Honda’s Dani Pedrosa made it three successive wins in the German MotoGP on Sunday to open his account for the season.
Casey Stoner, the Spaniard’s teammate and defending world champion, was poised to take second before crashing out on the final lap.
The main beneficiary of Stoner’s spill was Yamaha’s former champion Jorge Lorenzo who was gifted second to move clear at the top of the riders standings on 160 points.
Pedrosa moved up to second on 146 with Stoner stuck on 140, having entered the race joint leader with Lorenzo.