Finishers 1, 2, and 3 were this close at the end, with the Fiat Yamahas of Lorenzo and Rossi sandwiching Pedrosa's Repsol Honda.

There were only three "aliens" at the front of the second Moto GP event of the year instead of four, but they dominated the race, finishing close together nine seconds ahead of fourth place.

Jorge Lorenzo stuck his Fiat Yamaha past fellow Spaniard (and hated rival) Dani Pedrosa on the last lap to snatch the victory from Pedrosa, who'd taken his Repsol Honda to pole position, got the holeshot, and let the entire race up to that point.

Lorenzo's team-mate, defending series champion Valentino Rossi, took the final podium position and was happy to get that after struggling with handling problems and a painful shoulder he injured in a motocross accident only a couple of weeks ago.

Alien No. 4, Casey Stoner, was uncharacteristically nowhere, after chasing the set-up on the factory Ducati all weekend. In the race he nearly crashed with front-end issues several times and eventually settled for fifth behind his team-mate Nicky Hayden, who repeated his excellent Qatar performance, albeit too far back to be in contention for a podium.

Pedrosa (left) and Lorenzo make plans for a double-date after the race.

The other Repsol Honda, piloted by Andrea Dovizioso, was sixth after a sub-par performance for him, especially after his dazzling show in the first race at Qatar. He qualified poorly and just never got going quickly enough to challenge at the front.

While the Ducati team weren't impressed with being so far behind at the flag, they were certainly pleased that their bike seems finally rideable enough that they aren't solely dependent on Casey Stoner. Hayden was strong all weekend, and Mika Kallio on the satellite Pramac team took an impressive seventh, coming from the final starting position to just edge Marco Melandri on the San Carlo Gresini Honda.

Suzuki had a middling weekend at best. Loris Capirossi crashed out of the race on the third lap, but new boy (up from the 250 ranks) Alvaro Bautista got his first Moto GP finish, making three Spaniards in the top 10.

The Tech 3 Yamaha squad had a terrible outing after the great start to their season in Qatar. Ben Spies retired after eight laps with a front end problem that made the bike nearly unrideable, while team-mate Colin Edwards struggled with rear tire grip and finished way down in 12^th spot.

Moto GP Standings after two of 18 races

1. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain, Fiat Yamaha, 45 points; 2. Valentino Rossi, Italy, Fiat Yamaha, 41; 3. Dani Pedrosa, Spain, Repsol Honda, 29; 4. TIE, Andrea Dovizioso, Italy, Repsol Honda and Nicky Hayden, USA, Marlboro Ducati, 26;

6. Randy de Puniet, France, LCR Honda, 17; 7. Colin Edwards, USA, Tech 3 Yamaha, 12; 8. TIE Casey Stoner, Australia, Marlboro Ducati, and Ben Spies, USA, Tech 3 Yamaha, and Marco Melandri, Italy, San Carlo Gresini Honda, 11.

Next race is at le Mans in France, May 23.