Rossi lands another world title

Stoner's second successive race victory was achieved with a yawning gap of 14.666seconds back to Pedrosa.

Yet it was Rossi's achievement which dominated, as he duly defended the crown he won last year.

For Pedrosa, minor honours were accompanied by the statistic of a 78th career podium finish.

Torrential rain caused a 35-minute delay and left behind a saturated track, on which Jorge Lorenzo was relegated from second to the back of the grid after a technical problem on the sighting lap.

Lorenzo was eventually to finish fourth, just behind the Italian.

As Stoner began to grind out a huge advantage - four seconds in front after only two laps - Nicky Hayden, Lorenzo and Rossi jockeyed for their positions in behind.

Pedrosa and his Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso were engaged in a duel for second until the latter slid off on lap 14 on a still greasy track.

Rossi was therefore up to third - and although he could never get to Pedrosa, he had done enough.

Behind Rossi, American Hayden finished fifth - equalling his second-best result of the campaign - and Aleix Espargaro marked his third race of the season by coming in a promising 11th.