MotoReview

Despite Pedrosa and Hayden eventually finishing some 12 seconds ahead Colin Edwards in the final podium place, it was no walkover for the factory Honda team. Dani got a good start from pole but ran wide after a couple of corners and was in fifth by lap two.

Colin Edwards led from the start, ahead of fellow American John Hopkins, in one of the best performances yet from the ex-world superbike rider. The Suzuki was also looking good in second place, a world apart from it's performance in Qatar just two races ago.

The two could not hold off a determined Pedrosa for long though. As lap 10 started Dani moved into first place, slipstreaming past Edwards on the start-finish straight. Following Turkey's lowside in the closing stages of the race Dani was quoted as saying he wouldn't make that mistake again. Unsurprisingly he didn't. He didn't make any mistakes, and as Hayden slid from corner to corner Pedrosa just got on with the business of putting in fastest laps until he reached the chequered flag.

Elsewhere there was a real battle for fifth place between Casey Stoner, Marco Melandri and (believe it or not) Makoto Tamada, who we can only hope has finally found the form which has been missing for over a year. Stoner was the eventual winner of this fight, which was all the more impressive considering he actually outbraked himself into the gravel trap and lost a lot of time riding back onto the track.

And what about Valentino Rossi? Well, from his most useless qualifying result in the year which saw him starting from the fifth row, the champ started to do what he does best and make his way up the order. But not at any amazing rate. In fact the Italian spent several laps struggling to pass Marco Melandri for just ninth place.