Lorenzo wins Spanish MotoGP as Rossi and Stoner collide

The defending champion keeps his bike upright while many fell on a rainy Jerez track in the second round of the season.

Valentino Rossi, left, and Casey Stoner collide in Jerez during the Spanish MotoGP.

JEREZ, SPAIN // Jorge Lorenzo, the defending MotoGP champion, leapfrogged Casey Stoner at the top of the MotoGP standings when he won an incident-packed Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday after Stoner crashed out in a collision with Valentino Rossi.

Lorenzo, the Spanish Yamaha rider and second behind Stoner at the season opener in Qatar last month, finished ahead of his compatriot Dani Pedrosa on a slippery Jerez circuit in rainy Andalusia.

The US Ducati rider Nicky Hayden was third.

Seven-time world champion Rossi had stormed from 12th on the grid to third when he attempted to overtake Stoner with 20 laps remaining.

As he edged past on the inside his bike slipped from under him and the two machines collided and slid off the track.

Ducati rider Rossi was able to continue and finished in fifth, while an angry-looking Stoner's race was over.

Marco Simoncelli of Honda crashed when leading with 16 laps remaining and Lorenzo's American teammate Ben Spies was ahead of Pedrosa in second when he slid off into the gravel with three laps left.