MotoGP Grand Prix of Italy 2016 Results: Winner, Standings and Reaction

Jorge Lorenzo edged Marc Marquez by the slimmest of margins to claim victory in Sunday's MotoGP Italian Grand Prix to earn his fifth title at Mugello in the space of six years and extend his lead at the top of the standings.

A technical issue saw pole leader Valentino Rossi prevented from contesting for the crown in front of a home audience as he dropped further back in the riders' standings with his second retirement of the campaign.

Victory also saw Lorenzo seal back-to-back MotoGP wins for the first time in the 2016 season and extend his lead at the summit of the riders' standings, while Andrea Iannone claimed third place on the podium.

It was a desperately close finish between the two remaining stars of Yamaha and Honda, and the official MotoGP Twitter account provided a look at the photo finish:

Here are the 2016 Italian Grand Prix results, and you can check out the times in full at the official MotoGP website:

Position	Points	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Time/Gap
1	25	Jorge Lorenzo	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	41'36.535
2	20	Marc Marquez	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	+0.019
3	16	Andrea Iannone	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	+4.742
4	13	Dani Pedrosa	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	+4.910
5	11	Andrea Dovizioso	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	+6.256
6	10	Maverick Vinales	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	+8.670
7	9	Bradley Smith	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	+13.340
8	8	Danilo Petrucci	ITA	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	+14.598
9	7	Aleix Espargaro	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	+18.643
10	6	Michele Pirro	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	+22.298
11	5	Cal Crutchlow	GBR	LCR Honda	Honda	+27.936
12	4	Hector Barbera	SPA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	+35.712
13	3	Eugene Laverty	IRL	Aspar Team MotoGP	Ducati	+38.032
14	2	Stefan Bradl	GER	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	+40.094
15	1	Pol Espargaro	SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	+59.811
16		Yonny Hernandez	COL	Aspar Team MotoGP	Ducati	+1'04.397
Not Classified	Laps	Bike
Valentino Rossi	15	Yamaha
Scott Redding	15	Ducati
Jack Miller	0	Honda
Alvaro Bautista	0	Asprilla
Loris Baz	0	Ducati

Here's how the 2016 MotoGP standings look after Sunday's result:

Position	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	SPA	115
2	Marc Marquez	Honda	SPA	105
3	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	ITA	78
4	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	SPA	66
5	Maverick Vinales	Suzuki	SPA	59
6	Pol Espargaro	Yamaha	SPA	49
7	Aleix Espargaro	Suzuki	SPA	48
8	Hector Barbera	Ducati	SPA	43
9	Andrea Iannone	Ducati	ITA	41
10	Eugene Laverty	Ducati	IRL	36
11	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	ITA	34
12	Bradley Smith	Yamaha	GBR	29
13	Stefan Bradl	Aprilia	GER	25
14	Alvaro Bautista	Aprilia	SPA	21
15	Michele Pirro	Ducati	ITA	18
16	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	ITA	17
17	Scott Redding	Ducati	GBR	16
18	Tito Rabat	Honda	SPA	11
19	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	GBR	10
20	Loris Baz	Ducati	FRA	8
21	Yonny Hernandez	Ducati	COL	3
22	Jack Miller	Honda	AUS	2

Tensions were high coming to Mugello after Lorenzo's victory in France earlier this month saw him leapfrog Marquez into top spot, and it showed after Sunday's riders got off to a frantic start.

Lorenzo started fifth on the grid but managed to zip into an early lead on the first lap, but Loris Baz, Alvaro Bautista and Jack Miller weren't as fortunate:

Pole starter Rossi wasn't content in allowing his lead to slip by so easily, however, and the Doctor held tight on Lorenzo's heels as he sought his first Italian Grand Prix victory since winning seven in succession between 2002 and 2008.

Marquez was a close third behind Rossi in the opening stages, and Andrea Dovizioso followed close behind as he too went in search of triumph in front of a baying home audience:

The winding circuit of Mugello would play into Lorenzo's hands entirely were it not for the long, finishing straight after Turn 14, a patch of the track that offered the faster riders a chance to catch up.

The battle of the Yamaha riders waged on at the front, but MotoGP reporter Steve English highlighted how "ultimate pace" wasn't one of the leader's strengths:

Rossi's war to reclaim his lead was going to plan until smoke started billowing out of his bike due to a technical error, and the Italian was forced to call it quits midway through Sunday's showdown:

That casualty left the platform open for Marquez to make a claim on the lead himself, but the distance between him and Lorenzo ultimately proved too great.

Crash.net noted Rossi's engine failure was Yamaha's second of the day after Lorenzo's did so in the warm-up, and the Spaniard's race was far from over after Marquez closed the gap, per the Sun's Simon Head:

Dovizioso's tug of war with Iannone ensured the battle for a podium place went down to the wire also, and Dani Pedrosa remained in the hunt to make it a Spanish hat-trick at the top.

Marquez and Lorenzo exchanged the lead several times in the final three laps, as did Pedrosa and Iannone in the battle for third after Dovizioso dropped to fifth following a wide exit not far from the finish.

But Lorenzo's experience in Mugello appeared to win out, and his clam under pressure led to a fifth Italian Grand Prix crown. Meanwhile, Iannone ensured there was at least one Italian in the medal places.

Formula One driver Romain Grosjean was also tuned into the action and mourned Rossi's early retirement:

Per Crash.net, Marquez agonised over just how close the finish was with the in-form Lorenzo: "I already know that it was really close. We were struggling a lot all weekend with the acceleration and top speed. I tried my maximum and potential and I take a lot of risks to try to win the race. We must keep working on acceleration."

Lorenzo now holds a 10-point cushion in the riders' standings before heading to Catalonia in a fortnight's time, where a disparaged Rossi will attempt to claw his way back into the championship chase.

Marquez, meanwhile, can take heart in a performance that almost saw him draw level with Lorenzo at the summit, having now sealed podium finishes in five of his six races this year.