MANILA, Philippines -- Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner stormed to one of the greatest wins of his career with a tactically brilliant race on a warm, sunny day in the U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last Sunday. Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo was second with Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa third.

Stoner’s fifth MotoGP win of the season, and 28th overall, was an ominous sign for the competition. With the exception of 2009, when the race was won by Pedrosa, every winner at Laguna Seca has gone on to win the MotoGP World Championship, including Stoner in 2007.

Stoner kept alive his amazing record of a podium finish in every race he’s completed this season. The Australian now goes into the summer break with a 20-point lead over Lorenzo, 193 to 173. Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso, today’s fifth place finisher, is third with 143 points, and Pedrosa moved up to fourth in the championship, despite missing three races.

In the race Lorenzo led from the start with Pedrosa and Stoner chasing, with Dovi just off the back in fourth.

Pedrosa and Stoner kept the Yamaha rider honest, not letting him break away for the first half. The first major change of the order came on the 18th of 32 laps when Stoner passed Pedrosa in the Corkscrew, the track’s signature corner. Then it was on to Lorenzo who was nearly a second in front.

Stoner stalked and waited, not wanting to make a rash move on the 3.610-km track that rewards momentum and punishes mistakes.

There was nothing between Lorenzo and Stoner on the 23rd lap as they crossed the line separated by only .212s.

Then came Stoner’s move, which was brilliant and unexpected. He went around Lorenzo on the outside on the gas over the turn one crested kink at about 265 Km/h on the 27th lap.

Almost immediately Stoner began to pull out a gap. When the 27th lap ended, his lead was already .789s. By the second split of the 28th lap his lead was over a second and when the lap ended, with four to go, the lead was 1.544s. The eventual margin of victory was 5.634s.

Pedrosa was alone in third on the physically demanding circuit. He said the pace at the beginning was quite high and as the race wore on it became too much and he had to settle for third. Still, it was his second podium in a row following his comeback to race three races ago in Italy.