Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo took a stunning second win of the season in Le Mans today, negotiating varying track conditions and a change of bikes to lead from the first lap to the flag and take the championship lead.

It was a doom-laden day for his team-mate Valentino Rossi however as the world champion slid off early on and then had a ride-through penalty to compound his misfortune.

With the track still wet from a rainy morning all riders started the race on rain tyres, with the mechanics readying the dry bikes in pit lane in anticipation of an early change as the track dried out. Lorenzo, starting from second, slipped a place at the start but had passed both Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa by the end of the first lap to take the lead. By lap five a dry line had begun to appear and a few riders chose to make early pit stops to change bikes.

The 22-year-old Spaniard however was feeling comfortable and had an excellent pace on his Bridgestone wets and so he stayed out, constantly stretching his lead. In the end he was the last of the front-runners to pit, a gamble which paid off brilliantly as he was by then nearly 34 seconds clear and was able to rejoin the race in the lead on lap 13. Once he had bit of heat in his slick tyres the youngster put his head down and kept his nerve for the remaining 15 laps and he eventually took the chequered flag an impressive 17.710 seconds clear of second-placed Marco Melandri.

“Never in all my dreams did I imagine this situation today – winning the race and leading the championship. This season I have been much more calm and careful and so I was really upset after the crash in Jerez because I didn't expect it!”, said Lorenzo after the race. “Today has made up for that though. I had a very good pace with both types of tyre and the strategy of our team worked perfectly. I felt happy to stay out on the wet tyres for such a long time and in the end I think we changed at exactly the right time for our race; there was some luck on our side but we were also strong, calm and careful and this paid off. It was the first time in my life that I've had to change bikes during the race and I was very nervous, but it went smoothly and I was able to rejoin in the lead. I'm sorry for Valentino because it was bad luck to crash, but now we are nearly on the same points and it seems like the championship is starting again! I want to thank my team because they were very clever today, I'm so happy to be here and to have won a third MotoGP race.”

Le Mans – MotoGP race results :

1. J.Lorenzo – Fiat Yamaha

2. M.Melandri – Hayate Racing

3. D.Pedrosa – Repsol Honda

4. A.Dovizioso – Repsol Honda

5. C.Stoner – Ducati

6. C.Vermeulen – Rizla Suzuki

7. C.Edwards – Monster Yamaha Tech3

8. L.Capirossi – Rizla Suzuki

9. J.Toseland – Monster Yamaha Tech3

10. T.Elias – San Carlo Honda Gresini

11. A.De Angelis – San Carlo Honda Gresini

12. N.Hayden – Ducati

13. Y.Takahashi – Scot Honda

14. R.De Puniet – LCR Honda

15. N.Canepa – Pramac Racing

16. V.Rossi – Fiat Yamaha

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