Pedrosa defeats Lorenzo in Brno thriller

Honda’s Dani Pedrosa stormed to a thrilling victory at the August 26 MotoGP race in Brno ahead of Yamaha pairing Jorge Lorenzo and Cal Crutchlow.

Casey Stoner sat out the race while preparing for surgery on his injured ankle back in Australia.

The battle at the front was extremely tight, with Pedrosa labelling it as one of his best-ever races in MotoGP.

"To win with a big gap is always nice, but to have a battle like today with Jorge, it's sometimes more rewarding,” said Pedrosa.

“It was a difficult last lap because I knew that Jorge was very fast in the middle of the corner and I could hear the bike right on me and I knew that just the smallest gap would allow him to pass. In fact, in that left corner I opened the door just a little more than normal and 'boom' he was there, I could see his bike in my face!

“With just half a lap to go, I was a little more nervous than before but I knew I had some strong points coming to the end of the lap. I tried to get the best drive out of the hill and then in the last corner I was beside him, when I released the brakes we were side by side in the corner and I was able to take my line and win the race.

“For the championship we must keep up this momentum as Jorge is riding very strong and consistently in the top two. Testing will be important to set us up for the final part of the season, so let's see what we can do."

Despite dark clouds looming, the track was dry at the start, much to the delight of riders and fans, and it was Lorenzo who got the holeshot off the line, holding off Pedrosa and Crutchlow. Meanwhile, Ben Spies (Yamaha) looked to continue his bad luck as he dropped back drastically after a few corners with a slipping clutch. This left Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha) and Valentino Rossi (Ducati) to chase down Crutchlow in third.

With 17 laps to go, Stefan Bradl was involved in a tight battle with fellow Honda rider Álvaro Bautista, with the German taking the Spaniard for sixth after dicing for numerous turns. Meanwhile,

Spies looked to have re-found his stride with the issue sorted, and was fighting his way back through the pack after dropping down to 13th. Three laps later, Bradl was dicing with Rossi for fifth place, getting the better of the Italian after a few attempts. On the same lap, Spies’ race came to an end after he crashed out of his charge.

Avintia Blusens’ Iván Silva suffered a technical issue with 12 laps remaining, while Lorenzo and Pedrosa were neck and neck at the front of the race, having pulled out a significant gap over Crutchlow. On the same lap Bautista overtook Rossi, whose Desmosedici looked to be slowing. A lap later Pedrosa sparked some life into the battle at the front, as he got past Lorenzo on the inside, though the Mallorcan continued to stick to his rear wheel.

On the last lap it was MotoGP racing at its best with Lorenzo forcing his way past Pedrosa with a tough move, with the Repsol Honda rider fighting back almost immediately, and the two almost neck-and-neck into the final turn. With Pedrosa on the better line coming into the final turn, he had the most drive to the line to take his third victory of the season.

Crutchlow recorded his own milestone by taking his first ever podium in the MotoGP class, a fitting way to celebrate his contract extension with the team this weekend. Pedrosa’s win has moved him to within 13pts of Lorenzo and blown the championship race wide open at the top. Fourth spot went to Dovizioso, in front of Bradl, Bautista, Rossi and Randy de Puniet who finished top CRT.

Aussies Anthony West and Arthur Sissis were 19th and 14th in Moto2 and Moto3 respectively.

For full results and standing, visit www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics.