Spain’s Dani Pedrosa, starting from fourth on the grid for the MotoGP in Laguna Seca, made a great start to seize the lead and held on to win his first race for quite a while.
Both Pedrosa and fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo, who finished third, suffered heavy crashes in qualifying, making their efforts even more remarkable considering the obvious pain both men were suffering throughout the race.
Sandwiched between the two Spaniards was reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi, who now stretches his lead at the top of this season’s standings to eleven points.
Race result:
1. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda
2. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha
3. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha
4. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati
5. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Ducati
6. Toni Elias (Spain) Honda
7. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha
8. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki
9. Randy de Puniet (France) Honda
10. Marco Melandri (Italy) Kawasaki
11. Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Honda
12. Niccolo Canepa (Italy) Ducati
MotoGP championship standings:
1. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 151
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 142
3. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 135
4. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 92
5. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 76
6. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 69
7. Marco Melandri (Italy) Kawasaki 61
8. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki 61
9. Randy de Puniet (France) Honda 58
10. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Suzuki 56
11. James Toseland (Britain) Yamaha 39
12. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Ducati 38
13. Toni Elias (Spain) Honda 37
14. Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Honda 36
15. Mika Kallio (Finland) Ducati 26
16. Niccolo Canepa (Italy) Ducati 16
17. Sete Gibernau (Spain) Ducati 12
18. Yuki Takahashi (Japan) Honda 9