Casey Stoner, of Australia, claimed his second consecutive Moto GP US Grand Prix at California’s Laguna Seca Raceway, finishing ahead of Spaniards Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa late Sunday.

Reigning world champion Stoner completed the 32 laps in 43 minutes, 45.961 seconds, finishing three seconds ahead of Lorenzo, who started from pole.

Stoner, 26, earned his fourth win of the season on the same circuit he was crowned champion in 2007 and 2011.

Stoner was the lone top rider to choose the soft-compound Bridgestone tyre.

“With the soft tyre, we knew that we would have to be a little bit gentle on it,” he said.

“If we pushed on it very hard the whole way through the race then it wouldn’t last.”

The podium spots were identical to last year and like 2011 Lorenzo was leading the race before being overtaken by Stoner.

Lorenzo couldn’t hold off the Aussie eventually surrendering the lead on lap 21.

“Casey was the best, fastest and most consistent. It was not my day, it was the day of Casey,” Lorenzo said.

Pedrosa placed third – as in 2011 – crossing the finish line more than seven seconds behind the winner.

The World Championship positions remain unchanged with Lorenzo in first place with 205 points followed by Pedrosa (182) and Stoner (173).

This was Stoner’s fourth win of 2012 to go with victories in the Grand Prix of Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.