Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa has taken victory in this afternoon's Estoril MotoGP race, passing arch-rival Jorge Lorenzo with four laps to go and crossing the line three seconds ahead and setting the fastest lap of the race in the process.
In a drama-free encounter, the Spaniards cleared off as soon as the lights went out, pulling a gap over the third-placed man Casey Stoner and stayed together until Pedrosa made his move. The Aussie remained in the final podium place until the chequered flag.
There was some excitement on the last lap, however, as the Andrea Dovizioso shadowed Valentino Rossi for most of the race, exited the slow chicane on a tight line and then outdragged the Marlboro Ducati to pass Rossi on the final straight, beating the nine-time champion by 0.025s.
Monster Yamaha's Colin Edwards, who has been with the Italians at the beginning, had a lonely race to sixth while Hiro Aoyama got the better of Cal Crutchlow for seventh. It looked very much like the Coventry man's arm was causing him difficulty towards the end. Nicky Hayden and Randy De Puniet rounded out the top ten while Ben Spies crashed out on lap 16.
Gresini Honda's Marco Simoncelli lasted four corners before a cold tyre pinged him over the highside and Mapfre Ducati's Hector Barbera last only fractionally longer. Karel Abraham also lobbed it.
