Casey Stoner has replaced Jorge Lorenzo at the top of the MotoGP standings after winning his fourth race of the season at a soggy British Grand Prix.
Lorenzo succumbed to the horrendous conditions at a wet and windswept Silverstone, sliding off on lap 10 to allow Stoner to move 18 points clear of the defending champion after his 150th MotoGP race.
The Australian cruised home with a huge 15-second lead, while Andrea Dovisioso, riding in place of the injured Dani Pedrosa, completed a sweet afternoon for Honda by finishing second.
“It was really tough conditions,” Stoner said.
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“Anything could have happened. We were quite lucky in this one that I stayed up and that Jorge had a crash.”
American Colin Edwards took third on a Yamaha. Herald Sun
Nicky Hayden and Alvaro Bautista completed the top five with Valentino Rossi finishing sixth on his first outing at Silverstone, after starting on the back row of the grid.
There were no British riders on display after Cal Crutchlow crashed in qualifying on Saturday and broke his collarbone.
Stoner was beginning to open up an ominous lead but was still lapping over 20 seconds slower than his pole position lap from Saturday.
“At the beginning we didn’t get a great start. But the bike felt good, and I waited for the tyres to get up to temperature,” Stoner said.
“In the first lap I had water in my visor, so for the first five or six laps I couldn’t really see properly. I couldn’t see any puddles. But finally the water went away and I was able to do the lap times I wanted, and open up a gap.”
Second-placed Dovizioso said: “It was very difficult not to make a mistake in these conditions.
“With the wet patches it was difficult to find the line. I’m so happy because the level is so high this season. In practice, we have struggled. But in the important moments we can deliver.” BBC Sport
Toni Elias made a good launch off the start, putting his LCR Honda into eighth on the first lap from his 14th grid position. The Moto2 Champion crossed the line in eighth position, with Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) in ninth and Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing) in tenth.
Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) crashed out of the race on lap 14. motogp.com
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