Pedrosa, right, celebrates on the podium with overall winner Valentino Rossi [EPA]

Pedrosa took advantage of a crash by Australian Casey Stoner on the warm-up lap which denied him a start.

Ducati's Stoner was due to start on pole and was bidding for a third straight win in the final race of the year but was unable to make the start after he flipped high into the air off the bike on the warm-up lap.

Early lead

Pedrosa led the charge from the front row and never relinquished the lead. The victory at his home race lifted the Honda driver above the Australian to third in the standings behind compatriot Jorge Lorenzo and champion Valentino Rossi.

Italian Rossi, who clinched his second successive MotoGP title in Malaysia last month, finished second in a sunny Valencia, almost three seconds behind Pedrosa, and Yamaha team mate Lorenzo was third.

"It's fantastic to win here and I really wasn't expecting it," Pedrosa said in a television interview after Stoner had dominated practice and qualifying all weekend.

"We had some problems with the setup but in the end we proved we were competitive."

Hiroshi Aoyama of Japan clinched the last ever 250cc world title when he recovered from running off the circuit to finish seventh earlier on Sunday.

The Honda rider needed to come in 11th or higher to secure his first championship and the final 250cc title before the category is replaced by the new Moto2 class from next year.

He went off the track on lap nine and dropped down to 11th but his task was made easier when nearest title rival Marco Simoncelli crashed out while leading with seven laps left.

Spaniard Hector Barbera won the race, making sure of second place in the championship standings ahead of Gilera rider Simoncelli. Barbera's compatriot Alvaro Bautista was second and Italy's Raffaele De Rosa third.

Alex Debon, another Spaniard, was quickest in qualifying on Saturday but crashed late in the session and suffered a suspected broken rib that meant he was unable to race, so Simoncelli started from pole.