Stoner Sachsenring crash gives Lorenzo title boost

JORGE LORENZO stole a march in the race for the drivers title as key rival Casey Stoner crashed out of Sunday’s German MotoGP on the last lap.

The defending champion looked to have second place wrapped up and was pushing for the lead at Sachsenring when he slid off the track.

Lorenzo came through to take second behind race winner Dani Pedrosa and open up a 20-point gap over Stoner in the overall standings – the pair had been level on 140 points before the weekend.

Spaniard Lorenzo is now 4-6 for the title with Stoner out from 11-8 to 2-1. Pedrosa was tipped by RPSPORT’s Adam Scriven at 7-2 for victory in Germany.

MotoGP drivers championship standings (after eight of 18 races):  1 J Lorenzo 160pts, 2 D Pedrosa 146, 3 C Stoner 140, 4 A Dovizioso 92, 5 C Crutchlow 85, 6 V Rossi 71.