91Èȱ¬

MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo reignited his title defence with a second victory of the season in the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.

The Spaniard finished ahead of compatriot Dani Pedrosa while Britain's Cal Crutchlow profited from Marc Marquez's late crash to take third.

The win moved Lorenzo up to second in the championship standings.

There was disappointment for home favourite Valentino Rossi, however, as he crashed out on the first lap.

Alvaro Bautista collided with Rossi's Yamaha to send the pair off the track and into the air fence.

"We crashed. I didn't see anything," Bautista told 91Èȱ¬ Sport. "Just when I went in to enter the corner I felt Rossi's bike and we fell down."

Lorenzo's win - his third in succession at Mugello - closes the gap on championship leader Pedrosa to 12 points.

Pedrosa had snatched pole position from Lorenzo in the final moments of qualifying on Saturday but, having encountered traction problems over the course of the weekend, he knew he would have to fight to hold on to that position throughout the race.

The Honda rider initially surged clear of his championship rival but Lorenzo's response was swift as he stole the lead at the first corner.

Pedrosa kept up the battle until lap 15 when Lorenzo took control, moving over two seconds clear, and from then on victory was in little doubt.

"I tried every lap to open up the little gap I needed and finally in lap 15 I could do it," said Lorenzo.

"From then on it became much easier for me."

Marquez, who had qualified sixth, once again showed remarkable pace as he made his way through the field and up to second.

But with just three laps to go the young rookie crashed out - his fourth crash of the weekend - promoting Crutchlow into third place.

The 27-year-old, who finished second at the French Grand Prix last month, is fourth in the overall standings with 71 points.

"I hate to be gifted a podium, I want to work for it but I definitely worked for it at the end," said Crutchlow.

"I was close anyway and we did a good job this weekend."

Stefan Bradl finished fourth, while Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden completed the top six.

Meanwhile, British rider Scott Redding increased his lead in the Moto2 world championship standings to 43 points with a second successive victory of the season.

Starting on pole, victory rarely looked in doubt for the 20-year-old Marc VDS rider - winner of the French Grand Prix last month - as he finished ahead of Spaniard Nicolas Terol and France's Johann Zarco.

The win means Redding is the first Briton to win back-to-back races in the intermediate class since 1971.

"Considering I have had many bad races here, to take victory was unbelievable," he said.

"I really controlled the race and I cannot thank the team enough for doing a great job for me."

Spaniard Luis Salom claimed his second Moto3 win of the season to close the gap on championship leader Maverick Vinales.

The 21-year-old KTM rider - who won the season opening Qatari Grand Prix - led home a Spanish one-two-three as Alex Rins and Maverick Vinales filled second and third respectively.

Vinales leads the tile race by just four points over Salom.

Italian MotoGP results:

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 41'39.733

2. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 41'45.133

3. Cal Crutchlow (Gbr) Yamaha 41'46.145

4. Stefan Bradl (Ger) Honda 41'59.054

5. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati 41'59.273

6. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 42'06.054

7. Michele Pirro (Ita) Ducati 42'17.877

8. Aleix Espargaro (Spa) Aprilia 42'19.535

9. Bradley Smith (Gbr) Yamaha 42'19.976

10. Hector Barbera (Spa) FTR 42'28.125