FIAT Yamaha Team's Valentino Rossi (Photo: Yamaha Racing) » More Photos

With Rossi, Pedrosa and Edwards running line astern the race never developed into a tense battle up front, with the most interest being in Hayden's early charge and then Stoner's late surge.

As Hayden faded to seventh having overworked his front tire during the opening laps, Stoner did the opposite and he was the fastest rider on track over final five laps. He climbed from ninth to fifth at the finish, just failing to chase down fourth placed Toni Elias (Honda).

"I got a good start and the first few laps were decent – I was pushing really hard, though I didn't really have the set-up to run at that pace," Hayden said. "It felt good to be up front and see what those boys were doing but I was taking a few chances and I probably used up my tires too much in the first few laps. The issue is still getting the front end to turn, especially when the front tire gets a little worn."

Spanish veteran Checa had promised much after qualifying third on the front row and he finished sixth, ahead of Hayden, after mid-race battle with Stoner.

Italian Marco Melandri was eighth, ahead of an exciting last lap battle for ninth which was narrowly taken by Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen who passed Shinya Nakano (tenth) and Alex Barros (11th) on the final lap. Gearbox problems slowed Kenny Roberts Jr who finished 16th after starting tenth following a qualifying run that saw him just 0.3s off pole position.

The next MotoGP race is the Turkey Grand Prix on April 22.