Dani Pedrosa ended his five-race MotoGP podium drought with a stunning victory at Misano as the Repsol Honda rider denied home hero Valentino Rossi a dream result in front of his passionate fans. Rossi took the lead from his Movistar Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo on the second lap and set the pace for much of the race, but it was Pedrosa who emerged as the surprise threat as the 30-year-old Spaniard set a series of record laps to reel in the top three of Rossi, Lorenzo and championship leader Marc Marquez. Pedrosa snatched third place from teammate Marquez with a clinical pass at turn 14 and three laps later he made the same move on Lorenzo, quickly pulling away from the Yamaha rider as he set off in pursuit of Rossi. The Italian's advantage at the front was visibly reducing as Pedrosa maintained his relentless charge, slashing Rossi's lead from one second to 0.4 seconds within a few laps. Pedrosa continued to apply the pressure and with six laps remaining, he was now right on Rossi's tail and the inevitable overtake came at the beginning of lap 22, with Pedrosa making a block pass on the brakes. The Doctor tried to hang on to the rear of the Honda rider but Rossi was unable to match Pedrosa's pace and in the end had to settle for the runner-up spot at his home race. The difference between them at the finish was 2.8 seconds as Pedrosa returned to the premier class rostrum after a run of five races without a top-three finish – his longest spell without a podium since his 125cc GP days. It was also Pedrosa's first MotoGP win since Sepang in 2015. Pole man Lorenzo consolidated third place on the second of the Movistar Yamaha machines, 4.3 seconds behind Pedrosa, while championship leader Marquez was a lonely fourth – his lead in the standings reduced by seven points to 43 points by nine-time world champion Rossi. Silverstone winner Maverick Vinales was fifth on the Ecstar Suzuki, four seconds ahead of Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso, with wild card entry Michele Pirro finishing seventh on the second of the factory GP16s. Monster Tech 3 Yamaha's Pol Espargaro, Britain's Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Alvaro Bautista on the Gresini Aprilia were the top 10. Crutchlow received a post-race penalty for exceeding the track limits. British rider Alex Lowes, who is also set to replace the injured Bradley Smith at Aragon in Spain in the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team, slid off at turn 2 on lap eight. Tito Rabat (Marc VDS Honda) and Suzuki's Aleix Espargaro were also among the fallers. Rabat re-joined the race and finished 17th and last. Ireland's Eugene Laverty finished in 14th place and picked up some more points on the Aspar Ducati, with Scott Redding (Pramac Ducati) securing the final point in 15th position. — Agencies
