Australia's Casey Stoner notched up Ducati's maiden MotoGP victory of the season when he dominated the Aragon Grand Prix from pole to the chequered flag today.
The 2007 world champion, who started from pole for the 20th time of his career, finished 5.148sec ahead of Spain's Dani Pedrosa (Honda) at the Motorland Aragon circuit in north-east Spain.
American Nicky Hayden, also on a Ducati, made it a memorable day for the Italian bike manufacturers when he trumped Spain's Jorge Lorenzo on the final lap to claim third, at 9.496sec, and deprive the Yamaha rider a podium finish for the first time in 14 races.
"It's been too long between wins, that's for sure," said Stoner, who last won in Malaysia in October last year.
"We started out pretty well this weekend, and we got on with the track. We progressed and got better."
Stoner admitted to having fallen in final preparations ahead of the race, taking a tumble over the white lines at turn 14.
"I was a little bit nervous this morning, but I'm really happy to bring it home," he said. "It was unexpected for us."
Second-placed Pedrosa paid credit to the Ducati team: "Ducati were very strong, with both riders on the podium.
"I tried everything, I didn't start well but I recovered," he said of his battle with Casey.
"But I was too far from Casey. We did many laps at the same pace but couldn't get him on corners. He did good."
Lorenzo finished fourth on Hayden's coat-tails, but retained his lead in the overall standings.
"I didn't mean to leave it that late," said Hayden of his nail-biting fight with Lorenzo. "In the final laps, Jorge kept the doors shut.
"It's been a very good weekend for us."
With five races of the 2010 season remaining, Lorenzo has now amassed 284 points, with Pedrosa on 228 and Stoner in third place with 155.
Six-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi of Italy came in sixth, more than 27sec off the pace, and sits fourth in the standings on 140 points.
In the day's other racing, Italian Andrea Iannone of the Speed Up team won the Moto2 for his third victory of the season.
The Italian dominated the race, securing victory from pole position by a margin of 6.203sec over Spain's Julian Simon (Suter), with Hungarian Gabor Talmacsi (Speed Up) in third.
Championship leader Toni Elias finished fourth to retain his place atop the overall standings on 224 points, 76 ahead of Simon. Iannone moves into third and is now four points off Simon.
There was some home joy, however, when Pol Espargaro, riding a Derbi, won the 125cc race ahead of compatriot Nicolas Terol and Briton Bradley Smith, both on Aprilias, for his third win of the season.
The championship was blown wide open after pre-race leader Marc Marquez crashed out on the first lap.
Terol's second place saw him move atop the overall standings on 208 points, with Espargaro moving into second on 202, whilst Marquez drops to third and remains on 197.