Pedrosa dominates at Mugello

Pedrosa's Honda rocketed away from pole position and never looked back, as closest challenger Jorge Lorenzo, who had won the last two races for Yamaha, had no answer to his pace.

Pedrosa repeatedly smashed the lap record, lapping close to his qualifying speed, to extend a 7.8s lead, after which he backed off to a 4s victory at the finish.

Lorenzo was caught up in the early stages with Pedrosa's Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, who powered past him at Turn 1 at the start of lap four. Lorenzo got him back at the same place two laps later and managed to keep him at bay for the rest of the race.

A sensational battle for fourth place was won by Casey Stoner's Ducati. After a big moment at Turn 1 on lap 13, he sat back and watched Marco Melandri and Randy de Puniet swap the position before putting the hammer down on the final lap and jumping past both of them.

Melandri didn't lie down, however, and repassed Stoner before the Aussie got him back with a couple of corners remaining. Stoner crossed the line just 0.032s ahead of the Gresini Honda man, who had started down in 14th place.

Behind de Puniet's LCR Honda was the top Tech 3 Yamaha of Ben Spies, who finished well clear of Aleix Espargaro (Pramac Ducati), Marco Simoncelli (who went off on the opening lap on his Gresini Honda) and a disappointed Loris Capirossi (Suzuki).

Nicky Hayden was the race's biggest casualty when he crashed out on lap six while embroiled in battle with Melandri over fifth.

"I blew the start, but picked a few guys off," said Hayden. "But coming into a downhill corner, where I was making up time, I pushed too hard. That one's on me, rider error. The set-up wasn't great, so I was just trying to ride through it."

Lorenzo now leads the standings by 25 points over Pedrosa, who gained five points on the title favourite. Injured Valentino Rossi remains third, just three points ahead of Dovizioso.

Pos Rider               Team                   Time/Gap
 1. Dani Pedrosa        Honda                42m28.066s
 2. Jorge Lorenzo       Yamaha                   +4.014
 3. Andrea Dovizioso    Honda                    +6.196
 4. Casey Stoner        Ducati                  +25.703
 5. Marco Melandri      Gresini Honda           +25.735
 6. Randy de Puniet     LCR Honda               +25.965
 7. Ben Spies           Tech 3 Yamaha           +28.806
 8. Aleix Espargaro     Pramac Ducati           +40.172
 9. Marco Simoncelli    Gresini Honda           +41.394
10. Loris Capirossi     Suzuki                  +42.107
11. Hiroshi Aoyama      Interwetten Honda       +43.095
12. Hector Barbera      Aspar Ducati            +43.363
13. Colin Edwards       Tech 3 Yamaha         +1:14.393
14. Alvaro Bautista     Suzuki                +1:24.389

Not classified

    Mika Kallio         Pramac Ducati            8 laps
    Nicky Hayden        Ducati                   5 laps
    Valentino Rossi     Yamaha                      DNS