Lorenzo Poles Downunder

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Jorge Lorenzo broke the Phillip Island lap record to claim pole for the Australian MotoGP as he fights to keep alive his World Championship defence.

The Yamaha racer, 26, dominated the session with a best lap of one minute 27.899 seconds - 0.221 seconds faster than fellow Spaniard Marc Marquez.

Marquez is 43 points ahead in the standings and will secure the title in his rookie season if he collects eight more points than Lorenzo. 

Briton Cal Crutchlow will start sixth.

Tyre problems - which have seen the Moto2 race shortened to 13 laps - mean that the MotoGP race will have a mandatory pit stop, for the first time in MotoGP history.

Bridgestone tyres say that they are unable to guarantee the safety of their rear slick tyres beyond 14 laps at a Phillip Island circuit which has been resurfaced since last year's race.

Each MotoGP rider will be required to enter the pits and change to his second machine with fresh tyres at the midway point of the 26-lap race, which has been reduced by a lap.

Lorenzo beat Casey Stoner's previous record of 1:28.665, set in 2008, but had to pit to remove a seagull that had lodged in his bike after a collision at the top of Lukey Heights before securing his 28th career MotoGP pole.

"We've done our best to be competitive," he said. "This lap [we did] is a lap you can only do with a PlayStation. Today we made it - we improved seven tenths [of a second] from our first ride here.

"It's impressive how much faster we can go with new tyres. We're very proud of pole, but our most important thing is tomorrow."

Results:

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha, 1:27.899

2. Marc Marquez (Spa) Repsol Honda +0.221 seconds

3. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha +0.748

4. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Gresini Honda +0.814

5. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Repsol Honda +0.849

6. Cal Crutchlow (GB) Yamaha Tech +0.910

7. Bradley Smith (GB) Yamaha Tech +1.042

8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati +1.396

9. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati +1.761

10. Andrea Iannone (Ita) Ducati +1.857

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Marquez in Practice Crash

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Championship leader Marc Marquez crashed in practice for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix as title rival Jorge Lorenzo finished fastest.

The 20-year-old Spaniard, who is closing in on the world title in his rookie season, came off his bike early in the afternoon session.

He was uninjured and was able to return to the circuit 20 minutes later.

Marquez finished the day second fastest, 0.294 seconds behind Lorenzo, who clocked one minute 28.961secs.

British rider Cal Crutchlow was sixth fastest, while his Tech 3 Yamaha team-mate Bradley Smith recorded the seventh quickest time.

Marquez is bidding to become the first rookie in 35 years to win the premier class title.

He leads the standings by 43 points and can win the championship on Sunday if he wins the race and closest challenger Lorenzo finishes third or lower.

"The day went well, especially in the morning," said Repsol Honda rider Marquez.

"It's a pity about the crash right at the start of the afternoon run but we went back out with the second bike, which had a totally different geometry, and we had no time in which to change things. Thus, we used the initial set-up for the entire session."

Spain's Alvaro Bautista had the third-fastest lap, 0.477secs down on Lorenzo, with Marquez's Spanish team-mate Dani Pedrosa fourth at 0.517secs.

Seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi was fifth quickest.

Pedrosa's afternoon practice session was disrupted when an engine mounting bolt, which was not properly locked, came loose, forcing him to stop on the track.

"Today was very positive, the new asphalt felt good and the tyres worked well for us," said Pedrosa. "The only setback was that we were unable to make the most of all the time available, due to a problem with the bike at the end of the afternoon session."

LCR Honda's Stefan Bradl, who fractured an ankle at Sepang last Saturday, was able to take part in opening practice but finished almost four seconds off the pace and was later declared unfit.

Results

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 1:28.961

2. Marc Marquez (Spa) Repsol Honda 0.088

3. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Honda Gresini 0.664

4. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Repsol Honda 0.841

5. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 0.886

6. Cal Crutchlow (Gbr) Tech 3 Yamaha 0.963

7. Bradley Smith (Gbr) Tech 3 Yamaha 1.194,

8. Nicky Hayden (Usa) Ducati 1.499

9. Randy De Puniet (Fra) ART 2.113

10. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati 2.128

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Lorenzo Marc's Win Three

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World champion Jorge Lorenzo cut Marc Marquez's lead at the top of the MotoGP standings to 34 points with victory in San Marino, his second win in a row.

The 26-year-old, who started from the front row on his Yamaha, has now won his last three races at Misano.

Fellow Spaniard Marquez took second, with Repsol Honda team-mate, and title rival, Dani Pedrosa third and Yamaha's Valentino Rossi fourth.

Britain's Cal Crutchlow finished in sixth position on his Tech 3 Yamaha.

Lorenzo insisted his title hopes were over after winning the British Grand Prix a fortnight ago, but his latest victory keeps alive his hopes of retaining the crown, with five legs of the 18-race season remaining.

He has moved into second place in the standings behind 20-year-old Marquez, and level on points with Pedrosa, but remains cautious about his title chances.

