Pedrosa holds off Rossi

Honda's Dani Pedrosa won the US MotoGP Grand Prix on Sunday, the Spaniard's first victory in over a year, by holding off a late challenge from world champion and current leader Valentino Rossi.

Italian Rossi, the five-times MotoGP world champion, extended his lead in the standings to nine points after finishing ahead of his closest rival, Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.

Spaniard Lorenzo, who took pole position despite crashing and partially dislocating his collar bone in qualifying on Saturday, bravely pushed Rossi hard but had to settle for third.

Rossi ended 0.344 seconds behind Pedrosa, with Lorenzo 1.582 off the winning pace. Ducati's Casey Stoner was fourth.

The Yamaha pair battled with each other for second place for most of the race after Pedrosa got in front early to complete the challenging course in 44 minutes 01.580 seconds.

Final lap drama

Pedrosa had not won since his victory in the Catalan Grand Prix in June 2008 and despite being a good distance in front throughout, he had to fend off Rossi late in the final lap.

"I was comfortable, doing great laps and just in the last lap I relaxed a little bit too much," Pedrosa told the BBC.

"I saw almost two seconds (on the board) when I passed for the last lap and then at the last corner I saw Rossi's bike. Fortunately, it was the last lap and I could win the race. It's a good feeling to be back winning for me and also for my team," he added.

Italian Loris Capirossi crashed out in the fourth lap and Britain's James Toseland was disqualified after a jump start.