2 May 2011

Pedrosa wins in Portugal

6:11 am on 2 May 2011

Spaniard Dani Pedrosa won the Portuguese Grand Prix for Honda on Monday and denied Yamaha's MotoGP world champion and compatriot Jorge Lorenzo a fourth straight win at Estoril.

Australian Casey Stoner, struggling with back pain that almost forced him to pull out, finished a distant third for Honda.

Lorenzo had led from pole position for the first time this season with Pedrosa, still feeling the pain from recent shoulder surgery, lapping in the Majorcan's slipstream until he hit the front with four laps to go and powered away.

The victory, in a time of 45 minutes 51.483 seconds, was his first of 2011 as well as first in Portugal.