The Australian motorcyclist Casey Stoner has stretched his lead in the MotoGP standings after winning the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.
The Honda rider, who started the race just behind Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo on the front grid, took the lead with five laps remaining to finish 5.6 seconds ahead of the Spaniard.
Stoner extended his run of successive podiums this season to eight with his fifth win of the year in nine races and is now 20 points ahead of Lorenzo.
Honda's Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, winner of last week's German Grand Prix, took third with American Ben Spies giving the home fans something to celebrate by finishing fourth.
