Stoner let down by Ducati front end

The Australian ran second behind Dani Pedrosa early on, but ran wide at Turn Three on lap five and surrendered the spot to Lorenzo, who beat him to the chequered flag by over 3s.

"Once the tyres and brakes had come in after a lap and a half, I thought I'd get close to Dani and try to make a pass," said the 2007 World Champion.

"But then I lost the front end in one of the turns. I pulled it back, tried to tone it down, and then I made another mistake and lost the front. And then I lost it again, and then I lost it in a big way and went very wide [when Lorenzo got by].

"I tried everything I could to steady my pace [early on], but still the front kept folding."

Stoner was able to find a rhythm later on and, once Pedrosa had crashed out, was able to finish second. The result maintained his fourth place in the World Championship, but closed him to within 12 points of third-placed Andrea Dovizioso.

He was satisfied with second, which represented his best finish of the 2010 season.

"I'm pretty happy with the set-up we ended up with and the way it all went. I'm happy we put up more of a fight than at any of the previous races," he added.