Rider	Motorcycle	Team	Race time	Gap
1		Dani Pedrosa	Honda	Repsol Honda Team	44′01.580
2		Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	Fiat Yamaha Team	44′01.924	0.344
3		Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	Fiat Yamaha Team	44′03.506	1.926
4		Casey Stoner	Ducati	Ducati Marlboro Team	44′14.012	12.432
5		Nicky Hayden	Ducati	Ducati Marlboro Team	44′23.243	21.663
6		Toni Elias	Honda	San Carlo Honda Gresini	44′23.621	22.041
7		Colin Edwards	Yamaha	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	44′31.781	30.201
8		Chris Vermeulen	Suzuki	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	44′34.437	32.857
9		Randy De Puniet	Honda	LCR Honda MotoGP	44′41.905	40.325
10		Marco Melandri	Kawasaki	Hayate Racing Team	44′49.608	48.028
11		Alex De Angelis	Honda	San Carlo Honda Gresini	44′50.390	48.810
12		Niccolo Canepa	Ducati	Pramac Racing	45′20.111	1′18.531
13		Andrea Dovizioso	Honda	Repsol Honda Team		26 Lap
14		Sete Gibernau	Ducati	Grupo Francisco Hernando		26 Lap
15		Loris Capirossi	Suzuki	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP		29 Lap
16		Gabor Talmacsi	Honda	Scot Racing Team MotoGP		29 Lap
17		James Toseland	Yamaha	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Black flag

After more than a year without a victory for Honda, since his own win at Catalunya last season, Dani Pedrosa triumphed at Laguna Seca on Sunday, taking the holeshot from fourth on the grid and not looking back – to cross the finishing line ahead of his closest rival Valentino Rossi.

Following a string of crashes and injury problems Pedrosa was finally back to his very best, lapping at a pace which none of his opponents could match. At one stage he had built up a significant gap at the front and although Rossi chased him down on the final lap there were no mishaps this time.

Pedrosa still has some way to go if he is to challenge at the head of the standings however, as current leader Rossi picked up more good World Championship points in second place, whilst Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner were third and fourth respectively.

Riding with an injured shoulder and foot, Lorenzo had a chance to overtake Rossi for second with four laps to go but got his move wrong and had to settle for the final podium place. Stoner ran with the frontrunners for most of the race but although he tired in the final stages he stayed within touching distance of Fiat Yamaha pair Rossi and Lorenzo at the top of the standings courtesy of his fourth place.

A good ride from Nicky Hayden at his favourite track saw him register his first top five result since joining Ducati, the American rider finishing just ahead of a similarly revitalised Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini).

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) and Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) completed the top ten.

There was disappointment for Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) who lost ground in the championship when he crashed out for the second race in succession on lap seven. Indeed only twelve riders completed the race as the likes of Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Racing), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Sete Gibernau (Grupo Francisco Hernando) and James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) went home with DNFs to their names.