BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Spaniard Dani Pedrosa gave the home crowd a first-class display on Sunday, riding his Honda over the finish line to victory in the Catalunya leg of the MotoGP world championship here.
Pedrosa took an early lead on the track which is only 20km from his home and finished well ahead of Italy's Valentino Rossi, who dominated a tight battle for second with Australia's reigning world champion Casey Stoner.
"I'm very happy. I'd like to thank my supporters for giving me a big boost," said Pedrosa.
"I don't know where the pace came from. It was a fantastic race, amazing to win. I won in 125cc and 250cc here, so now to win in MotoGP is great," he added.
The omens were good for the Spaniard after he clocked up fast practice times on Saturday, starting the race second on the grid.
"The other two (Rossi and Stoner) were pushing hard. I went to a different setting than yesterday, and it worked," he added.
Rossi, a seven-time world champion, pushed his Yamaha over the line to finish just over two seconds behind Pedrosa in second with Stoner, on a Ducati, in third having begun the race on pole.
"What a race! I'm very happy; I had a lot of fun with overtaking. I'm pleased with 20 points, but knew that if we were going to beat Dani (Pedrosa) then we'd have to start at the front," said Rossi.
Stoner, who set a new lap record in official qualifying on Saturday, said he was not happy with his ride - but was relieved to notch up a podium finish.
"For some reason we had no rear-feeling entering the corners from the first lap. I lost a lot of confidence because in these corners you need hard braking as you're cornering," said the Australian.
"I wasn't happy at all with my riding today. In the end it was just a battle with Vale (Rossi) at the end - he was close to me a few times, I could feel him. I have to be happy with a podium in any case."
Pedrosa had the best start by far, forging an early lead and never really looked threatened, taking his advantage over the pack to over eight seconds at one point.
The Spaniard thus picks up his second victory of the season having won the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.
However as he savoured triumph Rossi showed that his recent resurgence is no fluke, his hard-fought second place - after starting ninth on the grid - cementing his top spot in the championship standings.
"Today's battle (with Stoner) was not just about second place. I've lost five points to Pedrosa, but my 20 points here are important for the championship," said Rossi.
The Italian, on 142, now leads Pedrosa in the championship by seven points.
The next Moto GP is at Donington Park in England on June 22.
Earlier, Italian Marco Simoncelli on a Gilera capped a last-gasp overtaking manoeuvre with a stunning victory in the 250cc race. Spaniard Alvaro Bautista finished a close second with another home rider Hector Barbera in third.
Finland's Mika Kallio still leads the championship on 106 points, three ahead of Simoncelli, with Mattia Pasini of Italy in third.
In the 125cc category Frenchman Mike Di Meglio claimed his third career victory after finishing ahead of Spaniard Pol Espargaro, in second, and Gabor Talmacsi of Hungary in third.
Di Meglio is now the sole leader of the championship race with a 14-point lead on Italian Simone Corsi, who finished fifth.
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