Capirossi enjoyed a perfect afternoon in Brno

Capirossi, on the Ducati, overtook pole sitter Valentino Rossi at the start and simply left the field standing as he won by nearly five seconds.

World champion Rossi won a lengthy battle with Honda's Pedrosa for second.

And with team-mate Hayden back in a lowly ninth, Pedrosa moved to within 25 points in the championship.

American Hayden now has 201 points to Pedrosa's 176, with defending champion Rossi 38 points off the leader on 163.

"This was one of my best races ever," said Capirossi, who was second in last year's race to Rossi

"The team decided to work a lot and we changed everything on the bike. I am very impressed."

Rossi's second place keeps him in contention for a sixth consecutive MotoGP title.

"I think this is a funny championship because with five races to go we still have five riders who are able to fight for the championship," he said.

"Loris was very fast from the beginning and I tried to keep my rhythm, hoping he may have a problem some lap down the road. But that never happened."

Czech MotoGP result:

1. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati 43:40.145
2. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 43:45.047
3. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 43:48.157
4. Kenny Roberts Jr. (US) KR211V 43:54.945
5. Marco Melandri (Italy) Honda 43:55.170
6. Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda 43:55.844
7. John Hopkins (US) Suzuki 43:56.920
8. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Kawasaki 43:57.087
9. Nicky Hayden (US) Honda 43:57.206
10. Colin Edwards (US) Yamaha 43:59.580

MotoGP standings: