Dani Pedrosa emerged victorious from a three-man race-long battle for first place at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, with Jorge Lorenzo wrestling second from Casey Stoner on the final corner of a thrilling round nine race.

Repsol Honda’s Pedrosa had his usual great start, taking the hole shot ahead of Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) and Stoner (Repsol Honda) when the lights went out for a race which was to be a 30-lap fight to the finish at Sachsenring.

The Spaniard’s win is his fifth Grand Prix victory at the Sachsenring circuit, and came in only his second race after returning from a three-race absence through injury.

At the end of lap one, Lorenzo was in the lead ahead of the three Repsol Hondas of Pedrosa, Stoner and Dovizioso, who fought amongst each other for second until the Australian made his attack on lap five to take the lead, only to have Lorenzo regain the lead status a few laps later.

The Mallorcan then tried desperately to defend his line, until lap 21 when Pedrosa got a huge drive out of the last corner to launch himself into the lead for the last time.

Meanwhile a three-rider battle for fourth ensued behind the leaders between Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing), out of which Italian Dovizioso crossed the line first, two-tenths of a second in front of American rider Spies and four-tenths ahead of fellow countryman Simoncelli.

Another intense fight starred Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) and the two Ducati Team riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi. Bautista crossed the line seventh with Hayden less than a tenth of a second behind the Spaniard and Rossi just six-thousands behind the American, with Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha Monster) following the trio in tenth.

Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) had an off-track excursion in the early stages of the race, but then staged a great comeback from the back of the pack to finish eleventh, in front of Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing).

Stoner continues to top the Championship, and now has 168 points which leaves him 15 points ahead of defending world champion Lorenzo.

2011 MotoGP World Championship
Round Nine – Sachsenring, Germany

MotoGP Race Results:
1. Dani PEDROSA, 41:12.482
2. Jorge LORENZO, -1.4771
3. Casey STONER, -1.568
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, -10.513
5. Ben SPIES, -10.719
6. Marco SIMONCELLI, -10.923
7. Alvaro BAUTISTA, -27.451
8. Nicky HAYDEN, -27.510
9. Valentino ROSSI, -27.576
10. Colin EDWARDS, -33.491
11. Hector BARBERA, -38.944
12. Karel ABRAHAM, -39.148
13. Randy DE PUNIET, -39.415
14. Cal CRUTCHLOW, -39.477
15. Hiroshi AOYAMA, -54.516
16. Toni ELIAS, -72.335
17. Sylvain GUINTOLI, -1 lap

Championship Standings:
1. Casey STONER, 168
2. Jorge LORENZO, 153
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, 132
4. Valentino ROSSI, 98
5. Dani PEDROSA, 94
6. Ben SPIES, 85
7. Nicky HAYDEN, 85
8. Marco SIMONCELLI, 60
9. Colin EDWARDS , 59
10. Hiroshi AOYAMA, 57
11. Hector BARBERA, 49
12. Karel ABRAHAM, 41
13. Alvaro BAUTISTA, 39
14. Toni ELIAS , 35
15. Cal CRUTCHLOW, 34
16. Loris CAPIROSSI, 22
17. Randy DE PUNIET, 15
18. John HOPKINS, 6
19. Kousuke AKIYOSHI, 3