MotoGP Czech Republic Grand Prix 2015 Results: Winner, Standings and Reaction

Jorge Lorenzo finished off a dominant weekend by winning the 2015 MotoGP Czech Republic Grand Prix in Brno on Sunday, tying Valentino Rossi for the lead in the current standings in the process. 

The Spaniard dominated during qualification and led the race from start to finish, with defending World Champion Marc Marquez pipping Rossi for second. For Lorenzo, it was the fifth win of the season. Here are the full results from Sunday's race, courtesy of MotoGP's official website:

Pos.	Points	Rider	Team	Time/Gap
DID NOT FINISH
1	25	Jorge LORENZO	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	42'53.042
2	20	Marc MARQUEZ	Repsol Honda Team	+4.462
3	16	Valentino ROSSI	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	+10.397
4	13	Andrea IANNONE	Ducati Team	+13.071
5	11	Dani PEDROSA	Repsol Honda Team	+15.650
6	10	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati Team	+15.725
7	9	Bradley SMITH	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	+21.821
8	8	Pol ESPARGARO	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	+23.240
9	7	Aleix ESPARGARO	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	+43.784
10	6	Danilo PETRUCCI	Octo Pramac Racing	+45.261
11	5	Yonny HERNANDEZ	Octo Pramac Racing	+49.973
12	4	Scott REDDING	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	+50.174
13	3	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	+54.437
14	2	Stefan BRADL	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	+54.624
15	1	Loris BAZ	Forward Racing	+1'00.316
16		Hector BARBERA	Avintia Racing	+1'01.595
17		Nicky HAYDEN	Aspar MotoGP Team	+1'02.388
18		Mike DI MEGLIO	Avintia Racing	+1'05.944
19		Jack MILLER	CWM LCR Honda	+1'11.407
20		Claudio CORTI	Forward Racing	+1'50.033
21		Karel ABRAHAM	AB Motoracing	+2'02.655
		Maverick VIÑALES	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	DNF
		Cal CRUTCHLOW	CWM LCR Honda	DNF
		Eugene LAVERTY	Aspar MotoGP Team	DNF
		Alex DE ANGELIS	E-Motion IodaRacing Team	DNF

Before the start of the race, Crash.net MotoGP shared the tyre info for the favourites, revealing Rossi would be running on the hard compound:

Expectations were the compound would slow the Italian veteran down early, which was expected to be an issue in Brno as it is known as a track with few options for overtaking.

As if things weren't bad enough, Rossi had a poor start, dropping back to fifth place while Lorenzo and Marquez kept their positions, per MotoGP's official Twitter account. Rossi was forced to battle for position with Andrea Dovizioso, losing valuable times in the opening laps.

Defending world hampion Marquez did well to stick with Lorenzo, who had dominated the race weekend, and Crash.net MotoGP was starting to get a case of deja-vu:

Eugene Laverty suffered a crash in the background, and the Irishman should thank his lucky stars none of the other riders made contact when him when he went down in Turn 1.

At the front of race, Lorenzo looked nearly untouchable, and the Spaniard slowly started to build a lead over the pack. Marquez gave it everything he had to stick with his compatriot, but his positioning on the bike appeared to be slightly off and the gap kept growing, per MotoGP's official Twitter account:

Before long, Lorenzo was the only man consistently ducking under one minute, 57 seconds every lap, pushing his lead to 2.5 seconds. Rossi had jumped into third position but had six seconds worth of empty tarmac ahead of him, and his pace was well below Lorenzo's.

Turn 11 proved itself to be a difficult challenge to handle for the riders, with Cal Crutchlow and Maverick Vinales losing their grip in consecutive laps. Crash.net Moto GP shared this image of Crutchlow sliding:

With the top three seemingly decided, the attention of the fans turned to the battle between Dovizioso, Andrea Iannone and Dani Pedrosa. The latter's performance was made all the more memorable by the fact he was suffering from a foot injury, via MotoGP's official Twitter account:

Iannone eventually did enough to leave his two rivals behind entering the final lap, and the top four finishers all cruised to the finish line. With Marquez staying ahead of Rossi, Lorenzo closed the gap in the standings heading into the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Here are the latest standings, courtesy of MotoGP's official website:

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Jorge LORENZO	Yamaha	SPA	211
2	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	ITA	211
3	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	SPA	159
4	Andrea IANNONE	Ducati	ITA	142
5	Bradley SMITH	Yamaha	GBR	106
6	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	ITA	104
7	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	SPA	91
8	Pol ESPARGARO	Yamaha	SPA	81
9	Cal CRUTCHLOW	Honda	GBR	74
10	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	ITA	63
11	Maverick VIÑALES	Suzuki	SPA	62
12	Aleix ESPARGARO	Suzuki	SPA	53
13	Yonny HERNANDEZ	Ducati	COL	41
14	Scott REDDING	Honda	GBR	37
15	Hector BARBERA	Ducati	SPA	20
16	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Aprilia	SPA	16
17	Loris BAZ	Yamaha Forward	FRA	15
18	Jack MILLER	Honda	AUS	12
19	Stefan BRADL	Aprilia	GER	11
20	Michele PIRRO	Ducati	ITA	8
21	Nicky HAYDEN	Honda	USA	8
22	Eugene LAVERTY	Honda	IRL	7
23	Hiroshi AOYAMA	Honda	JPN	5
24	Mike DI MEGLIO	Ducati	FRA	2
25	Alex DE ANGELIS	ART	RSM	1

As reported by Crash.net Moto GP's live blog of the race, Rossi told reporters he didn't think his choice of tyres impacted the result: "I don't think it was the tyres. I chose the best tyres for me in practice, not to go faster in the race. My start was bad. I didn't have the rhythm, Marc and Jorge were faster than me."

Rossi and Lorenzo have dominated the first half of the 2015 season, but the Spaniard has looked the more impressive of the two of late. Rossi remains the finest technician and most experienced rider on the grid, but it's hard to bet against Lorenzo at this stage of the campaign.

The Yamaha's have proven their superiority over the Honda engines, with Sunday's race yet another fine example, so Marquez's bid to win his third consecutive world title appears to be coming to an end. The 22-year-old was nearly unbeatable last year, but in 2015; there's simply no answer for Yamaha.

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