Who's the King of Lean when it comes to MotoGP? I know everyone talks about Marquez but this shot of Bradl is all the evidence I need to declare him king.

Stoner, below, was the previous benchmark. Post links to photos of anyone generating more lean than Bradl. I don't think anyone can beat this..

Jorge Lorenzo today (16 June) closed the gap at the top of the MotoGP standings by another five points with a commanding victory in front of home fans at the Circuit de Catalunya. The top three positions remain unchanged, with Cal Crutchlow holding on to fourth spot despite his crash. 

MotoGP World Championship standings after round 5, Catalunya 

1.      Dani Pedrosa     Repsol Honda Team     123     
2.      Jorge Lorenzo     Factory Yamaha Racing     116
3.      Marc Marquez     Repsol Honda Team     93
4.      Cal Crutchlow     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     71
5.      Valentino Rossi     Factory Yamaha Racing     60
6.      Andrea Dovizioso     Ducati Team     59
7.      Nicky Hayden     Ducati Team     45
8.      Stefan Bradl     LCR Honda     41
9.      Alvaro Bautista     Go&Fun Honda Gresini     38 
10.      Aleix Espargaro     Power Electronics Aspar     36
11.      Bradley Smith     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     34
12.      Michele Pirro      Ducati Test Team     28
13.      Andrea Iannone     Energy T.I. Pramac Racing     21
14.      Hector Barbera     Avintia Blusens     13
15.      Danilo Petrucci      Came IodaRacing      13
16.      Randy De Puniet     Power Electronics Aspar     11
17.      Colin Edwards      NGM Mobile Forward Racing      10
18.      Ben Spies     Ignite Pramac Racing     9
19.      Yonny Hernandez     Paul Bird Motorsport     6
20.      Claudio Corti     NGM Forward Racing     4
21.      Michael Laverty      Paul Bird Motorsport    3
22.      Bryan Staring     Go&Fun Honda Gresini     2
23.      Karel Abraham      Cardion AB Motoracing            2
24.      Hiroshi Aoyama     Avintia Blusens     1
25.      Javier Del Amor     Avintia Blusens     1

A TEXTBOOK ride from Jorge Lorenzo saw him take his third victory of 2013 for the Factory Yamaha squad ahead of the chasing Honda pair of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez.

Lorenzo got a great start from third on the grid and was side-by-side with pole sitter Pedrosa within a few hundred yards. Lorenzo led going into turn one for the first time and stayed there for the remaining 25 laps in what was a masterful display of discipline and consistent speed. It appeared for some time that the two Hondas were able to keep in touch with the leader, but with a few laps to go it became clear that there would be no catching the Mallorcan rider.

A bit further down the road Cal Crutchlow, who qualified second, and Valentino Rossi, who made a great start from eighth on the grid, were pushing hard to keep pace with the leading trio. Ultimately the task proved too great for Crutchlow and he lost the front end going into turn 10 with 20 laps still remaining. Rossi ended the race a distant fourth – the gap to team-mate Lorenzo of almost six seconds will be cause for concern for the nine-time world champion who is still looking for that elusive first win since he moved to Ducati in 2011.

Crutchlow was not the only rider to fall foul of the challenging Spanish track, as high heat meant tyre degradation and grip levels came into play. Bautista and Laverty failed to complete a single lap, with de Puniet, Iannone, Hayden and Barbera all going down during the course of the race. This left the midfield pack wide open, and Britain’s Bradley Smith capitalised on this with a fantastic season’s best sixth place aboard the Tech3 Yamaha. His achievement was even greater considering the fact that the young rider practically destroyed his left little finger last time out at Mugello.

MotoGP race results from Catalunya, 2013

1. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 43:06.479
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) +1.763
3. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) +1.826
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) +5.874
5. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) +26.756
6. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) +32.228
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP13) +32.692
8.  Aleix Espargaro ESP Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) +58.615
9. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) +1:03.142
10. Michele Pirro ITA Ignite Pramac Racing (GP13) +1:09.774
11. Danilo Petrucci ITA Came IodaRacing Project (Suter-BMW CRT) +1:24.377
12. Claudio Corti ITA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) +1:33.679
13. Yonny Hernandez COL Paul Bird Motorsport (ART CRT) +1:45.355
14.  Bryan Staring AUS Go&Fun Honda Gresini (FTR-Honda CRT) +1:50.745
15. Javier Del Amor ESP Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) +1 lap
16. Lukas Pesek CZE Came IodaRacing Project (Suter-BMW CRT) +1 lap 

Not Classified:
Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) +10 Laps
Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (ART CRT) +15 Laps
Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) +20 Laps
Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team (GP13) +20 Laps
Andrea Iannone ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing (GP13) +21 Laps
Randy De Puniet FRA Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) +24 Laps
Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) +25 Laps
Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART CRT) +25 Laps

What's Bray Hill on a Superbike on the opening lap? 150, 160mph?

When you look at this picture, the packed viewing areas and what's left of the bike, well, it's a minor miracle no-one died when Jonathan Howarth crashed on the opening lap of his year's Senior TT.

