Jorge Lorenzo extended his lead at the top of the championship standings to 72 points after winning the US Grand Prix.
The Spaniard capitalised on an error by his closest rival Dani Pedrosa, who was out in front when he crashed out at turn five with 21 laps to go.
Yamaha’s Lorenzo cruised to the win once he had clear track ahead of him.
Casey Stoner came second and Valentino Rossi achieved a superb third place in only his second race since returning after six weeks out with a broken leg.
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MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo Wins U.S. Grand Prix
The victory was Lorenzo’s fourth in the last five races - Spain’s Pedrosa won last time out in Germany - and puts him firmly in control of the championship. BBC Sport
The Italian legend returned to the podium just seven weeks after breaking his leg at Mugello after catching and overtaking Pedrosa’s team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.
The battle went right to the final turn, when Dovi ran wide after a last-gasp attempt to reclaim third.
That mistake almost handed fourth place to top American Nicky Hayden, who crossed the line less than half a second from Dovizioso.
Another American, rookie Ben Spies, got an electric start and followed Pedrosa through from the second row to hold a threatening fourth place in the opening laps.
However, an unseen moment on lap three dropped the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider back to seventh.
Spies then worked his way forwards and took fifth from Hayden on lap 21 and was setting himself up for a move on Rossi (then in fourth) when he dropped back behind Hayden once again on lap 25.
Spies was visibly frustrated as he returned to the pits after finishing in sixth.
One place, but 20 seconds, behind Spies was team-mate Colin Edwards, with Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda), Mika Kallio (Pramac Ducati) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) completing the top ten. Yahoo! Eurosport UK
Pos. Points Num. Rider Team Time/Gap 1 25 99 Jorge LORENZO Fiat Yamaha Team 43'54.873 2 20 27 Casey STONER Ducati Team 3.517 3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI Fiat Yamaha Team 13.42 4 13 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 14.188 5 11 69 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 14.601 6 10 11 Ben SPIES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 19.037 7 9 5 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 40.721 8 8 33 Marco MELANDRI San Carlo Honda Gresini 47.219 9 7 36 Mika KALLIO Pramac Racing Team 52.813 10 6 65 Loris CAPIROSSI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 52.814 11 5 95 Roger Lee HAYDEN LCR Honda MotoGP +1'14.089 12 4 15 Alex DE ANGELIS Interwetten Honda MotoGP +1'14.666 Not Classified 41 Aleix ESPARGARO Pramac Racing Team 4 Laps 58 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 14 Laps 26 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 21 Laps 40 Hector BARBERA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 29 Laps 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 30 Laps
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