Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa passed world champion Jorge Lorenzo with four laps to go to win his first Moto GP Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday.
Pedrosa withstood the pain from his recent shoulder surgery to pass his countryman on the inside and held on to get his first win of the season on the 4.182-kilometer (2.599-mile) Estoril circuit.
He finished in 45 minutes, 51.483 seconds _ more than three seconds ahead of Lorenzo.
Pedrosa was in obvious pain after the race and said he was as surprised as anyone to have won.
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MotoGP: Portuguese Grand Prix - Race Results
“Jorge is an expert here. I tried to hold on, he was going very fast and with a few laps to go I thought I might as well try something,” Pedrosa said. “I was in a lot of pain, so today was a complete success.” eTaiwan News
Pedrosa’s team-mate Casey Stoner finished in third place while Andrea Dovizioso made it three Repsol Hondas in the top four by pipping Valentino Rossi at the line.
The poor weather that had blighted the weekend gave way to bright sunshine on Sunday as Lorenzo led away from pole while Stoner almost came to grief after clashing with Marco Simoncelli.
After starting from second on the grid Simoncelli, who had a verbal battle with Lorenzo in a post-qualifying press conference, crashed out on the first lap.
Rossi capitalised on the mistake from his fellow Italian to move up into fourth pace from ninth, while Lorenzo and Pedrosa were already making a break for it at the front. SkySports
Colin Edwards arrived home in sixth position, two ahead of Cal Crutchlow. The British rookie had been involved in a tussle with Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini), but the Japanese rider got the better of the former World Supersport champion. Crutchlow was one of many riders racing following an operation and has continued to pick up points in his first season in the premier class.
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) was ninth, after racing with Ben Spies early on and the final place in the top ten went to Frenchman Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) who was recovering after an operation on his leg. Toni Elías (LCR Honda) who won here in 2006, was 11th after fighting with Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing) and edging out the most experienced rider in the field, come the end of the race.
In the first race of the season for Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki), after missing the opening two rounds, the Spaniard battled through the pain barrier to record 13th place and claim three points, just six weeks after breaking his leg.
Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) struggled on his second visit to Estoril after several excursions off the track and dropping down to tenth. The American then crashed and was unable to restart the bike. motogp.com
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