Jorge Lorenzo won the French Grand Prix on Sunday and took the overall Moto GP championship lead from Valentino Rossi, whose decision to make an early tire change backfired as he fell on the Le Mans circuit.
The Spanish rider finished 17.71 seconds ahead of Marco Melandri of Italy, with Dani Pedrosa of Spain overtaking Italian racer Andrea Dovizioso to take third place with a stunning late burst of speed.
Lorenzo now leads his Yamaha teammate Rossi in the overall standings by one point after four races.
"It's like a dream, I did not expect this victory and to fight for the championship," Lorenzo said.
Rossi changed tires on the fast-drying track after only five laps, and almost immediately afterward the Italian rider could not gain sufficient grip and slid off the track taking a sharp turn.
Rossi, the French GP winner last year, recovered but finished 16th and out of the points.
Showers dampened the track early on but it was almost dry when the 28-lap race started with Pedrosa in pole position and Rossi fourth on the grid.
Rossi took a risk by making an early tire change to slicks and moments later, he was on the floor, losing valuable time picking his damaged bike back up.
He made another two stops, ruling out any chance of adding to his Spanish GP win two weeks ago. Pedrosa had also changed tires after five laps, but gradually clawed his way back toward the front and was too fast for Dovizioso over the final four laps.
In the 250cc, Marco Simoncelli of Italy won ahead of Spanish rider Hector Faubel and Roberto Locatelli of Italy.
The Gilera rider completed the 26 laps in 49 minutes, 7.591 seconds, while Faubel clocked 49:25.719, and Locatelli 49:29.233.
But there was a setback for Hiroshi Aoyama of Japan, the Honda rider who led the standings heading into the race. He placed only eighth and dropped to second overall, one point behind new championship leader Alvaro Bautista of Spain.
In the 125cc race, new championship leader Julian Simon of Spain won as the Aprilia riders swept the first five places in treacherous conditions. Simon finished 27 seconds ahead of German racer Jonas Folger, with Sergio Gadea of Spain in third.
Simon, who finished the 24 laps in 47 minutes, 8.273 seconds, leads the standings with 55 points, with Bradley Smith of Britain close behind with 49.5.
