Casey Stoner converted his pole position at the Spanish circuit into a well-deserved win, finishing 5.148s ahead of Dani Pedrosa, with Nicky Hayden completing the podium for his first top-three result of the year after a magnificent last-lap overtake on Jorge Lorenzo.
Stoner held his position going into the first turn, but Pedrosa dropped to fifth fighting back to second behind Stoner. Stoner pulled away towards the end with Pedrosa maintaining second.
There were battles all the way through the field and none more entertaining than that between Hayden and Championship leader Lorenzo for the final podium spot. A fearless overtake on Lorenzo by Hayden on the final lap and ended the Fiat Yamaha rider’s record of having placed on the rostrum at every race so far this season.
Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) finished in fifth place as Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), crashed out on the final lap whilst pushing hard in their contest.
Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) finished in sixth place with Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) completing the top eight.
Lorenzo’s advantage at the top of the Championship was cut to 56 points and he now stands on 284 points, with Pedrosa on 228 in second. Stoner’s victory lifts him to third on 155, with Rossi staying fourth and Dovizioso dropping to fifth.
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap1 25 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team Ducati 165.8 42'16.530 2 20 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 165.4 +5.148 3 16 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 165.1 +9.496 4 13 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 165.1 +9.580 5 11 11 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 164.9 +13.771 6 10 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 164.0 +27.330 7 9 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 163.9 +28.511 8 8 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 163.5 +35.254 9 7 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 163.5 +35.393 10 6 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 163.5 +35.467 11 5 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 163.5 +35.522 12 4 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 162.8 +45.360 13 3 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP Honda 162.7 +48.319 14 2 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team Ducati 162.1 +58.047
Not Classified 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 164.9 1 Lap 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 163.3 8 Laps
