Casey Stoner managed to overtake pole position starter Jorge Lorenzo to take the top podium spot at Laguna Seca. Lorenzo led the race, with Stoner behind team-mate Pedrosa and gathering speed with every lap. He passed Pedrosa on lap 18, and went past the race leader in the 26th lap.
There was no looking back for Stoner after that, and the gap between the Repsol Honda and Yamaha factory rider kept on getting wider and wider. The Aussie managed a five and a half second lead over the Spaniard as he crossed the finish line. Dani Pedrosa finished in third position.
Ben Spies from Yamaha Factory Racing overtook Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso to finish in fourth position at his home track. Andrea Dovizioso managed a place ahead of Valentino Rossi, and finished fifth.
Valentino Rossi is having one of the worst MotoGP seasons in years, and the situation doesn’t seem to be improving much. The doctor was overtaken at Laguna Seca, and finished in sixth, ahead of team-mate Nicky Hayden.
Here’s the final classification
World Championship standings
1             STONER Casey                 AUS      193
2             LORENZO Jorge                SPA       173
3             DOVIZIOSO Andrea        ITA        143
4             PEDROSA Dani                 SPA       110
5             ROSSI Valentino              ITA        108
6             SPIES Ben                          USA      98
7             HAYDEN Nicky                 USA      94
8             EDWARDS Colin               USA      67
9             AOYAMA Hiroshi             JPN       63
10          SIMONCELLI Marco        ITA        60
11          BARBERA Hector             SPA       56
12          ABRAHAM Karel              CZE        46
13          BAUTISTA Alvaro             SPA       39
14          ELIAS Toni                         SPA       38
15          CRUTCHLOW Cal              GBR      34
16          CAPIROSSI Loris               ITA        26
17          DE PUNIET Randy            FRA       15
18          HOPKINS John                 USA      6
19          AKIYOSHI Kousuke         JPN       3