• Ducati MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso controlled the San Marino MotoGP race and won.

• Pole sitter Jorge Lorenzo crashed out with 2 laps to go.

• Marc Marquez finished 2^nd to extend his championship lead.

Jorge Lorenzo had been fully expected to win the MotoGP class at the San Marino GP after yesterday’s magnificent qualifying, in which he broke the track record twice over.

But it was a different scene during the morning’s warm-up session when Marc Marquez was the fastest, followed closely by the Ducati factory pairing of Andrea Dovizioso and pole-sitter Lorenzo.

That was not the full news, however, as the times of the top 11 riders were covered by less than 1 second.

There was also hope of a revival for the Movistar Yamaha factory team after Maverick Vinalez put his bike third on the grid.

Lorenzo shot into the lead during at the start, trailed by his teammate Dovizioso and the rest of the field. Dovi then started to shadow Lorenzo and finally overtook him on Lap 4. Behind them, Marquez fought his way through the group of riders to break free into third. He rode as hard as he could and caught the Lorenzo midway through the race.

Dovi meanwhile, rode a steady race and started to open up a gap until he was 1.8 seconds ahead of the chasing two.

Marquez made his move on Lorenzo with some fifteen laps to go, but Lorenzo fought back tenaciously. They kept passing and repassing each other but it was Lorenzo who finally made his overtake stick and started to close down on his Ducati teammate with 8 laps to go.

But Dovi managed to react to Lorenzo’s push. Behind him, Lorenzo was in turn pushed on by Marquez. Lorenzo decided to push harder and attempt to catch Dovi but made a mistake and low-sided his bike with two laps to go, handing 2^nd place to Marquez.

Cal Crutchlow had broken free and finished on the final step of the podium.

Alex Rins battled with with his ex-Suzuki teammate Vinalez and prevailed to finish 4^th. Pedrosa rode a quiet race to finish 6^th while Rossi crossed the line in a lowly 7^th.

Marquez extends his championship lead with 201 points, from Valentino Rossi who has 142 and Jorge Lorenzo with 130 points.