Casey Stoner wins in Barcelona

Taking the lead at the start of the race, Stoner gradually pulled away from his rivals. The Australian took full advantage of a slow getaway from pole-sitter Marco Simoncelli and cemented his lead with a succession of fast laps, proving too much for factory Yamaha duo Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies to beat.

The track had dried up by the time the grid formed for the start, but threating dark clouds loomed. As the race got underway Simoncelli had an awful start, dropping back to seventh in the space of just two corners. Lorenzo took the lead as a result and completed the first lap ahead of Stoner and Spies, while Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso entered a battle for fourth. However, Lorenzo's lead did not last long, with the Spaniard quickly losing out to Stoner on the second lap.

As the race reached its halfway mark rain began to fall, but it was not heavy enough to scare any riders into making a bike change. Stoner was able to keep his lead at around three seconds as drops fell, having an answer for the pace of Lorenzo and Spies behind. Dovizioso was able to resisted the pressure from Rossi after getting past earlier in the race, claiming fourth ahead of his compatriot.

Simoncelli could only manage sixth at the chequered flag, a disappointing result for the Gresini rider after such a promising start to the weekend. Cal Crutchlow gave the Tech 3 Yamaha squad something to cheer about after claiming seventh, while Nicky Hayden, Loris Capirossi and Karel Abraham completed the top ten.

The only two men to drop out of the race were Randy de Puniet and Hiroshi Aoyama, with the pair having to retire on Lap 3 after making contact at the first corner. The Japanese rider was in a lot of pain as he was helped up by marshalls, but he escaped without serious injury.