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Mugello - Spanish defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo eased to victory in the Italian MotoGP for his third successive win in the race on Sunday.
The 26-year-old - also world champion in 2010 - brought home his Yamaha well clear of world championship leader Dani Pedrosa on a Honda while British rider Cal Crutchlow recorded his second successive podium place, finishing third on a Yamaha Tech3.
There was huge disappointment for the Italian fans as hero Valentino Rossi crashed out on the first lap on his Yamaha after Alvaro Bautista collided with him.
Pedrosa still leads the world title race with 103 points, with Lorenzo in second 12 points adrift.
Lorenzo, who halted Honda's dominance of the past year, which had seen them win 13 of the last 16 MotoGP's, feted his victory.
"This is a special win for us as we have been working very hard as a team," said Lorenzo, who won the season opening Qatar MotoGP.
"I really tried hard to establish a gap over Dani but he kept at me until finally I succeeded at around halfway and then it was race over."
Pedrosa, who has yet to win the world title having finished runner-up three times, said it was a good result given they had not had high hopes.
"It was not my day today," said the 27-year-old, who saw Lorenzo edge ahead of him in MotoGP wins with 25.
"We had loads of problems with our grip on the tyres and it was difficult keeping on the track, especially on the corners."
Crutchlow, who finished second in France a fortnight ago despite a broken leg, was more than satisfied with his performance and said he would have probably caught Pedrosa but eased up when he saw the other Honda rider Marc Marquez crash out when in second three laps from the end.
"I knew when I saw that Marc had gone out that I was assured of a podium finish and played safe," he said.
"I am pleased with this as I had an allergy this weekend and crashed yesterday, but we did well to bounce back and take third."
Rossi's fanatical fans saw their hopes of victory for their hero dashed as the 34-year-old crashed out after Bautista came in on him and both went flying.
Rossi, who has made a stuttering start to his return to Yamaha, got back on his feet to allay fears of a repeat of the broken leg he suffered at Mugello two years ago in qualifying.
Bautista said he hadn't been aware of Rossi being on the inside.
"I didn't see anything as I went into the corner," said the 28-year-old Honda Gresini rider.
"Then suddenly I felt Valentino's bike and we both fell off."
Rossi's team-mate Lorenzo had had a terrific start taking the lead ahead of pole sitter Pedrosa.
Marquez made a stunning start moving from sixth to third on the first lap and sitting on his compatriot's shoulder.
Lorenzo repulsed Pedrosa's attempts to overtake him and finally established a significant lead with 11 laps remaining as he opened up a one second, with Pedrosa struggling for grip.
As the Yamaha rider disappeared into the distance Marquez looked the better option of the two Hondas to try and claw back his lead.
Marquez, who won the Texas MotoGP earlier in the season, nipped up the inside of Pedrosa and took second with five laps to go.
But both Pedrosa and the hard charging Crutchlow found themselves assured of podium finishes when Marquez came to grief three laps from the chequered flag, his front tyre giving way and leaving the 20-year-old looking to the heavens and cursing his luck.
Italian motorcycling Grand Prix results at the Mugello circuit on Sunday:
MotoGP
1. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Yamaha) 41min 39.733sec, 2. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) at 5.400sec, 3. Cal Crutchlow (GBR/Yamaha Tech3) 6.412, 4. Stefan Bradl (GER/Honda LCR) 19.321, 5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) 19.540, 6. Nicky Hayden (USA/Ducati) 26.321, 7. Michel Pirro (ITA/Ducati) 38.144, 8. Aleix Espargaro (ITA/Aprilia) 39.802, 9. Bradley Smith (GBR/Yamaha Tech3) 40.243, 10. Hector Barbera (ESP/FTR Kawasaki) 48.392, 11. Randy de Puniet (FRA/Aprilia) 48.480
Selected did not finish: Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha)
Overall standings:
1. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) 103 pts, 2. Jorge Lorenzo(ESP/Yamaha) 91, 3. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 77, 4. Cal Crutchlow (GBR/Yamaha) 71, 5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) 50, 6. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) 47, 7. Nicky Hayden (USA/Ducati) 45, 8. Alvaro Bautista (ESP/Honda) 38, 9. Stefan Bradl (GER/Honda LCR) 30, 10. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 28, 11. Bradley Smith (GBR/Yamaha Tech3) 24, 12. Michele Pirro (ITA/Ducati) 22, 13. Andrea Iannone (ITA/Ducati Pramac) 21, 14. Hector Barbera (ESP/FTR Kawasaki) 13, 15. Randy de Puniet (FRA/Aprilia) 11
Moto2
1. Scott Redding (GBR/Kalex) 39min 53.942sec, 2. Nicolas Terol (ESP/Suter) at 2.175sec, 3. Johann Zarco (ESP/Suter) 4.387, 4. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Kalex) 9.787, 5. Mika Kallio (FIN/Kalex) 9.851, 6. Jordi Torres (ESP/Suter) 10.644, 7. Simone Corsi (ITA/Speed Up) 10.718, 8. Alex De Angelis (RSM/Speed Up) 10.844, 9. Thomas Luthi (SUI/Suter) 10.900, 10. Dominique Aergerter (SUI/Suter) 12.166
Overall standings:
1. Scott Redding (GBR/Kalex) 101 pts, 2. Nicolas Terol (ESP/Suter) 58, 3. Mika Kallio (FIN/Kalex) 58, 4. Esteve Rabat (ESP/Kalex) 55, 5. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Kalex) 54 6. Dominique Aegerter (SUI/Suter) 53, 7. Johann Zarco (FRA/Suter) 44, 8. Xavier Simeon (BEL/Kalex) 35, 9. Alex de Angelis (RSM/Speed Up) 30, 10. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Kalex) 29
Moto3
1. Luis Salom (ESP/KTM) 39min 53.827sec, 2. Alex Rins (ESP/KTM) 0.099sec, 3. Maverick Vinales (ESP/KTM) 0.303, 4. Miguel Oliveira (POR/Mahindra) 0.757, 5. Alex Marquez (ESP/KTM) 0.819, 6. Jonas Folger (GER/Kalex KTM) 1.433, 7. Niccolo Antonelli (ITA/FTR Honda) 16.464, 8. Niklas Ajo (FIN/KTM) 18.627, 9. Eric Granado (BRA/Kalex KTM) 18.957, 10. Jack Miller (AUS/FTR Honda) 19.026
Overall standings:
1, Maverick Vinales (ESP/KTM) 106 pts, 2. Luis Salom (ESP/KTM) 102, 3. Alex Rins (ESP/KTM) 81, 4. Jonas Folger (GER/Kalex KTM) 63, 5. Alex Marquez (ESP/KTM) 35, 6. Brad Binder (RSA/Suter Honda) 34, 7. Miguel Oliveira (POR/Mahindra) 33, 8. Zulfahmi Khairuddin (MAS/KTM) 33, 9. Jakub Kornfeil ((CZE/Kalex KTM) 27, 10. Alexis Masbou (FRA/FTR Honda) 27
