Dani Pedrosa (Honda) earned his first MotoGP victory of the season on home soil by defeating his fellow countryman Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) in the last moment of the race.

Unfortunately, for Marco Simoncelli (Honda), although he had been one of the fastest rider on track all weekend, his race came abruptly to an end right on the first lap when he crashed.

It was the battle between the two Spaniards as Pedrosa never ceased to put the pressure on Lorenzo and constantly gained ground on him, with the gap between them rarely more than a tenth of a second.

All thru the race though, the Honda rider never seemed able to gather enough momentum to pass the current MotoGP champion.

But, with only four laps to go, Pedrosa got the better of Lorenzo in the final corner and swept past the leader into Turn 1. Once ahead, there was no stopping him as he became the first man to beat Lorenzo at Estoril since the latter came into MotoGP.

At first, Casey Stoner (Honda) was able to match Lorenzo and Pedrosa's pace, but he later faded to finish a lonely third.

Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) snatched fourth from Valentino Rossi (Ducati) in the final laps, although the Italian looked as though he would be able to finish in that spot.

Yamaha's Ben Spies was among the retirements. He fell down the order running wide early on, and eventually crashed out when 10th just before half-distance.

With this victory, Pedrosa has now moved to within four points of the championship-leading Yamaha rider.

MotoGP grand Prix of Estoril - Results
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time/Gap
1. Dani Pedrosa Honda 45m51.483s
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha + 3.051s
3. Casey Stoner Honda + 7.658s
4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 16.530s
5. Valentino Rossi Ducati + 16.555s
6. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha + 32.575s
7. Hiroshi Aoyama Gresini Honda + 38.749s
8. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha + 40.912s
9. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 54.887s
10. Randy de Puniet Pramac Ducati + 59.697s
11. Toni Elias LCR Honda + 1m00.374s
12. Loris Capirossi Pramac Ducati + 1m01.793s
13. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki + 1m24.370s

Retirements:

Ben Spies Yamaha 12 laps
Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 1 lap
Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 0 laps
Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 0 laps