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

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, while 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.

POLE POSITION

Rossi had won five of the last six premier-class races in Catalunya and looked to be on course for another victory after claiming the 39th top-category pole position of his career on Saturday.

However, no rider has won from pole this season and Rossi dropped back to fourth on the first corner.

Stoner took charge of the race when he outpowered Pedrosa on the long straight at the start of the second lap and the duo threatened to pull away from Rossi and Hopkins.

The Italian stepped up a gear in the mid section of the race, picked off Pedrosa on lap 11 and then set about tackling Stoner.

Rossi dived inside Stoner with just over seven laps to go with a daring move on the inside, but the Australian refused to wilt and hit back almost immediately.

With Pedrosa taking advantage to join in the dice, the leading trio fought out a thrilling battle at the front.

Stoner used the superior top-end speed of the Ducati to overhaul Rossi on the long home straight, while Rossi got the better of his younger rival on the corners.

The leadership chopped and 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.

(Writing by Simon Baskett in Madrid)

Provisional results:

1. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati   43 minutes 16.907 seconds
2. Valentino Rossi (Italy [Images]) Yamaha            43:16.976
3. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda                43:17.297
4. John Hopkins (U.S.) Suzuki                43:24.721
5. Randy de Puniet (France [Images]) Kawasaki         43:34.760
6. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati            43:36.316
7. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki        43:36.402
8. Alex Barros (Brazil [Images]) Ducati               43:41.769
9. Marco Melandri (Italy) Honda              43:41.870
10. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha              43:52.255
11. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda                43:53.208
12. Makoto Tamada (Japan [Images]) Yamaha             43:55.627
13. Alex Hofmann (Germany [Images]) Ducati            43:57.841
14. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Yamaha         44:01.306
15. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Honda              44:11.100

World 250cc motorcycling championship standings:

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Aprilia           153 points
2. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda          117
3. Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Aprilia    115
4. Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Aprilia         100
5. Hector Barbera (Spain) Aprilia           71
6. Thomas Luethi (Switzerland [Images]) Aprilia      56
7. Julian Simon (Spain) Honda               52
8. Mika Kallio (Finland) KTM                40
9. Marco Simoncelli (Italy) Gilera          38
10. Shuhei Aoyama (Japan) Honda             37
11. Fabrizio Lai (Italy) Aprilia            28
12. Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) KTM              26
13. Anthony West (Australia) Aprilia        25
14. Yuki Takahashi (Japan) Honda            22
15. Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia         19
16. Ratthapark Wilairot (Thailand) Honda    16
17. Roberto Locatelli (Italy) Gilera        14
18. Alex Debon (Spain) Aprilia              11
19. Dirk Heidolf (Germany) Aprilia          10
20. Alex Baldolini (Italy) Aprilia          10
21. Karel Abraham (Czech Republic) Aprilia   7
22. Taro Sekiguchi (Japan) Aprilia           6
23. Jules Cluzel (France) Aprilia            3
24. Eugene Laverty (Ireland) Honda           3
25. Arturo Tizon (Spain) Aprilia             1

(Compiled by Infostrada Sports)