Championship leader Casey Stoner produced an ice-cool performance to hold off a charging Valentino Rossi and claim his fourth race victory of the season in a thrilling Catalan MotoGP yesterday.

The 21-year-old Australian came under intense pressure from the seven-times world champion in the closing stages of the race but he never lost his nerve and used the superior speed of his Ducati to clinch a memorable victory.

Local favourite Dani Pedrosa crossed the line in third on his Honda while American John Hopkins repeated his performance of last year with fourth place on the Suzuki.

Frenchman Randy de Puniet came home behind Hopkins to record his best ever MotoGP finish on the Kawasaki and ensure that a different manufacturer occupied each of the top five places.

Stoner's Ducati team-mate Loris Capirossi was sixth ahead of Australia's Chris Vermeulen, while defending world champion Nicky Hayden was back in 11th spot.

The win meant that Stoner extended his lead over Rossi in the standings to 14 points after seven races, with Pedrosa another 28 points further back in third.

"There was a lot of overtaking going on out there," said Stoner. "It was definitely a thinking race.

"Valentino was a demon on the brakes and I nearly clipped the rear of him a couple of times. He has won here so many times that it was good to win this one."

Rossi's second place was his 96th podium finish, the highest number by any rider in the blue-riband category.

Rossi had won five of the last six premier-class races in Catalunya and looked to be on course for another victory after claiming pole on Saturday.

However, no rider has won from pole this season.

The leadership changed countless times in the closing stages, but it was Stoner who hit the front at the start of the final lap, kept Rossi at bay and won the drag race to the finish line.

Jorge Lorenzo continued his domination of the 250cc class when he won his fifth race of the season with an authoritative flag-to-flag victory.

Japan's Tomoyoshi Koyama snatched his maiden grand prix victory after winning the 125cc race.