Dani Pedrosa was ecstatic after taking his first MotoGP victory since returning from a broken collarbone in a thrilling German Grand Prix.
The Spaniard shadowed championship contenders Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner who each took turns in the lead as the top three ran nose-to-tail throughout. On lap 22 though, Pedrosa hit the front for the first time, capitalising on a mistake from Lorenzo coming onto the pit straight at the start of the lap.
Pedrosa was never headed from there on in and cruised to his second win of the year, and fifth at the Sachsenring, by 1.477s from Lorenzo with Repsol Honda teammates Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso finishing third and fourth.
Pedrosa later admitted that the victory came as a huge surprise given his recent return to fitness but added that made the success all the more sweeter.
“This is an unbelievable feeling. To come back so soon and win so soon is unbelievable and I'm very happy. Even with the front row yesterday I was so happy, but I didn't expect this. I wasn't feeling perfect with the bike but as the race went on I was feeling better and had a better rhythm. I knew I would suffer less here than Mugello because it's more lefts but still I was suffering a lot physically by the end. I'm really satisfied with the victory and I want to thank everyone who's been with me during this hard time.”
After missing three races due to his collarbone injury, Pedrosa is playing catch up in the race for the title and trails series leader Casey Stoner by 70 points ahead of next weekend's United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.