MotoGP: Pedrosa wins to close gap

Dani Pedrosa salutes the fans after his Aragon victory (Reuters)

Dani Pedrosa narrowed the points gap between himself and championship leader Jorge Lorenzo with a commanding victory in the Aragon Grand Prix in Spain.

The Repsol Honda rider shadowed his fellow Spaniard off the line before making a pass on lap seven and holding the lead to the chequered flag, which he took nearly six-and-a-half seconds ahead of his rival.

Pedrosa's third win in four races sees him close to within 33 points of Yamaha rider Lorenzo with four races remaining, but the Honda man will still be rueing his costly retirement at Misano a fortnight ago, when he was taken out of the race by Hector Barbera.

"The bike was working well, and I'm happy to win here in front of my fans and my family," Pedrosa said.