SILVERSTONE: Valentino Rossi won the British Grand Prix in wet conditions yesterday to reclaim the outright lead in the MotoGP championship, with Marc Marquez crashing out in another blow to his title defence.
Rossi, a seven-time world champion, finished in 46 minutes, 15.617 seconds on his Movistar Yamaha at the Silverstone circuit in central England for his fourth victory of the season. The Italian tops the standings on 236 points, a lead of 12 from Jorge Lorenzo after the teammates began the race tied for points.
Lorenzo was fourth in an eventful race in front of 73,000 fans, during which British rider Cal Crutchlow was taken down early by LCR Honda teammate Jack Miller before Marquez fell with eight laps to go.
Ducati riders Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso were second and third, respectively, to complete an all-Italian podium. Petrucci was 3.01 seconds behind Rossi and claimed his first ever podium finish, having started 18th on the grid.
Marquez is 77 points behind Rossi with six races left. The next grand prix is in Misano, Italy.