The Spaniard led from start to finish to win for the first time since last September’s race at Misano, while Jorge Lorenzo recorded his maiden podium with Ducati and championship leader Valentino Rossi laboured to a distant 10th.

Pedrosa made the most of starting from pole for the first time in 18 months, getting away cleanly at Jerez and slotting into a convincing lead.

Using the medium-compound rear tyre compared to the harder rubber on the other Hondas of Marquez and Cal Crutchlow on the front row, Pedrosa skipped away to build a solid early advantage.

Johann Zarco (Tech 3 Yamaha) again charged in the early stages, passing Rossi on the opening lap and then Maverick Vinales on their Yamahas, Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone the next time around to slot into third place.

Zarco threatened Marquez briefly, but could not run with the Hondas at the front.

Marquez goes on the attack

Pedrosa’s lead got up to one-and-a-half seconds and stayed there for the first half of the race, before Marquez chipped several tenths away during the next phase.

With 10 laps to go, the gap was nearly exactly one second, and the pair traded sector times but Pedrosa maintained his pace in the 1m40s bracket.

The gap grew again for a number of laps, before Marquez got it under one second with three laps remaining, when Pedrosa responded again with a lap four tenths quicker.

That signalled the end of the Marquez fight, the reigning world champion backing off and Pedrosa claiming his 30th MotoGP victory by 6.136 seconds.

It continues Pedrosa’s streak of winning a race in each season he has raced in the premier class, dating back to 2006.

Lorenzo charges to third

Zarco and Lorenzo were two of the four riders racing on the medium front tyre, rather than the hard, and the Tech3 Yamaha rookie was reeled in by Lorenzo, who had started eighth.

Moves on Vinales and Rossi and Suzuki’s Iannone were part of Lorenzo’s rise, and the Ducati rider made his way past Zarco down the back straight on lap 12.

Zarco was able to stay with Lorenzo for a while, but the Spaniard ultimately flexed his muscle to claim the final podium position, his first since leaving Yamaha.

Ducati shines as Yamaha struggles

Vinales faded from the lead riders early, as Andrea Dovizioso followed teammate Lorenzo in passing both Yamaha riders as part of his move from 14th to fifth in the opening 10 laps.

But Vinales bought back into the battle between Dovizioso and Rossi, and overtook them both in one hit at Turn 5 on lap 13, by which time he was the best part of 10 seconds behind Pedrosa.

Dovizioso got back past Vinales, though, and ensured both Ducatis finished inside the top five at a circuit where it has regularly struggled.

Rossi then fell further back, passed for seventh by Pramac Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci for seventh on lap 15, and then Jonas Folger for eighth on lap 21.

There was more pain to come, with Rossi also losing ninth to Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro in the closing laps, as his times ballooned out to the 1m44s and even 1m45s bracket.

The Italian eventually crossed the line 38.682s after Pedrosa, and leaves Jerez with a two-point championship lead over Vinales, with Marquez now just a further two behind.

Half a dozen crash out

Six riders crashed out of the race, a run started by Alvaro Bautista and Jack Miller tangling at Turn 1 on lap six, prompting a visibly frustrated Miller to push the Spaniard after their bikes came to a rest in the gravel trap.

Separate crashes 10 corners later then accounted for Crutchlow, who had settled into fourth place but admitted to “making a mistake” on his LCR Honda, and KTM’s Pol Espargaro.

Iannone also came unstuck at Turn 11, four laps later, having fallen to ninth in the order after his fast start.

Pos	Rider	Bike	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	27	45'26.827
2	Marc Marquez	Honda	27	45'32.963	6.136
3	Jorge Lorenzo	Ducati	27	45'41.594	14.767
4	Johann Zarco	Yamaha	27	45'44.428	17.601
5	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	27	45'49.740	22.913
6	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	27	45'51.383	24.556
7	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	27	45'51.786	24.959
8	Jonas Folger	Yamaha	27	45'54.548	27.721
9	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	27	45'58.060	31.233
10	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	27	46'05.509	38.682
11	Scott Redding	Ducati	27	46'07.806	40.979
12	Hector Barbera	Ducati	27	46'10.026	43.199
13	Loris Baz	Ducati	27	46'10.038	43.211
14	Bradley Smith	KTM	27	46'14.791	47.964
15	Karel Abraham	Ducati	27	46'18.106	51.279
16	Sam Lowes	Aprilia	27	46'35.712	1'08.885
17	Takuya Tsuda	Suzuki	27	46'54.277	1'27.450
	Andrea Iannone	Suzuki	9	15'19.450	18 laps
	Tito Rabat	Honda	9	15'24.810	18 laps
	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	5	8'29.685	22 laps
	Jack Miller	Honda	5	8'33.241	22 laps
	Alvaro Bautista	Ducati	5	8'33.277	22 laps
	Pol Espargaro	KTM	5	8'35.892	22 laps