JEREZ, Spain (AFP) - Spain's Dani Pedrosa grabbed the world championship lead with a dominant display in Sunday's Spanish MotoGP.

The Repsol Honda rider set a cracking pace after starting from second on the grid, serving notice of his intentions by setting a new lap record on the second lap.

He quickly left his rivals in his wake, leading all the way to notch up his 28th career win and fifth in MotoGP.

Italian Valentino Rossi finished second at 2.883sec with Pedrosa's Spanish teammate Jorge Lorenzo third at 4.339.

Pedrosa moves into the overall world championship lead after finishing third in Qatar three weeks ago.

Pole sitter Lorenzo was second for the first three laps before being overtaken by Yamaha's Rossi.

But the Spanish rookie holds second place in the championship five points ahead of Rossi.

Rossi had a major blunder at the start of the final lap when he thought that the race was over, before realising his error.

The mistake did not hamper the five-time world champion, although he has now gone six races without a win, his longest drought since his first triumph in 2000.

World champion Casey Stoner of Australia, winner of the season-opener in Qatar, finished down the field in 11th position after leaving the track twice.

France's Randy De Puniet crashed on lap four and American Colin Edwards was forced to retire after the sixth.

Finland's Mika Kallio won the 250cc category ahead of Italy's Mattia Pasini and Japan's Yuki Takahashi.

Championship leader Pasini finished 4.277sec behind Kallio, who is second in the overall standings, with Takahashi at 4.287.

Italy's Simone Corsi won the 125cc race ahead of Spanish teammate Nicolas Terol and Britain's Bradley Smith to take the overall championship lead.