As the midway point of the race approached Pedrosa was leading well at a second-and-a-half ahead of Rossi, with Lorenzo a further two seconds back. The fight for seventh place was a close one, with San Carlo Honda Gresini teammates Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli battling one another amongst a group of five riders.
At the same time Lorenzo was closing the gap on Rossi and on lap 21 passed his teammate, and turned his focus to hunting down Pedrosa. From there a superb duel developed between the two Spaniards.
With two laps to go Lorenzo caught up with the factory Honda rider and made his move to pass, but Pedrosa held his line and the two almost touched as the excitement continued to increase.
And so it came down to the last lap and as Pedrosa pushed it wide at the Dry Sack corner Lorenzo swept through to assume the lead, which he held to ensure he received his reward for a fantastic ride. Crossing the line the Fiat Yamaha rider was 0.543s ahead of Pedrosa, with Rossi placing third to complete the podium.
Completing the top five were Ducati Marlboro riders Nicky Hayden, who repeated his fourth spot from Qatar, and Casey Stoner, with Andrea Dovizioso taking sixth place.
Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) completed an impressive rise from last place on the grid to take seventh, with Melandri, Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) also placing inside the top ten.
