Spain's Dani Pedrosa is not giving up hope of a maiden MotoGP championship with his fourth win of the season at San Marino on Sunday.

The Repsol Honda rider started in pole position on the grid at Misano and set a blistering pace from the beginning, notching a lap record on the third lap as he set about putting nearly 1.5 seconds between himself and championship leader Jorge Lorenzo.

With the first two podium finishes already decided early in the contest, the tug-of-war between Yamaha's Valentino Rossi and Ducati's Casey Stoner to decide third place was the most intriguing battle of the day.

The rivals swapped positions more than once before Rossi headed clear of Stoner to seal the final spot on the podium.

Stoner slipped alarmingly after once leading Lorenzo early in the race, with the Australian forced to settle for fifth after he was easily passed by Honda's Andrea Dovizioso in the latter stages.

Loris Capirossi's 200th Grand Prix ended in disaster when he was clipped by American Nicky Hayden on the second corner, sending both riders crashing out of the race.

Pedrosa's win - his first back-to-back victory - leaves him 63 points shy of Lorenzo in the riders' standings with six races left in 2010.

Lorenzo maintained his perfect record of finishing on the podium in each of the 12 races this season.

The race was marred by a fatal crash earlier in the day during the Moto2 event.

Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa fell from his bike and was hit by two other riders in a horrific accident.

The 19-year-old was rushed to hospital but died of his injuries.