Martin BAUER 1 Lap

MotoGP championship standings (after 11 of 18 rounds):
1. Marc MARQUEZ 213
2. Dani PEDROSA 187
3. Jorge LORENZO 169
4. Valentino ROSSI 143
5. Cal CRUTCHLOW 127
6. Stefan BRADL 103
7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO 96
8. Alvaro BAUTISTA 92
9. Nicky HAYDEN 80
10. Aleix ESPARGARO 62
11. Bradley SMITH 59
12. Michele PIRRO 40
13. Andrea IANNONE 36
14. Colin EDWARDS 25
15. Hector BARBERA 24
16. Danilo PETRUCCI 21
17. Randy DE PUNIET 20
18. Ben SPIES 9
19. Claudio CORTI 7
20. Yonny HERNANDEZ 7
21. Alex DE ANGELIS 5
22. Karel ABRAHAM 5
23. Hiroshi AOYAMA 4
24. Michael LAVERTY 3
25. Bryan STARING 2
26. Javier DEL AMOR 1

Click here for detailed results