Spain's Dani Pedrosa ran away with the British Grand Prix on Sunday to trim Honda team mate Nicky Hayden's overall MotoGP Championship lead to 26 points.
Starting from pole position with the fastest lap ever at Donington Park, the 20-year-old fought a tight duel with Italian Marco Melandri in the early laps before hitting the front and vanishing into the distance.
Pedrosa took the chequered flag 3.864 seconds ahead of world champion Valentino Rossi, a brilliant performance by the Italian who started from 12th place and raced with the pain of a fractured hand.
Melandri fought back to third after falling while Hayden finished a disappointing seventh. The Kentucky rider leads the Championship with 153 points to Pedrosa's 127. Rossi has 118.
BRITISH GP FINAL PLACINGS
1. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 44:54.878
2. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 44:58.742
3. Marco Melandri (Italy) Honda 44:58.894
4. Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda 45:00.654
5. Kenny Roberts Jr. (USA) KR211V 45:04.474
6. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 45:16.588
7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 45:20.642
8. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 45:23.912
9. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati 45:30.484
10. Carlos Checa (Spain) Yamaha 45:35.320
11. Makoto Tamada (Japan) Honda 45:35.940
12. Randy de Puniet (France) Kawasaki 45:37.075
13. Alex Hofmann (Germany) Ducati 45:46.332
14. James Ellison (Britain) Yamaha 46:12.682
15. Jose Luis Cardoso (Spain) Ducati +1 Lap