"It is important to win, but we have only recovered five points, so it is the same as Silverstone," he said. "It doesn't make a big difference to the championship.

"But I'm very happy for this victory, because we struggled a lot during the weekend, especially on braking."

Marquez, who started on pole but dropped to fourth early in the race, said: "The second place is important, especially because with the fuel tank full, I was struggling.

"I did go wide twice and that penalised me a lot in the race but we had a good race to take points for the championship. That is important."

The win, the 49th of Lorenzo's career, means the Mallorcan has triumphed at both Italian races on the calendar for three successive seasons. 

From second on the grid, he took the lead as Marquez dropped to third on the opening lap.

The championship leader, who crashed in the morning warm-up, recovered to pass both Rossi and Pedrosa but, with the Honda team-mates locked in battle until the end, Lorenzo cruised to victory.

Rossi was competing on his home circuit, renamed the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in honour of his close friend, whodied following a crash at the 2011 Malaysian MotoGP.

In Moto2, Britain's Scott Redding had his lead in the standings cut to 23 points by finishing sixth.

Title rival Pol Espargaro secured victory, denying Takaaki Nakagami a career-first win by passing him on the penultimate lap.

San Marino Grand Prix result:

1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 44:05.522

2 Marc Marquez (Spa) Repsol Honda +3.379secs

3 Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Repsol Honda +7.368

4 Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha +15.062

5 Stefan Bradl (Ger) LCR Honda +22.355

6 Cal Crutchlow (GB) Tech 3 Yamaha +22.599

7 Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Honda Gresini +31.059

8 Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati +42.702

9 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati +44.858

10 Michele Pirro (Ita) Pramac Ducati +47.818

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Marquez Early Misano Leader

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Championship leader Marc Marquez continued his superb form by ending Friday's practice session for the San Marino Grand Prix on top.

The 20-year-old - who has won five times this season to lead the standings by 30 points - pipped Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa by 0.33 seconds.

Valentino Rossi was third on his Yamaha ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, with British rider Cal Crutchlow only 10th.

Aleix Espargaro was an excellent fifth on his CRT machine.

Marquez is aiming to become the first rookie to win the world championship since American Kenny Roberts in 1978 and has taken 140 from a possible 150 points in the past six races.

He was quickest on Friday morning and was on top again in the afternoon session, although Pedrosa looked set to beat his time in the closing stages only to miss out in the final sector.

Meanwhile, former world champion Casey Stoner - who retired from MotoGP last year - has reportedly decided to leave car racing at the end of this season.

Stoner moved into the second tier of Australian V8 Supercar racing this year, driving on a one-year contract for Red Bull, but has failed to make an impact, managing just one top-10 finish after 14 rounds of the 19-race season.

"I will probably do some car racing here and there in different times," Stoner was quoted by Australia media as saying at a function in Brisbane on Friday.

"To be honest, after this year, I realised I want to get away from competition for a little while."

Stoner had fuelled speculation of a return to motorcycling by agreeing to test for Honda in Japan last month but the team made it clear there were no plans for the Australian to ride as a wildcard at any races this season.

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Lorenzo Leads Silverstone Practice

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World champion Jorge Lorenzo was fastest as he edged out title rivals Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa in practice for Sunday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Lorenzo, 26, has not won any of the last five races to fall 44 points behind championship leader Marquez.

But he was back to his best on Friday, putting his Yamaha top of the timesheets with a commanding lap.

Alvaro Bautista was fourth, with Briton Cal Crutchlow in sixth place.

Repsol Honda rider Marquez, 20, set the best time of a cold morning session with a lap of two minutes 3.816 seconds, but Lorenzo was the man to beat as the track warmed up in the afternoon.

His lap of 2:02.734 was two tenths of a second quicker than Spaniard Marquez's best effort, with 27-year-old Pedrosa nearly half a second behind his team-mate in third and Gresini Honda's Bautista, 28, next.

Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi, 34, was fifth on his Yamaha, while Crutchlow, 27, will be hoping to improve in qualifying on Saturday after taking pole position on his Yamaha Tech 3 at Brno last weekend.

His fellow British riders Bradley Smith, also of Yamaha Tech 3, and Michael Laverty, of Paul Bird Motorsport, ended the day in eighth and 20th respectively.

In the Moto2 class, championship leader Scott Redding - who signed a deal to race in MotoGP from next season on Thursday - was fastest in the morning session but ended the afternoon in fifth.

Silverstone practice times:

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 2:02.734

2. Marc Marquez (Spa) Repsol Honda 2:02.958

3. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Repsol Honda 2:03.192

4. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Gresini Honda 2:03.463

5. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 2:03.480

6. Cal Crutchlow (GB) Tech 3 Yamaha 2:03.505

7. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati 2:03.658

8. Bradley Smith (GB) Tech 3 Yamaha 2:03.750

9. Stefan Bradl (Ger) LCR Honda 2:03.784

10. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 2:04.089

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Czechered Flag for Marquez

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Championship leader Marc Marquez became the first rider to win five races in his debut MotoGP season with victory at Brno in the Czech Republic.

