Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SILVERSTONE, England (AP) — Valentino Rossi won the British Grand Prix in wet conditions Sunday to reclaim the outright lead in the MotoGP championship, with Marc Marquez crashing out in another blow to his title defense.
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, who won the last two championships and set a lap record in qualifying to claim pole position, is 77 points behind Rossi with six races left. The next grand prix is in Misano, Italy.
The start was delayed for 30 minutes after rain on the grid forced the riders to return to the pits and swap for wet tires.
Rossi qualified in fourth place but was in the lead by Lap 2 and had soon pulled away from the field with Marquez.
The pair had a gap of 7 seconds to Petrucci by the ninth lap but Rossi's pace proved too much for Marquez, who crashed out on his Repsol Honda at Copse Corner. Rossi relaxed in the closing gaps and won easily for his first victory at the British GP.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
