Pedrosa brings title within reach in thrilling victory

In a race that was declared wet from the start, it was Yamaha Factory Racing's Lorenzo who got the holeshot ahead of Pedrosa. Ducati Team's Valentino Rossi got a good start from 11th to move into fourth within the first lap. Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Andrea Dovizioso, who had a bad start, was carving his way through the pack and soon got past Rossi into fourth to chase down Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner in third.

Lorenzo, having opted for the softer option wet rear tyre, had a small margin over Pedrosa with 18 laps to go, who had the harder rear tyre. All Yamahas on the grid as well as Cardion AB Racing's Karel Abraham had opted for the soft-rear, hard-front combination, with all others running with hards front and rear. A lap later however and Pedrosa was breathing down Lorenzo's neck having closed the gap to a fraction of a second.

Further afield Stoner was leading a group, about five seconds off the leading duo, with Dovizioso, Rossi, LCR Honda MotoGP's Stefan Bradl, Ducati Team's Nicky Hayden, San Carlo Honda Gresini's Álvaro Bautista and Tech 3's Cal Crutchlow. With 12 laps remaining, Pedrosa was continuing to stick to Lorenzo's rear wheel as the pair looked locked in a stalemate out on track. Further back on the same lap, Yamaha's Bes Spies suffered a heavy crash out of tenth place, putting a premature end to his race. He was taken to the medical centre to check on a shoulder injury.

Rossi also dropped from behind Dovizioso back into ninth, as his teammate Hayden fought his way up to fifth. A lap further on and it was drama for Dovizioso as he also slid out of the race, which continued to be pummelled with rain. It was in the final turn of this lap that Pedrosa made a move stick on Lorenzo to take the lead just over the halfway point and the Repsol rider instantly looked more comfortable in front pulling a small gap. In the meantime, NGM Mobile Forward Racing's Colin Edwards retired with a mechanical option.

As the grid headed into lap nine there were further crashes in the final turn as Crutchlow slid off, followed almost instantly in the same place by Power Electronics Aspar's Randy de Puniet. It was a crash strewn lap, with Bradl also losing the front of his satellite Honda, and Avintia Blusens' Iván Silva also crashing out. Back on track Rossi looked in his element as he squeezed past Bautista into fifth. Things were also getting interesting at the front as Lorenzo was being not only dropped off by Pedrosa, but also being closed down by Stoner at a very quick rate.

The rain was coming down heavily with 15 laps left, and Lorenzo suffered a very scary moment, where he saved a near crash just seconds before the Red Flag was shown due to safety concerns. After much deliberating as to whether a re-start would be possible, conditions deteriorated, and the win was awarded to Pedrosa, with Lorenzo and Stoner completing the rostrum. This now puts Pedrosa within 23-points, less than one race-win, of title rival Lorenzo, with 50-points still up for grabs in the final two races. Hayden recorded a fantastic fourth, ahead of Rossi, Bautista, Barberá, De Puniet's teammate Espargaró, Paul Bird Motorsport's James Ellison and Abraham.

In other races, Red Bull KTM Ajo's Sandro Cortese won the inaugural Moto3 world title after an enthralling win ahead of Zulfahmi Khairuddin and Jonas Folger.
The race got underway in scorching hot conditions with AirAsia-SIC-Ajo's Zulfahmi Khairuddin taking the holeshot into the tricky turn one, with Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3's Jonas Folger taking the led however within a few bends. JHK t-shirt Laglisse's Efrén Vázquez was mixing it up in third from the start, with Cortese fighting him for the podium spot.

Mahindra Racing's Ricardo Moretti crashed out of the race a few laps in, yet fortunately walked away from the incident unhurt. Racing Team Germany's Louis Rossi had made his way into fourth with 16 laps left, as he attacked Cortese for third. Behind him, RW Racing GP's Luis Salom had fought his way up to fifth, as a leading group of five started to pull away at the front with 13 laps remaining.

On the same lap there was drama for Frenchman Rossi, as he crashed out of contention, fortunately avoiding any of the other riders and escaping unscathed. This gave Estrella Galicia 0,0 duo Miguel Oliveira and Alex Rins, as well as Red Bull's Danny Kent a chance to close in on the group. Ten laps from the end and Salom made his way past Cortese on the home straight, as the Spaniard looked to keep the title race alive.

A lap later and Mahindra's Danny Kent had his race ended prematurely with mechanical problems, whilst Cortese got back past Salom, who had a wobble on track. With eight laps remaining another twist was added as a few rain flags came out in a few corners on the track. And this prompted Khairuddin to make his move on Folger to take the lead, much to the delight of the local crowd. But Folger was fighting back fiercely, sporting superior speed on the home straight.

But it was fairing to fairing with the front two as Cortese stalked the pair from behind. Salom, who had dropped off, was battling Oliveira heavily for fourth. Cortese however was not content to stick it out, as he went past Folger into second to hunt down Khairuddin. And it was a typically breath-taking Moto3 last-lap, with Cortese passing the Malaysian in the final turn to deny him victory at his home track.

Cortese's victory made him the first man ever to take the Moto3^TM title, whilst Khairuddin took his first ever GP podium. Folger completed the rostrum closely behind. Cortese is now the youngest-ever German to win the lightweight class, and only the fourth of his countryman to do so. It is also the first time that a MotoGP category has been won by a KTM machine.

Fourth spot went to Salom, ahead of Oliveira, Kent, Rins, Vázquez, TT Motion Events Racing's Niklas Ajo and Vázquez's teammate Adrian Martín.