KEY POINTS:
HOHENSTEIN-ERNSTTHAL - Dani Pedrosa kept alive his hopes of a first MotoGP world championship with a comfortable win in the German Grand Prix at a swelteringly hot Sachsenring.
With the temperature soaring to 38 degrees Celsius at the twisting eastern German circuit, the Spaniard passed championship leader Casey Stoner of Australia on the first corner and powered his Honda to victory by more than 13 seconds.
"This was a very, very good win for me," Pedrosa said of his first triumph this year. "I was so strong at the beginning but that was really my mentality today."
Stoner, bidding to become the first rider to win from pole position this year, finished a disappointing fifth.
However, the 21-year-old Ducati rider was able to extend his lead in the overall standings after his nearest rival this year, five-times world champion Valentino Rossi, slid off the track into the gravel on lap five and was forced to retire.
The Australian said he had had a problem with his tyres that meant there was no chance of catching the other riders.
"By the end of the race I was really struggling so to pull fifth out of that was a real positive," he told reporters. "I was just hoping to finish the race to tell you the truth."
Loris Capirossi of Italy had his best finish of the season in second on his Ducati, while world champion and Honda rider Nicky Hayden, without a win in 10 races this year, was third.
With just under half the season left, Stoner has 196 points, 32 more than Rossi on 164. Pedrosa trails in third with 144.
STIFF CHALLENGE
The Sachsenring track offers spectators impressive views, but its contrasting fast and slow sections and predominantly lefthand curves present a stiff challenge to riders and put major strain on their tyres.
Pedrosa said his win on Sunday was more important than any speculation about his chances of winning the championship.
"Maybe I have reduced a little bit the points (gap) but for us and the team the good thing is to win," he said.
Earlier, Rossi crashed while attempting to pass Frenchman Randy de Puniet to move into sixth spot.
The Italian picked himself up and tried to rejoin the race but was forced to retire due to a bent handlebar on his Yamaha. He had started from sixth on the grid and was going for a third successive win in Germany.
"De Puniet was very fast on the parts where it is possible to overtake but in the other parts I was losing a lot of time," Rossi told reporters.
"It was a good overtake but unfortunately the angle was too much and I lost the front."
The riders next travel to the United States for race 11 on July 22 at Laguna Seca near Monterey in California.
- REUTERS
