Casey Stoner takes hard-fought Laguna Seca victory
Casey Stoner
Casey Stoner has scored a hard-fought victory over Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix in Laguna Seca.
Stoner was the only rider of the leading three to start with the softer option rear tyre, with Lorenzo and Pedrosa electing to take the harder tyre. Stoner used this to his advantage, overhauling Pedrosa and a fast starting Lorenzo.
Australia’s Honda star rider effected his race-winning move on Lorenzo 11 laps from the end and, just as he had done last year, he took the lead at Turn 1.
Finishing fourth and fifth was the Tech 3 Yamaha pair of Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow. The pair traded positions on a number of occasions, with Dovizioso eventually getting the upper hand.
Local hero Nicky Hayden took sixth place, having disposed of German Stefan Bradl in the closing stages. Bradl took seventh ahead of Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda), Aleix Espargaro (Power Electronics Aspar), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing).
The race was littered with retirements – seven riders failing to finish – including Valentino Rossi after a crash on the penultimate lap at the Corkscrew.
Race, Laguna Seca
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
| 1 | 25 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 158.4 | 43’45.961 |
| 2 | 20 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 158.2 | +3.429 |
| 3 | 16 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 157.9 | +7.633 |
| 4 | 13 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 157.3 | +18.602 |
| 5 | 11 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 157.2 | +18.779 |
| 6 | 10 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 156.8 | +26.902 |
| 7 | 9 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 156.7 | +28.393 |
| 8 | 8 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 155.4 | +50.246 |
| 9 | 7 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 153.7 | +1’18.993 |
| 10 | 6 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 153.6 | +1’22.076 |
| 11 | 5 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 153.3 | 1 Lap |
| 12 | 4 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 152.9 | 1 Lap |
| 13 | 3 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 151.6 | 1 Lap |
| 14 | 2 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 151.4 | 1 Lap |
| Not Classified | ||||||||
| 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 156.2 | 3 Laps | ||
| 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 157.4 | 11 Laps | ||
| 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 151.9 | 13 Laps | ||
| 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 151.4 | 14 Laps | ||
| 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 152.2 | 21 Laps | ||
| 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 134.1 | 31 Laps | ||
| 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 0 Lap | |||
Championship positions
| Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
| 1 | Jorge LORENZO | Yamaha | SPA | 205 |
| 2 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | SPA | 182 |
| 3 | Casey STONER | Honda | AUS | 173 |
| 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Yamaha | ITA | 121 |
| 5 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Yamaha | GBR | 106 |
| 6 | Stefan BRADL | Honda | GER | 84 |
| 7 | Nicky HAYDEN | Ducati | USA | 84 |
| 8 | Valentino ROSSI | Ducati | ITA | 82 |
| 9 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Honda | SPA | 81 |
| 10 | Ben SPIES | Yamaha | USA | 66 |
| 11 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | SPA | 60 |
| 12 | Randy DE PUNIET | ART | FRA | 33 |
| 13 | Aleix ESPARGARO | ART | SPA | 33 |
| 14 | Michele PIRRO | FTR | ITA | 16 |
| 15 | Mattia PASINI | ART | ITA | 13 |
| 16 | James ELLISON | ART | GBR | 12 |
| 17 | Colin EDWARDS | Suter | USA | 11 |
| 18 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | CZE | 10 |
| 19 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | BQR | COL | 10 |
| 20 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ioda | ITA | 9 |
| 21 | Ivan SILVA | BQR | SPA | 7 |
