Casey Stoner has claimed his second consecutive Moto GP US Grand Prix at Leguna Seca Raceway, finishing ahead of Spaniards Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa in 43 minutes and 46 seconds.

But Lorenzo still retains the championship lead with a 23-point advantage over Pedrosa.

Stoner found his rhythm on lap two and darted past his Spanish teammate to assume second position.

As the leading trio were heading into lap 13, Pedrosa had a huge wobble before the final turn, that drop him back a second from Stoner.

Later on, with only three laps left, Stoner was not showing any signs of slowing down as he kept Lorenzo at bay with a gap of up to one second, while Pedrosa was a further three seconds behind in third.

Unfortunately, there was drama in the penultimate lap as Valentino Rossi suffered a big crash heading into the corkscrew, for his first Did Not Finish of the season.

Thankfully the multiple former world champion was unhurt.