Reining World Champion Valentino Rossi got off to a flying start in 2010 with a win as rival Stoner crashed out, with Jorge Lorenzo making it a Fiat Yamaha one-two and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) taking third.
An exciting start saw Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) shoot up from seventh on the grid to lead the field into Turn 1, and as the opening laps unfolded the Spaniard, Rossi, poleman Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) and his team-mate Nicky Hayden battled it out at the front.
Stoner lost the front of his bike going into Turn 4 on the fifth lap, crashing out of the lead and handing first place to Rossi. Dovizioso challenged Rossi , taking the lead, only to see it reclaimed.
Hayden swapped places with Dovizioso. but Lorenzo went through on Hayden before passing Dovizioso as well to take second as the riders entered the final lap.
Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech3) was the highest finishing rookie with a fifth-placed finish having started in 11th place on the grid, Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) and Pedrosa took sixth and seventh.
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap1 25 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 165.8 42'50.099 2 20 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 165.7 +1.022 3 16 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 165.7 +1.865 4 13 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 165.7 +1.876 5 11 11 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 165.5 +3.903 6 10 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 165.2 +9.322 7 9 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 164.7 +16.508 8 8 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 164.5 +19.867 9 7 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 164.5 +20.893 10 6 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP Honda 164.4 +21.100 11 5 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 163.8 +31.638 12 4 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 163.7 +32.573 13 3 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 163.2 +40.780 Not Classified 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 163.7 1 Lap 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 162.7 15 Laps 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 164.4 17 Laps 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team Ducati 156.1 20 Laps
