This race was always going to be missing something with Nicky Hayden out and Casey Stoner having to fly back to Australia to get his broken ankle operated on. Having said that, this ended up being a predicatable battle of the Spaniards, with the lesser favoured rider taking a great race win after an epic battle.
After binning his bike during qualifying, Pedrosa made a strong start from third and tried to open an early lead over Lorenzo. Lorenzo tailgated Pedrosa for most of the race, testing Pedrosa's weak points and plotting an attack. The attack came with a surprise inside dive with 3 corners to go. Pedrosa, who was faster over the faster parts fo the circuits used this power to pass and outbrake Lorenzo, holding the lead to the finish line for what he called 'one of my best ever races'.
In a theme for the weekend across WSBK and MotoGP, Cal Crutchlow celebrated his contract extension with Tech 3 with his first podium.
With Stoner in recovery, the championship battle is a two horse race with Lorenzo 245 points leading Pedrosa's 232 points.
