Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo won the MotoGP round in France, on the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans, consolidating his Championship lead over team-mate Valentino Rossi. Vale had some news of his own, after confirming that he will remain at Yamaha for the 2011 MotoGP season. This in turn opens the door at Ducati for Lorenzo to replace Casey Stoner, who has signed with Honda for next year.

Honda's Dani Pedrosa was third in the closing laps, but gave way to Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati) on the final lap. Meanwhile, Casey Stoner crashed his Ducati for the second time in three races, leaving him now more than 59 points adrift in the championship and virtually out of it, except for race wins.

Photo: MotoGP

Lorenzo outbraked race leader Rossi going into turn one on lap ten, quickly opening out a comfortable four-second lead that carried him to the win.

Neither Rossi nor Lorenzo made mention of any lingering injuries, and now seem to have the dominant machines, with Stoner going to Honda next year, and the two lead Honda riders unsure of their status for next year and seemingly incapable of sustaining the pace of the Yamaha factory bikes.

Can Rossi re-establish his dominance over Lorenzo. I say yes!We will see at the next round of the MotoGP championship, on the Mugello circuit in Italy on June 6th.

MotoGP of France - Results

Pos Rider Team Time/Gap
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 44m29.114s
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha + 5.672s
3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 7.872s
4. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 9.346s
5. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 12.613s
6. ETC....

MotoGP Standings - After 3 of 18 races

1. Jorge Lorenzo 70 points
2. Valentino Rossi 61
3. Andrea Dovizioso 42
4. Dani Pedrosa 40
5. Nicky Hayden 39