Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo has taken another MotoGP victory, although he didn’t have it all his own way at Laguna Seca in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa made one of his trademark lightening starts, and the Spaniard appeared to be making a similar break for victory as he had done in the previous round.
Pedrosa’s race came to a crashing end, though, on Lap 11 when he came unstuck at turn five, leaving his fellow Spaniard to take his Yamaha M1 to a sixth win of the season – his first at the Californian circuit.
Australian Casey Stoner finished in second place, 3.517s behind Lorenzo. It is Stoner’s best result of the year and his fourth podium in a row.
Stoner finished comfortably ahead of Valentino Rossi, who took his first podium since his return to racing after breaking his leg just a few weeks ago.
Rossi had to work for the podium, chasing down fellow Italian Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda).
The battle for top American went to Nicky Hayden (Ducati), who edged out Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech3) for fifth place. Spies’ experienced team-mate Colin Edwards finished seventh. The top 10 was completed by Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki).
| Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Jorge LORENZO | Fiat Yamaha Team | Yamaha |
43’54.873 |
| 2 | Casey STONER | Ducati Team | Ducati |
+3.517 |
| 3 | Valentino ROSSI | Fiat Yamaha Team | Yamaha |
+13.420 |
| 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
+14.188 |
| 5 | Nicky HAYDEN | Ducati Team | Ducati |
+14.601 |
| 6 | Ben SPIES | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha |
+19.037 |
| 7 | Colin EDWARDS | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha |
+40.721 |
| 8 | Marco MELANDRI | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda |
+47.219 |
| 9 | Mika KALLIO | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati |
+52.813 |
| 10 | Loris CAPIROSSI | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki |
+52.814 |
| 11 | Roger Lee HAYDEN | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda |
+1’14.089 |
| 12 | Alex DE ANGELIS | Interwetten Honda MotoGP | Honda |
+1’14.666 |
| Aleix ESPARGARO | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati |
4 Laps |
|
| Marco SIMONCELLI | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda |
14 Laps |
|
| Dani PEDROSA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda |
21 Laps |
|
| Hector BARBERA | Paginas Amarillas Aspar | Ducati |
29 Laps |
|
| Alvaro BAUTISTA | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki |
30 Laps |
MotoGP standings
| Pos. | Rider | Bike | Points |
| 1 | Jorge LORENZO | Yamaha |
210 |
| 2 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda |
138 |
| 3 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Honda |
115 |
| 4 | Casey STONER | Ducati |
103 |
| 5 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha |
90 |
| 6 | Nicky HAYDEN | Ducati |
89 |
| 7 | Ben SPIES | Yamaha |
77 |
| 8 | Randy DE PUNIET | Honda |
69 |
| 9 | Marco MELANDRI | Honda |
53 |
| 10 | Marco SIMONCELLI | Honda |
49 |
| 11 | Colin EDWARDS | Yamaha |
48 |
| 12 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati |
41 |
| 13 | Loris CAPIROSSI | Suzuki |
36 |
| 14 | Mika KALLIO | Ducati |
31 |
| 15 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Ducati |
28 |
| 16 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Suzuki |
25 |
| 17 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | Honda |
18 |
| 18 | Alex DE ANGELIS | Honda |
8 |
| 19 | Roger Lee HAYDEN | Honda |
5 |
| 20 | Kousuke AKIYOSHI | Honda |
4 |
| 21 | Wataru YOSHIKAWA | Yamaha |
1 |
