While the Spaniard took the honours, his Honda teammate Casey Stoner, destined to take second, crashed out with two bends of the final lap remaining to dent his hopes of defending his world title before he heads into retirement. The main beneficiary of Stoner’s spill was Yamaha’s former champion Jorge Lorenzo who was gifted the runner up spot to move clear at the top of the riders standings on 160 points.

Pedrosa climbed into second on 146 with Stoner, pointless here, on 140.