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Dani Pedrosa put himself back in the running for the FIM MotoGP World Championship title as he won the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.

Starting from fourth on the grid, the Repsol Honda rider put together an imperious race before slowing in the final lap to cross 0.344 seconds ahead of Valentino Rossi.

Pole sitter Jorge Lorenzo overcame multiple injuries from a bad crash at the end of the qualifying session to finish in third, 1.926secs back on Pedrosa, while Casey Stoner, who also crashed in qualifying, was fourth.

It was a brave race form Lorenzo, who needed painkillers to compete after suffering a fractured foot and dislocated shoulder in the crash.

He passed Stoner with 11 laps to go, then, with four laps to go, the Spaniard attempted to take Fiat Yamaha team-mate Rossi, but in the end did well to keep his bike on the track as the Italian held him off.

Meanwhile, Pedrosa was untroubled in the lead and could even ease off a touch as coasted home for his first win in a year.

The win takes him fourth in the rider standings on 92 points, while Rossi remains first on 151, nine ahead of Lorenzo.

Pedrosa told BBC2: "The performance was very good. I was comfortable, I was doing great laps, and just in the last lap I relaxed a little bit too much.

"When I saw in the last lap the bike of Rossi I thought maybe I was too slow.

"But it's a good feeling to be back winning for me and my team."

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