by Nico Cereghini

On the track dedicated to Marco Simoncelli, Lorenzo will be the one to beat: he is the record holder and won in 2011. Will Pedrosa be able to put a stop to Lorenzo's winning streak? We are still hoping for a good race from Rossi, for a Iannone reinvigorated from Ducati testing and that Fenati keeps on trying.

by Nico Cereghini

Finally, the duel we've all been waiting for. Pedrosa against Lorenzo and MotoGP re-discovers what's been missing for a while. It was an all Spanish affair. Lorenzo started as favourite from pole then Pedrosa surprised everyone when he took the lead at mid race distance. The fight that followed was only decided at the last corner when Jorge forged ahead to take the win. This new decisive Pedrosa took his third win of the season and Daniel is now just 13 points behind Lorenzo in the fight for the title.

Carl Crutchlow marked his maiden podium in the series when he finished third ahead of his team mate Dovizioso who was followed by Stefan Bradl. The German rider's usual steady performance saw him cross the line ahead of Bautista and Valentino. Rossi started well from sixth place on the grid and even though he likes Brno and it suits the Ducati, an oil leak held him back. Pasini and Petrucci were relegated to finishing last due to the poor pace of their CRT machines.

The Moto2 race was full of action with Marquez coming home first to further extend his lead in the race for the title. The race was a four-way fight with Luthi finishing ahead of Espargaro and Iannone. These four riders are clearly the best in the category but the Spaniard Marc Marquez obviously also has that something extra in terms of bike performance. Simone Corsi rode well to finish fifth while Alex De Angelis was sixth, both of them ten seconds after Marquez.

In Moto3, the German rider Jonas Folger dominated in the damp weather conditions though the race behind him for the two remaining podium places was a hard-fought affair. In the end, just like at Indy, Luis Salom came home ahead of Cortese and Vinales. Fenati and Tonucci finished eighth and tenth making a good fight back that lasted the whole race.

by Nico Cereghini

Just like 2011, the usual suspects: Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa. The only difference was that Valentino went missing two laps from the end after crashing at the Corkscrew. He was unhurt but his morale will have taken a blow.

Casey with this fourth win of the season, performed brilliantly after opting for the somewhat risky strategy of running the softer tyres. He spent much of his time trying to conserve his tyres as much as possible but pushed hard right from the start and even more so towards the end of the race. The King of Laguna Seca enjoyed his third win in California.

Lorenzo, although beaten, is still in a good position. His lead over Pedrosa in the overall standings increased to 23 points and the one over Stoner is even bigger, Casey is now 32 points behind. Behind the leading group of three, there was a hard fought battle between Dovizioso and Crutchlow but it was the Italian who won as has often recently been the case. Ben Spies who was in front of them, was looking good but crashed out on lap twenty-one. It was difficult race for everyone on this tiring track. The German, Stefan Bradl, started very well and seemed to have the measure of the three Yamahas in front of him (the official bike of Ben and the two satellite machines) but his pace dropped off towards the end and had to give way to an on-form Nicky Hayden who this time stayed in front of Valentino to finish sixth, 27 seconds behind Stoner. Espargaro finished ninth behind Bautista and first in the CRT category. Petrucci and Pasini both fell.

And now? Rossi has just a few weeks to make a decision about his future after Ducati offered him a long-term contract at the Laguna meeting. He seems to have doubts. Time flies and he doesn't seem too keen to wait. His fall at Laguna was a carbon copy of what happened at Silverstone when he lost the front with no warning whatsoever. Very worrying. They say that he has already agreed to return to Yamaha with Lorenzo as his team mate even though this could cost him dearly in terms of both income and status as regards his role.