The 20-year-old Spaniard took his fourth win in a row to boost his bid to take the title at the first attempt.

He reeled in long-time leader Jorge Lorenzo, who had to settle for third after Dani Pedrosa also passed him.

Cal Crutchlow's hopes of a fifth podium finish of the season, after starting on pole, ended with a crash on lap eight.

The Briton was running in fourth place after seeing the fast-starting Lorenzo, plus Marquez and Pedrosa, pass him on the run-in to the first corner.

He was also briefly overtaken by Alvaro Bautista, but had re-established a small gap over the Spaniard when he lost control of his Tech 3 Yamaha.

"Alvaro came past and slowed the pace so much that I had to push hard," Crutchlow told BBC Sport. "I was trying to push to get back to the front guys but I made a mistake.

"We had some issues on the grid with the bike and it was important to get away from them [at the start], but Jorge [Lorenzo] did a fantastic first lap and put us all under pressure."

Crutchlow did manage to get his bike back on the track, restarting in 20th place, but was unable to get into the points after finishing 17th.

Marquez, meanwhile, extended his lead in the championship from 21 points at the outset to 26 - more than the allotted amount for a race win.

The Repsol Honda rider prevailed after a tit-for-tat tussle with Lorenzo's Yamaha in the later stages.

Defending world champion Lorenzo, 35 points adrift in the standings beforehand, stormed through from fifth on the grid to take the lead at the first corner and established a healthy lead.

But Marquez and Pedrosa closed in with seven laps left to make it a three-way fight at the front.

Lorenzo repelled the first two attempts at a pass by Marquez, but could not resist the youngster's continued probing.

"I enjoyed the battle," the winner told BBC Sport. "It is the first time I have had a fight like this in MotoGP. In the beginning Jorge pushed quite a bit and made a big gap, but in the end I was a little bit stronger."

Lorenzo's hopes of defending his title suffered a further blow when Pedrosa also passed him, with three laps left, as he fell 44 points behind Marquez with seven rounds left.

"It is a bit disappointing because I almost had the race [in the bag] so to lose the first two positions in the last part of it is not the best," he conceded.

Meanwhile Britain's Scott Redding will take a 21-point lead in the Moto2standings into next weekend's race at Silverstone after finishing eighth in Brno.

His closest rival, Spaniard Pol Espargaro, narrowed the gap after coming home fourth, with Finn Mika Kallio taking victory.

Czech Republic Grand Prix result:

1. Marc Marquez (Spa) Repsol Honda 42:50.729

2. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Repsol Honda +0.313 secs

3. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha +2.277

4. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha +10.101

5. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Gresini Honda +10.179

6. Stefan Bradl (Ger) LCR Honda +19.807

7. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati +35.015

8. Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati +35.354

17. Cal Crutchlow (GB) Tech 3 Yamaha +1:20.640

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Crutchlow Poles in Brno

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Cal Crutchlow claimed the second pole position of his MotoGP career with a new lap record in qualifying at Brno in the Czech Republic.

The Yamaha Tech 3 rider, also fastest in free practice, set a new two-wheel mark of one minute 55.527 seconds.

Spaniard Alvaro Bautista snatched a surprise second place with championship leader Marc Marquez settling for third after failing to complete a quick lap.

His Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa was fourth, with Jorge Lorenzo fifth.

Crutchlow became the first British MotoGP rider in 11 years to achieve a pole position in Assen in June, but world champion Lorenzo was absent injured on that occasion.

This time Crutchlow, who will ride for Ducati next season, could legitimately claim to have out-paced all his rivals in factory teams.

"That is probably why I am so happy," the 27-year-old told BBC Sport. "But it is going to be a long, tough race tomorrow.

"In all honesty the last couple of races haven't gone to plan and this weekend has been a disaster so far. But everyone seems to be struggling a bit and we seem to be getting there slowly.

"I am really pleased for the Monster Tech team. They have been working so hard for me and it is nice to be able to reward them as much as me.

"Hopefully we can aim for the podium tomorrow and go to Silverstone [for the British MotoGP next Sunday] strong."

Crutchlow's team-mate and fellow Briton Bradley Smith could also be satisfied after taking sixth position on the grid.

But Spaniard Marquez, who has won the last three races to establish a 21-point lead in the rider standings, struggled to keep his tyres warm enough in the final session to post a fast lap.

"I felt so good on the bike so I was a bit disappointed with that," said the 20-year-old, who has finished on the podium in every race of his debut MotoGP season so far.

"I was ready to fight for the pole position with the second tyres but there was too much traffic and we had to stop too much."

Qualifying Results:

1. Cal Crutchlow (GB) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1:55.527

2. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Honda Gresini - 1:55.754

3. Marc Marquez (Spa) Repsol Honda - 1:55.863

4. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Repsol Honda - 1:55.868

5. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha Factory Racing - 1:55.949

6. Bradley Smith (GB) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1:56.014

7. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha Factory Racing - 1:56.186

8. Stefan Bradl (Ger) LCR Honda MotoGP - 1:56.477

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