Jorge Lorenzo won his sixth race of the 2010 Moto GP season after race leader Dani Pedrosa lost control of his Repsol Honda into the gravel on Lap 11 after coming under pressure from his fellow countryman. Pedrosa started like a rocket off the grid, as he leapt into the lead from fourth on the grid. Australian Casey Stoner also got the jump on Lorenzo, and remained in second at the end of Lap 1. Just as Pedrosa looked to be breaking free at the front, Lorenzo eased past Stoner after the factory Ducati rider ran wide on Lap 6. From that point, Lorenzo was squeezing all he could out of his Fiat Yamaha, closing the gap to Pedrosa.
As Lap 11 started, Lorenzo had closed the gap to just 0.6s. Pedrosa would see his hopes of a second successive victory disappear into the gravel after a lowside fall. With Pedrosa out of the picture Lorenzo was left to sail home to the finish with Stoner unable to close the gap.
Behind the leading duo, the second factory Honda rider, Andrea Dovizioso looked as though he was in for a quiet run to third. However as his tyres started to fall away Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi began to close in. Rossi, who is still using crutches after breaking his leg seven weeks ago, was on the back of Dovizioso with six laps to go and managed to pass down the inside at the final turn to claim a podium finish.
Further down the field, Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Ben Spies and Ducati’s Nicky Hayden were scrapping over fifth, and the honour of highest placed American, Hayden would win the civil war and take the spoils. Spies’ team mate Colin Edwards grabbed his best place of the year in seventh. San Carlo Gresini Team’s Marco Melandri finished in eighth after a battle with team mate Marco Simoncelli ended with the young Italian crashing out two thirds of the way through the race. Mika Kallio finished in ninth on his Pramac Ducati, as team mate Aleix Espargaro fell from a top ten finish on Lap 29. The top ten was rounded out by the Rizla Suzuki of Loris Capirossi.
Lorenzo now leads the championship with 210 points, leading Dani Pedrosa by 72 points (138) with Andrea Dovizioso in third on 115 points.