Five of the ten people admitted to Noble's have now been discharged. Here's hoping for a full recovery for those still receiving care.

Dunlop's new D212 GP Pro

Tight lines are order of the day

JLT, NTEC, JLB and MT, all in one handy diagram

The compound selection chart

The front D212 after four sessions

Lots of confidence turning in on the brakes

THIS could be the shortest review in history, seeing as Dunlop's new D212 GP Pro was the tyre Michael Dunlop used when he set the new Superstock record at this year's TT, clocking an average speed of 131.220mph.

When it comes to performance, I don't need to say any more.

The D212 GP Pro takes over from the D211 GP, and it's aimed squarely at trackday rider and racers looking for the ultimate in performance. The D212 is essentially a treaded version of the KR106/108 slick.

It was a breath of fresh air to hear Dunlop acknowledge that their rivals also make great tyres, but that they believe the technology that goes into theirs, gives them the edge.

The D211 features Dunlop's NTEC system, coupled with Jointless Belt Construction and Jointless Tread. Essentially, the whole tyre is wound from one belt of rubber allowing the precise positoning of the different tread compounds, while the NTEC belt gives the tyre a stiffer carcass, allowing you to run lower pressures while maintaining shoulder stiffness.

The tyre also features Multi Tread Compound Technology, which is common on a lot of tyres now and means that centre and side compounds can be different to ensure maximum stability under braking and accelerating, with a longer tyre life while also offering maximum feel and grip at lean.

The D212 is available in two rear sizes: 190/55/17 and 200/55/17, while the front is available in 120/70/17. Fairly straight forward.

The only slightly confusing thing about the tyres is the compounds they're available in. Dunlop have produced a chart which shows five different application areas, but only four different compounds of D212 are available. To add further complexity, the front is available in compounds 2,3 and 4 while the rear is only available in 4 and 5. You choose your compound by checking the temperature of the track the severity of its tarmac.

This may sounds a bit too much for some; let's face it; quite a few trackday riders forget to check their pressures, let alone the ambient temperature. Dunlop have made it easier by producing a chart with major tracks graded, therefore all you have to do is keep an eye on the temperature.

When it comes to pressures, the NTEC technology allows you to run alarmingly low pressures: I was running 30psi hot on the front and 22.5psi hot on the rear.

The tyre itself doesn't look like the Dunlop track-focused tyres I'm used to, it has a rounded profile, similar to a Pirelli Supercorsa SP, whereas I always relate Dunlops to sharp v-shaped profiles. Things have changed.

Silverstone GP is a fast track and quite a bold choice for a tyre launch. Most launches tend to happen at the manufacturer's test track (cheating?), on super-grippy tracks like Portimao or on tight tracks like Cartagena where you don't get much of a chance to attack superfast corners. Silverstone is hardcore-fast in places, not the grippiest surface and has some major braking points. Ticking none of the usual tyre-launch boxes, then.

I know Silverstone fairly well having raced an 848 there and it's one of those tracks where you spend a lot of time braking hard, not upright or accelerating hard while not upright. During the first session I was dubious as to how much I could push the tyre as it felt stiff at the front. Riding a bike I know well, on a track I know well but switching from Metzeler Z8 sports-touring tyres to a stiff race-capable tyre, it took at least a session to dial in any real level of trust in the front.

With the first session out of the way, I built up the pace and felt most confident on the D212 driving out of corners. It's something of a party trick on the ZX-10R on sports-touring tyres to get the traction control to kick in and make the engine cough and splutter when driving out of corners but the D212s took everything the 10R could throw at them. Once you get dialled-in to the tyre's higher level of stiffness you can brake late and hard fully trusting that it's not on the verge of letting go.

My 10R, which has been setup to be the firm side of forgiving on the road, felt as soft as it did on standard settings with the D212s fitted. You'll be winding your suspension in a few clicks if you fit these to a standard road bike.

Aside from staggering levels of grip, what gave me the most amount of confidence was the tyre's profile. I like a rounded profile as it means that whatever you're getting, you get it with a predictable consistency. Sharp profile tyres tend to be skittish under braking, really don't like that initial turn-in on the brakes but then - bosh - they sit planted in the corner. A rounder profile, like on the D212 means the levels don't change and you can predict what's about to happen. On a circuit like Silverstone where you turn into some corners over 120mph, it's great to have a tyre that - due to its profile - doesn't give you a millisecond's thought that it's folding in on you. Those are the thoughts that cause you to jolt up out of bed at 4am only to realise you haven't just tucked the front. I've had my fair share of those..

I'm really not good enough to push this tyre to the absolute limit but if I was into trackdays, I'd fit a set, no question. They are really confidence inspiring in terms of outright grip and how predictable that grip is. However for road riding, I like the softer feel and all-weather performance of sports-touring tyres. Despite Dunlop's chart showing the D212 GP Pro creeping into the higher-end of road riding, I think they're in their element on track.

Going back to what I said earlier: you probably only needed to read the first line of this review to make up your mind about how good the D212 GP Pro tyres are.