Thrilling Lorenzo charge wins Spain MotoGP

Madrid: Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo charged back from a poor start to pass compatriot Dani Pedrosa on the last lap to win a thrilling Spanish MotoGP Grand Prix on Sunday. Pedrosa had led the field from pole position, but with two laps remaining Lorenzo finally caught up with him and after a gripping tussle he cut inside Pedrosa to cross the line first, half a second ahead.World champion Valentino Rossi was third, and relinquished the top spot in the championship to Lorenzo who climbed on to 45 points after two races, four ahead of his Yamaha team mate. Pedrosa is third with 29 points. "I can`t describe it," a soaking Lorenzo told Spanish television, after he had celebrated by running and jumping fully clothed into a lake at the circuit. "It was one of my dreams to win at Jerez and to do it against someone like Dani, who made it very difficult, it`s unbelievable." Pedrosa made the most of first place on the grid to hold off an early charge from Rossi, who jumped from fourth to second at the first bend, and these two then pulled away from the rest of the pack. Pedrosa has been having stability problems with his Honda and he struggled with some wobbles on bends but it looked like it was going to be a battle between him and Rossi, who was nursing a bruised shoulder. But when Lorenzo passed Nicky Hayden to climb up to third with 18 laps to go, attention switched to the battle between second and third. Lorenzo snuck inside Rossi with six laps to go and then showed astonishing pace to catch Pedrosa with two laps remaining.They almost crashed on one bend, and then actually came together in the last lap, but Lorenzo`s aggressive tactics paid off when he barged through a couple of bends before the finish to be roared across the line by the 122,000 crowd. "I pushed myself to the limit on each lap and I didn`t expect to be at the front for so long," Pedrosa told reporters referring to the problems he had been having with his bike. "To finish on the podium here is unbelievable, even though it`s disappointing to be beaten with half a lap to go. But I think Lorenzo had a very good race, so he deserves it." American Hayden finished fourth ahead of Ducati team mate Casey Stoner of Australia. Italian Andrea Dovizioso was sixth. Spaniard Toni Elias won the Moto2 category on a Moriwaki in a shortened 17-lap showdown after a big pile-up on the opening lap of the original race. Elias took the flag 0.190 in front Japanese championship leader Shoya Tomizawa and Swiss Thomas Luthi, who came in third, after a pulsating final lap. In the 125cc category, Derbi rider Pol Espargaro completed a Spanish treble of victories in Jerez, leading compatriots Nicolas Terol, the championship leader, and Esteve Rabat across the line. Bureau Report