Up front the battle for the lead intensified as Pedrosa caught up with Lorenzo. The two began swapping positions back and forth, and in the process Pedrosa set a new circuit record on Lap 10 and once again on Lap 12. After breaking his own record and consistently riding in the low 1’22”s, Pedrosa crossed the line in first with 3.355 seconds to spare. Lorenzo took second after a solid run, and added another 20 points towards the championship.
Stoner rounded out the podium in third after beating Rossi at last corner. It was one of those moves which Rossi usually performs on his rivals. “I didn’t expect this! I thought it was maybe possible to make fourth or fifth place but I thought it would be very difficult,” said Rossi. “In the end I was fourth but I had a great battle with Casey and I was so close to the podium, so this is a fantastic result after missing four races.” Finishing fifth was Dovizioso, with San Carlo Honda’s Marco Simoncelli taking his best premier class finish of his career in sixth. Americans Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies took seventh and eighth respectively, while Paginas Amarillas Aspar’s Hector Barbera and San Carlo Honda’s Marco Melandri rounded out the top 10.
2010 MotoGP Sachsenring Results:
1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
3. Casey Stoner (Ducati)
4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda)
6. Marco Simoncelli (Honda)
7. Nicky Hayden (Ducati)
8. Ben Spies (Yamaha)
9. Hector Barbera (Ducati)
10. Marco Melandri (Honda)
11. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki)
12. Alex de Angelis (Honda)
DNF Mika Kallio (Ducati)
DNF Randy de Puniet (Honda)
DNF Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki)
DNF Aleix Espargaro (Ducati)
DNF Colin Edwards (Yamaha)