Source: Yamaha Racing.

The picturesque setting of the Tuscan hills played host to a spectacular MotoGP race at the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM.

With the sun shining and track temperatures at the Autodromo del Mugello hitting 50 degrees, the Italian fans were treated to a dominant performance from Jorge Lorenzo as he stormed away to the win the race by over 5.5s.

As Lorenzo disappeared off into the distance, the real battle would be for second place. This fight was originally between the two factory Ducati’s of Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone, and the Repsol Honda’s of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, although Valentino Rossi would join in the fun before the end of the race.

Marquez had enjoyed an amazing start, moving up from 13th on the grid into sixth at the very first corner. In contrast, Valentino Rossi suffered a disastrous opening lap that would see him down drop down to tenth, before mounting an incredible charge through the field to join the podium fight with eight laps to go.

There was even more drama to come though, as Dovizioso was forced to retire due to rear end chatter issues and then Marc Marquez, who was once more involved in an excellent scrap with Iannone for second, crashed out of the race leaving Iannone to claim second ahead of the inspired Rossi in third.

It was Lorenzo’s third victory in a row and he has now closed the gap to Rossi at the top of the world championship standings to six points. After a start to the season plagued with troubles, the Spaniard has responded brilliantly to answer any critics.

Iannone claimed his second podium of the season as he rode through the pain after fracturing his humerus at a testing crash in Mugello before the French GP. The Italian delighted his home fans by putting the GP15 on the podium after getting the better of Marquez and holding off Rossi, and has not finished outside the top six this season.

Rossi showed all of his class to work his way back from tenth on the first lap to claim third, and remain the leader in the championship standings. The Italian once again saved his best for the race after having to start from eighth on the grid, and has a six-point lead over Lorenzo in the World Championship standings having not finished off the podium yet in 2015.

Dani Pedrosa rode a solid race to claim fourth, just over three seconds behind Rossi, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith the leading Satellite rider in fifth, benefiting from Cal Crutchlow’s crash with just three laps remaining.

Smith’s teammate Pol Espargaro was next across the line in sixth, while Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), wild card Michele Pirro (Ducati Team), Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) and Yonny Hernandez completed the top 10. Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS’s Scott Redding again struggled, finishing down in 11th.

Loris Baz took his first Open class victory for his Athina Forward Racing team, as he crossed the line in 12th ahead of Hector Barbera, Alvaro Bautista and Eugene Laverty, who claimed the last championship point on offer. Australia’s Jack Miller crashed out of proceedings in the race’s early stages.

The Gran Premio d’Italia TIM saw Tito Rabat took his first victory of the 2015 season despite a late charge from Johann Zarco, with Dominique Aegerter third and Anthony West and eventual 19th. Rabat moves to second in the championship with 78 points but is still 31 points behind Zarco, more than a race win worth of points.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira claimed a career first Moto3 victory and becomes the first Portuguese winner in grand prix history. Alongside him on the podium was Danny Kent and Romano Fenati, while Remy Gardner raced to 23rd despite heavy contact on the opening lap.

2015 MotoGP World Championship
Round six – Mugello, Italy

MotoGP results:
1. Jorge Lorenzo
2. Andrea Iannone
3. Valentino Rossi
4. Dani Pedrosa
5. Bradley Smith
6. Pol Espargaro
7. Maverick Viñales
8. Michele Pirro
9. Danilo Petrucci
10. Yonny Hernandez

MotoGP championship standings:
1. Valentino Rossi 118
2. Jorge Lorenzo 112
3. Andrea Dovizioso 83
4. Andrea Iannone 81
5. Marc Marquez 69
6. Bradley Smith 57
7. Cal Crutchlow 47
8. Pol Espargaro 45
9. Maverick Vinales 36
10. Danilo Petrucci 32
19. Jack Miller (AUS) 6

Moto2 results:
1. Tito Rabat
2. Johann Zarco
3. Dominique Aegerter
4. Sam Lowes
5. Luis Salom
6. Xavier Simeon
7. Julian Simon
8. Sandro Cortese
9. Axel Pons
10. Lorenzo Baldassarri
19. Anthony West (AUS)

Moto3 results:
1. Miguel Oliveira
2. Danny Kent
3. Romano Fenati
4. Francesco Bagnaia
5. Enea Bastianini
6. Niccolò Antonelli
7. Jorge Navarro
8. Isaac Viñales
9. Alexis Masbou
10. Brad Binder
23. Remy Gardner (AUS)

Click here for detailed results