Dani Pedrosa won the last race of the 2009 MotoGP season, at Valencia on Sunday.

There was drama even before the start when Casey Stoner, winner of the last two races and fastest in all track sessions at Valencia, crashed out on the warm-up lap - instantly handing Jorge Lorenzo second in the world championship.

The accident went on to cost Stoner third in the standings, with Pedrosa comfortably vaulting the eleven point deficit to the Ducati star at the end of the 30 race laps.

Valencia was a classic Pedrosa win - the Repsol Honda rider blasting from his inherited 'pole' into an early lead, then quickly breaking clear of his rivals before monitoring his advantage over Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo for the rest of the race.

Pedrosa's victory means he keeps his record of two-wins-a-season in MotoGP intact and confirmed Honda as second in the 2009 constructors' championship, between Yamaha and Ducati.

Lorenzo had overtaken newly crowned seven time MotoGP world champion Rossi for third place during the opening lap, then snatched second from Toni Elias into the final turn on lap three.

But Rossi was shadowing Lorenzo's every move and when the young Spaniard was kicked out of the seat on the following lap the Italian effortlessly moved into second. It seems that Lorenzo's airbag may have been deployed by the near highside.

Pedrosa was already 2.5sec clear when Rossi moved into second and he went on to win by 2.630 after backing off significantly in the closing stages.

Lorenzo had been 2.5sec behind Rossi at the halfway stage, then got his teeth into the Italian during the second half of the race to be less than one second behind with three laps to go.

But Rossi held on and crossed the line just a few tenths ahead of Lorenzo.

Colin Edwards, who needed to bridge a four point gap to take fifth in the championship from Pedrosa's factory Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, did just that - with a little help from his 2010 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Ben Spies.