Casey Stoner beats Jorge Lorenzo in US MotoGP

AUSTRALIA'S Casey Stoner has made it back-to-back victories at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, winning the US MotoGP to boost his title hopes.

AUSTRALIA'S Casey Stoner has made it back-to-back victories at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, winning the US MotoGP to boost his title hopes.

Pole-sitter and championship leader Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha Factory Racing finished second and Dani Pedrosa, Stoner's Repsol Honda teammate, was third.

Stoner completed the 32 laps 3.429 seconds ahead of Lorenzo.

Stoner, 26, earned his fourth win of the season on the same circuit he was crowned champion in 2007 and 2011.

He was the lone top rider to choose the soft-compound Bridgestone tyre.

"With the soft tyre, we knew that we would have to be a little bit gentle on it," he said.

"If we pushed on it very hard the whole way through the race then it wouldn't last."

The podium spots were identical to last year and like 2011 Lorenzo was leading the race before being overtaken by Stoner.

Lorenzo couldn't hold off the Aussie eventually surrendering the lead on lap 21.

"Casey was the best, fastest and most consistent," Lorenzo said.

"It was not my day, it was the day of Casey."

Pedrosa placed third - as in 2011 - crossing the finish line more than seven seconds behind the winner.

The World Championship ranking positions remain unchanged with Lorenzo in first place with 205 points followed by Pedrosa (182) and Stoner (173).

This was Stoner's fourth win of 2012 to go with victories in Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.

It was a three-man race as fourth place finisher Italian Andrea Dovizioso finished over 18 second behind Stoner but ahead of teammate Cal Crutchlow. Nicky Hayden, who finished sixth, was nearly 27 seconds behind the winner.

Laguna Seca is known for it tricky sections, including the "corkscrew" and those resulted in several spills on Sunday.

American Ben Spies crashed with eleven laps remaining and Italy's Valentino Rossi did the same with three laps left.

Spies was running fourth when he crashed while coming out of the corkscrew turn on the 22nd lap. He was fortunate to escape serious injury as he surfed on the bike before finally being tossed off into the dirt.

Spies is planning on seeing a doctor about a possible broken heel he suffered in a crash on Saturday.

It was the first time this year Rossi had failed to finish a race. He was not injured.

MotoGP

1. Casey Stoner (AUS-Honda) 43min 45.961sec

2. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP-Yamaha) 43:49.390

3. Dani Pedrosa (ESP-Honda) 43:53.594

5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA-Yamaha) 44:04.563

6. Cal Crutchlow (GBR-Yamaha) 44:04.740

7. Nicky Hayden (USA-Ducati) 44:12.863

8. Stefan Bradl (GER-Honda) 44:14.354

10. Alvaro Bautista (ESP-Honda) 44:36.207

11. Aleix Espargaro (ESP-Aprilia) 45:04.954

12. Karel Abraham (CZE-Ducati) 45:08.037

13. Randy de Puniet (FRA-Aprilia)

14. Yonny Hernandez (COL-Kawasaki)

15. Colin Edwards (USA-Suter)

16. Ivan Silva (ESP-Kawasaki)

17. Valentino Rossi (ITA-Ducati) DNF

18. Danilo Petrucci (ITA-Ioda) DNF

18. James Ellison (GBR-Aprilia) DNF

18. Mattia Pasini (ITA-Aprilia) DNF

19. Ben Spies (USA-Yamaha) DNF

20. Michele Pirro (ITA-Honda) DNF

21. Toni Elias (ESP-Ducati) DNF

Standings

1. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP) 205

2. Dani Pedrosa (ESP) 182

3. Casey Stoner (AUS) 173

4. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) 119

5. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) 105

6. Stefan Bradl (GER) 83

7. Nicky Hayden (USA) 83

8. Valentino Rossi (ITA) 82

9. Alvaro Bautista (ESP) 79

10. Ben Spies (USA) 66

11. Hector Barbera (ESP) 60

12. Randy de Puniet (FRA) 31

13. Aleix Espargaro (ESP) 31

14. Michele Pirro (ITA) 16

15. Mattia Pasini (ITA) 13

16. James Ellison (GBR) 12

17. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) 9

18. Colin Edwards (USA) 9

19. Karel Abraham (CZE) 8

20. Yonny Hernandez (COL) 8

21. Ivan Silva (ESP) 5