Reigning World Champion Casey Stoner won today's Laguna Seca MotoGP in fine style almost mirroring last year's race where he went past Jorge Lorenzo through turn one but this time it was on the inside when the Spaniard's Yamaha looked to have a momentary glitch out of the final corner.
Lorenzo either missed a gear or his anti-wheelie cut in on lap 12 and Stoner pounced, passing on the opposite side to last year and then just pulled time on each lap to win the race by nearly three, and a half seconds and nip back five points in the championship chase.
It was disaster, however, for Valentino Rossi who lost the front on the entry to the notorious Corkscrew at more than 100mph on the penultimate lap and found himself rolling down the kitty litter.
Ben Spies, too, was also a crasher at the steep downhill section but his accident was strange as part of his swingarm broke and he surfed his M1 down to the air-fence. The Texan broke a heel in his big high-side yesterday but looked not to have aggravated it.
Stoner's team-mate, Dani Pedrosa, challenged at the start but didn't quite have the pace on the harder Bridgestone tyre. He also had a huge moment through turn ten which nearly spat him off, and he occupied the third podium position, finishing nearly eight seconds behind the Australian.
Once again, Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow circulated together for fourth and fifth, following Spies' exit, but the British rider couldn't find a way past his Italian counterpart. The Isle of Man resident was concerned with his YZR-M1's braking performance in free practice but Dovizioso is famously late on the brakes and Laguna is a tough place to pass.
Nicky Hayden took advantage of a small mistake by Stefan Bradl on the entry into Rainey Curve with four laps to go and pulled a 1.4s gap to the line for sicth. Alvaro Bautista was eighth while Aleix Espargaro pulled off a stunning ride to take ninth overall and first CRT bike home. Karel Abraham rounded out the top ten.
Colin Edwards finished 13th and one lap down while James Ellison crashed out on the entry to turn three, losing the front but he walked away from the spill.
Laguna MotoGP - conditions dry
1 25 1 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team HONDA 43'45.961 158.369
2 20 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA 43'49.390 158.162 3.429
3 16 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 43'53.594 157.910 7.633
4 13 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 44'04.563 157.255 18.602
5 11 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 44'04.740 157.244 18.779
6 10 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team DUCATI 44'12.863 156.763 26.902
7 9 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 44'14.354 156.675 28.393
8 8 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 44'36.207 155.396 50.246
9 7 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 45'04.954 153.744 1'18.993
10 6 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing DUCATI 45'08.037 153.569 1'22.076
11 5 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 43'47.392 153.336 1 lap
12 4 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Avintia Blusens BQR 43'55.108 152.887 1 lap
13 3 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing SUTER 44'17.426 151.603 1 lap
14 2 22 Ivan SILVA SPA Avintia Blusens BQR 44'20.627 151.421 1 lap
Not Classified
46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 40'12.716 156.207 3 laps
11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA 28'53.855 157.404 11 laps
77 James ELLISON GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART 27'06.077 151.852 13 laps
9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project IODA 25'44.849 151.424 14 laps
54 Mattia PASINI ITA Speed Master ART 15'39.351 152.185 21 laps
24 Toni ELIAS SPA Pramac Racing Team DUCATI 1'36.924 134.084 31 laps
51 Michele PIRRO ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR
Air: 18° Ground: 24° Humidity: 65%
