Casey Stoner ended a three-race losing streak, and moved joint top of the
MotoGP standings, with victory in a dramatic Dutch
MotoGP at Assen on Saturday.
The race began with a bang when Alvaro Bautista wiped out title leader
Jorge Lorenzo into turn one.
The Gresini Honda rider launched a hugely ambitious inside lunge from eighth on the grid - only to lose the front of his RCV and slam into the side of the unsuspecting Lorenzo.
A huge cloud of smoke was emitted from Lorenzo's Yamaha after it came to rest in the gravel, raising engine-change concerns.
The incident is under investigation.
Lorenzo had held his third place on the grid, behind
Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner, and the Repsol riders were in a class of their own thereafter.
Pole sitter Stoner - riding sore after suffering one of the biggest accidents in his career, a highside caused by a sudden rain shower, in Friday practice - shadowed Pedrosa until calmly passing the Spaniard with ten laps to go.
The Australian then rode to his third win of the year by 4.965sec and is now tied on points with Lorenzo at the head of the standings.
The fight for the final podium place went down to the last lap, with
Andrea Dovizioso passing last year's winner Ben Spies to claim his second podium of the year for Monster Yamaha Tech 3.
Team-mate Cal Crutchlow was forced to take avoiding action in the Bautista, Lorenzo turn one clash - he later called Bautista a "dickhead" for the move - then fought his way from twelfth to fifth.
Nicky Hayden the lead Ducati in sixth, with Hector Barbera seventh for Pramac. Aspar Aprilia's
Randy de Puniet claimed a new CRT high with eighth place, albeit on a day when only 14 of the 20 riders finished.
Gresini's Michel Pirro, who had trouble starting his CRT bike on the grid, came close to defeating de Puniet in what was also his best ride of the year, with Mattia Pasini completing the top ten for Speed Master.