This is the Ducati Marlboro rider's second victory of what has turned out to be a difficult season. Today's win allows him to take third in the points table ahead of Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo, but still 45 points behind Rossi.
Stoner made a perfect start from pole position and after four laps he already had a one-second gap over Rossi, which doubled five laps later and steadily increased to over six by lap 25 of the 30-lap race.
Starting from the second slot of the grid, Fiat Yamaha's Rossi immediately fought and defended his second place with JiR Honda's Andrea Dovizioso, who had a fine start from sixth.
Behind them, Pedrosa had another good start with his Repsol Honda from ninth on the grid to take fifth within the first corners. After overtaking teammate Nicky Hayden on lap four and Dovizioso on lap eight, the Spaniard slotted in third place behind championship rival Rossi, who led him by seven points before this race.
Mid way through the race the two exchanged positions a few times, after which Pedrosa seemed content with his third place, eventually ending the race 2.5 seconds behind Rossi and eight behind Stoner.
Colin Edwards took a solid fourth place with his Tech 3 Yamaha, ahead of Dovizioso who just managed to fend off a stunning Lorenzo, who made an amazing recovery from injury.
The Spanish rookie, who missed the last race at Barcelona after a crash in practice, had a cautious qualifying session in the rain yesterday and started the race from the 17th slot.
But by the end of the first lap he was in the top ten, and with six laps of the race to go he closed the gap to Hayden and Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen, who were fighting hard for sixth position, and passed them both in the following lap.
Behind Hayden and Vermeulen, in seventh and eighth position respectively, came the Honda Gresini of Shinya Nakano and the Kawasaki of Anthony West to complete the top ten.
After his victories at Donington in Superbikes, Tech 3's rookie James Toseland had a nightmare home race with a crash in the first corner that also forced Kawasaki's John Hopkins wide.
The Briton held his wrist in pain but rejoined the track to finish 17th and last over a lap down, while the American carried on but retired on lap 17 when his Ninja bike broke down.
Alex de Angelis also had a crash on his Honda Gresini on lap two. He too rejoined the race and ended 15th ahead of an even more disappointing than usual Melandri, who ended the race one and a half minutes behind his winning teammate Stoner.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 44:44.982 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) + 5.789 3. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) + 8.347 4. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 12.678 5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 14.801 6. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) + 15.690 7. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 18.196 8. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 21.666 9. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 29.354 10. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) + 41.030 11. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 44.426 12. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 46.199 13. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 48.731 14. Ben Spies Suzuki (B) + 49.591 15. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) +1:22.186 16. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) +1:30.021 17. James Toseland Yamaha (M) + 1 lap Retirements:Rider Bike Laps John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 16
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