Jorge Lorenzo took a brilliant sixth victory of the season at Laguna Seca today, romping home to win by over three seconds from Casey Stoner. His team-mate Valentino Rossi made a triumphant return to the podium just seven weeks after breaking his right leg, overhauling Andrea Dovizioso during a thrilling last ten laps to finish third.

Starting from pole for the fifth time in a row, Lorenzo lost ground to his rivals at the fearsome downhill turn one and was relegated to third first time around. For the first few laps there was little he could do except hang on behind Pedrosa and Stoner but on the sixth lap Stoner ran wide and Lorenzo stormed through to take second. By now Pedrosa was nearly a second clear but Lorenzo's pace had begun to improve and he started to push as hard as he could and exert some pressure on his fellow Spaniard. On lap twelve, with the gap now narrowed to half a second, Pedrosa crashed out and left Lorenzo in the lead and from then on it was plain sailing for the 23-year-old as he expertly controlled his advantage over Stoner to bring it home and take his second win on US soil. Today's victory was his 11th in MotoGP, his 32nd in all classes and his 10th successive podium.

Rossi had suffered all weekend with pain in both his leg and his shoulder and today looked like it was going to be a tough day for the reigning champion, unable as he was to make any further headway after passing Nicky Hayden for fifth position. Once Pedrosa had crashed out however and with Ben Spies exerting pressure on him from behind Rossi's fighting instinct kicked in as he spied a podium possibility, gradually closing down a two second gap to Dovizioso to come within striking distance with six laps remaining. On the 27th lap he made his move and passed his countryman, managing to hold him off over the last couple of laps to make a popular return to the podium.

With exactly half of the season gone Lorenzo heads the championship with an impressive 72-point lead over Pedrosa, whilst Rossi is 120 points adrift of his team-mate in fifth position. Both riders will enjoy a two and a half week holiday now and the Italian will be more glad than anyone for the time off, during which he will be working on his fitness in an effort to be back to his best next time out in Brno.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1st Time: 43.54.873
"I am so happy to win here at Laguna Seca, it's something I've always dreamed of. I rode so well today, right on the limit and I had to push very hard to stay in touch with Dani. He is always so strong on race day but I knew if I kept the pressure on him then there was a chance he would make a mistake and I would be able to catch him. I'm sorry he crashed but from then on it was very easy for me because I had a big gap from Casey. I really enjoyed riding my M1! I have a big lead in the championship but there is half of the season left and it wouldn't be the first time a rider has lost the title with such a big lead, so we can't take anything for granted. I am really looking forward to some time to relax now after two very busy months. Thanks to everyone in my team for doing a brilliant job."

Casey Stoner continued his recent podium streak with a solid second place in the USGP, whilst Nicky Hayden claimed local honour as the first American across the line in fifth after a breathtaking challenge for the podium.

Stoner started well from the front row of the grid and was running in second place behind Dani Pedrosa when he set the fastest lap of the race on lap four, breaking his own circuit record from 2008 with a stunning 1’21.376. A little problem saw the Australian concede a place to Jorge Lorenzo on the fifth lap but he benefited from a crash for Pedrosa six laps later and was unchallenged from that point onwards, securing his best finish of the season so far and his fourth rostrum in succession.

Hayden started from seventh on the grid and eventually overcame his compatriot Ben Spies after a race-long battle that had the raucous crowd on their feet, chasing down Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso for a podium finish over the final few laps but missing out by just 1.2 seconds.  

Casey Stoner  (Ducati Team)  2nd
“The bike felt good at the start of the race but at this circuit you always have to wait for a lap, a lap and a half for the tyres to warm up. As soon as everything felt alright I thought I’d try to push and make a pass on Dani for the lead but I immediately lost the front. I pulled myself back together and tried to hunt him down again but made another little mistake. Another lap or two later I closed the front again and ran well wide, I was almost off the track. At that point I decided just to gather myself, ride smooth and consistent and try not to lose too much time to the two guys in front of me. I started to pull them in but lost the front again. It was a shame because the bike felt good around most of the circuit, we just struggled with the front in a couple of corners. Having said that I’m happy and thankful to my guys because we were able to put up more of a fight this weekend.”

Valentino Rossi - Position: 3rd Time: +13.420
"The start of the race was very hard for me because I had a lot of pain and I was far from the podium. But then I saw Pedrosa on the gravel and I just had to try to catch Dovizioso! I just pushed as hard as I could for a few laps and that brought me closer to him and then I couldn't give up, somehow I caught him and it was a great feeling to pass him to take third. It's a great result after my injury and it felt so good to be back on the podium in front of the fans. There are so many people I have to thank who have helped me to get back to this position. I am very happy that we have some time off now because I have a lot of work to do on my body to try to be back to my best for Brno, which I love.

Andrea Dovizioso finished in fourth place in today’s U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca and retained his third position in the world championship as MotoGP heads into a short summer break. The Italian held third place for 15 laps of the race and finished less that a second from the podium after losing a place to Valentino Rossi six laps from the end. His team-mate Dani Pedrosa looked on course for a carbon copy of his stunning Laguna victory from last year and led for the first 11 laps, but the Spaniard was unfortunate to a hit a bump on the way into Laguna’s turn seven and crash out on lap 12.
 
From third on the grid - his best ever MotoGP qualifying position - Dovizioso slipped back to fifth on the first lap behind Ben Spies and lost some time behind the American. He climbed to fourth on lap three when Spies ran wide and was then elevated to third after Pedrosa’s fall. Looking comfortable, Dovizioso eased op en a gap of 2.5s to Valentino Rossi behind him, but as the chequered flag drew near Rossi closed him down again and passed Dovizioso on lap 27 of the 32-lap race. The Repsol Honda rider didn’t give up and was right on Rossi’s tail for the last two laps, without being able to find a way past. With the 13 points he earned today, Dovizioso has closed the gap to Pedrosa in the world championship to 23 points.

Pedrosa looked at his formidable best for the first part of the race, making one of his demon starts from fourth on the grid to lead into the first corners. Riding his RC212V at a blistering pace, he edged away from his pursuers Casey Stoner and then Jorge Lorenzo and the race win looked a distinct possibility. However, while pushing at 100 per cent to maintain his lead he lost the front end and his U.S. Grand Prix was over. Obviously disappointed with the way the weekend finished, Pedrosa has taken encouragement from his continued front-running pace in th e race and will come back fighting at the next race - the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic.

Race Result - Round 9