Rossi wins dramatic wet British GP
Valentino Rossi has regained the lead in the MotoGP championship with victory in a dramatic wet race at Silverstone, while Jorge Lorenzo lost vital ground in the title fight after being pushed out by Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso.
The Movistar Yamaha rider mastered the treacherous conditions in driving rain after taking the lead from Lorenzo in the opening stages while his closest rival Marc Marquez crashed out on lap 13 to all put end his revival in the championship battle.
Octo Pramac Ducati's Danilo Petrucci had the ride of his life to take a maiden MotoGP rostrum in second and even had a shot at Rossi after reeling in the leader in the closing stages. Andrea Dovizioso made it a near-perfect day for the Italian manufacturer by taking the final podium place ahead of Lorenzo.
In another Rossi win full of high drama it was a nightmare day for Honda, who had three riders in the top six in the opening stages but after multiple crashes Dani Pedrosa represented the top Honda in fifth place.
Marquez suffered a slip coming around Copse corner at the start of lap 13 while chasing Rossi in second and his Repsol Honda bike flicked him off, which promoted Petrucci and Dovizioso on to the podium.
Cal Crutchlow had his dreams of a first MotoGP podium at his home event destroyed by his LCR Honda team-mate Jack Miller. The rookie got an electric start off the line from 16th to battle into the top five but attempted an extravagant move down the inside of Crutchlow from a long distance back and failed to control his entry into Vale to low-side and collect his team-mate who was a passenger.
The wet conditions caused havoc for many of the riders who showed promising race pace earlier in the weekend in the dry.
Scott Redding, who announced a new deal to move to Pramac Ducati for 2016 on the morning of the race, grabbed his best result of 2015 in sixth to finish top British rider ahead of his fellow countryman Bradley Smith in seventh.
Andrea Iannone took a low-key eighth place ahead of Aleix Espargaro, while Alvaro Bautista rounded out the top ten.
The original race start had to be red flagged as the weather took a dramatic turn moments before the start. After initially being declared a dry race the rain fell much heavier during the warm-up lap and every rider returned to the pits to change to the wet set-up and race direction aborted the start.
Maverick Vinales ended the British MotoGP as top rookie in 11th while Nicky Hayden grabbed the top open class honours in 12th.
Avintia Racing duo Hector Barbera and Mike Di Meglio finished a distant 13th and 14th with Alex De Angelis rounding out the points paying positions.
While Petrucci enjoyed a fantastic day for Pramac Ducati his team-mate Yonny Hernandez had one to forget after crashing on the exit of turn one on the opening lap after being bunched out.
British MotoGP:1.Valentino Rossi2.Danilo Petrucci3.Andrea Dovizioso4.Jorge Lorenzo5.Dani Pedrosa6.Scott Redding7.Bradley Smith8.Andrea Iannone9.Aleix Espargaro10.Alvaro Bautista11.Maverick Vi?ales12.Nicky Hayden13.Hector Barbera14.Mike Di Meglio15.Alex De Angelis16.Loris Baz17.Eugene Laverty18.Claudio Corti19.Karel Abraham
Pol Espargaro
Marc Marquez
Stefan Bradl
Cal Crutchlow
Jack Miller
Yonny Hernandez
