Lorenzo wins British MotoGP to extend world championship lead

(CNN) -- Spain's Jorge Lorenzo extended his lead in the world championship standings with a storming victory in the British MotoGP at Silverstone Sunday.

The Yamaha rider overhauled reigning world championship Casey Stoner midway through the race and went clear for his 42nd career title.

Only a bad mistake with four laps to go might have cost Lorenzo, but he had time to spare to recover and cross the line clear of Stoner whose Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa of Spain finished third.

It extended Lorenzo's lead over Australia's Stoner, who has announced he will retire at the end of the season, to 25 points.

"It was wonderful fighting with Casey... We're having a fantastic season, we can't ask for more," Lorenzo told the official post-race press conference.

Stoner reflected on a difficult day: "It wasn't a great race for us today, we saw the pace the Yamahas had in the early laps and it was really worrying to me. As early as lap three the bike wasn't feeling good," he added.

Alvaro Bautista of Spain, who had claimed pole, took fourth place ahead of American Ben Spies on the second Yamaha.

Cal Crutchlow gave the home crowd reason to cheer with a battling display to finish sixth after starting on the back of the grid having crashed and missed qualifying Saturday.

Italian star Valentino Rossi again struggled on his Ducati, finishing a disappointing ninth.

Spanish riders also won the other two supporting races with Pol Espargaro, on a Kalex, taking the Moto2 race and Maverick Vinales, riding a FTR Honda, claimed victory in the Moto3 event.