MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa Wins 2010 San Marino Grand Prix

Dani Pedrosa won the motoGP 2010 San Marino Grand Prix after leading from pole position to finish ahead of second placed Jorge Lorenzo and third placed Valentino Rossi. Pedrosa is now 63 points behind championship leader Lorenzo.

The race was overshadowed by the tragic death of Shoya Tomizawa in the Moto2 race that preceded the main event, as he fell off his bike and was hit by Alex De Angelis and Scott Redding, who were unable to react and move out of his way in time. The Japanese rider was 19 years old and raced for the Technomag-CIP team.

Pedrosa opened up a lead after Casey Stoner fought with Jorge Lorenzo for second place, before Lorenzo overcame the Australian to take second. His teammate, and fans favourite at the circuit, Valentino Rossi also passed Stoner before fighting with Dovizioso for the final podium place.

American rider Ben Spies had a horrid start from fifth to find himself in 10th, but clawed his way back to sixth place, finishing ahead of his teammate Colin Edwards. Alvaro Bautista, Hector Barbera and Marco Melandri occupied the final three places in the top 10.

Marco Melandri, Aleix Espargaro, Hiroshi Aoyama, Randy de Puniet and Marco Simoncelli finished in the final five places, while Loris Capirossi and Nicky Hayden came together at the second corner to take themselves out of the race.

On this evidence, Pedrosa has good form going into the final races of the season, but Lorenzo is still getting podium places to make bridging the points gap very difficult. It was a good race for Rossi, who delighted fans with his first podium finish since getting a broken leg earlier this season.