Andrea Dovizioso's dominant win at the MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix was the first time in ten years when Ducati won three races in a row in the premier class of motorcycle grand prix racing. But Honda's Marc Marquez's second place following Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo crashing out helped him extend his world championship lead.
Dovizioso, the 2017 MotoGP runner-up, won his third race of the season after taking the lead on the opening corner of the opening lap in a race that saw him, Lorenzo and Marquez pull well clear of the rest of the grid.
Valentino Rossi's much-hyped participation in what is considered to be his home race was an utter letdown, as Yamaha could not match the pace of the Ducati pair or of Marquez. In addition to that, Rossi could only manage a seventh-place teammate, while his teammate Maverick Vinales was fifth, ahead of Honda's Dani Pedrosa.
Cal Crutchlow of the LCR Honda team ran a lonely race to fourth place.
Marquez briefly appeared to have the pace to get past Lorenzo and chase after Dovizioso, with whom he has had numerous pulsating battles previously. However, Lorenzo doggedly hung on to second place after re-passing his fellow Spaniard who will be his teammate at the Repsol Honda team next year.
With just two laps left in the race, however, Lorenzo's effort to keep Marquez at bay ended with him crashing out of the race and finishing at the tail-end of the classification.
Dovizioso's win saw him leap-frog Rossi in the standings, but Marquez's second place meant that he extended his championship lead as he now holds a 67-point lead over Dovizioso with six rounds of the season left.
The factory Suzuki rider Andrea Iannone was eighth ahead of privateer Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista and Tech 3 Yamaha's Johan Zarco, who completed the top ten.
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