Australia's Casey Stoner has won his fifth MotoGP race of 2007 and extended his world championship lead to 26 points with a comfortable victory in a wet British MotoGP at Donington.

Stoner overcame a horrible start, where he slipped back as far as 12th after starting from the second row, to pick his way through the field in slippery conditions and light English rain. He gained the lead as the track dried up and pole-sitter Colin Edwards made a mistake on lap 15 of 30.

His Ducati had plenty to spare over his FIAT Yamaha rival late in the race, riding away from Edwards to win by 11.768 seconds. Fellow Australian Vermeulen rode an impressive race on his Rizla Suzuki to come from 12th on the grid and finish third, overtaking seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi late in the race.

Another Aussie Anthony West, making his debut for Kawasaki, looked a chance to cause a massive upset, getting his machine up to fourth from 17th on the grid after just seven laps. But he ran wide, and put his bike into the mud. By the time he recovered, he was back to 15th and mulling what could have been. He did fight his way back through the field to finish 11th.

But the day belonged to Stoner, who again demonstrated his extraordinary skill and patience. Taking few risks, but making the most of the mistakes of his opponents, he didn't panic when Dani Pedrosa and Colin Edwards cleared out early on.

Pedrosa had led the race within the first lap, and he and Edwards looked set to clear out. But the Spaniard's race turned sour, and within the one lap, the seventh, he dropped back from first to fifth. His team-mate Nicky Hayden was having a worse day, crashing out early on.

The drying of the track meant positions were more settled, and Stoner, the fastest man on the track, sat close to Edwards' back wheel, waiting for his chance. Edwards slipped up, Stoner went through and the 21-year-old was never headed.

The drama wasn't quite finished as Loris Capirossi's barnstorming late run through the field came to a spectacular end, while Vermeulen closed in on Rossi in the final few laps. The Queenslander got the Italian legend under brakes with four laps to go, to add to his third place in Australia last year and his win in France earlier this year.

Stoner now has 165 points, Rossi 139, while Pedrosa is close to out of contention in third on 106. Vermeulen is now fourth on 88 points.

In the 250ccs, defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo succumbed to conditions, failing to finish, and giving Alex De Angelis and Andrea Dovizioso a chance to bridge the gap in the world championship. De Angelis was within sight of victory, but hit the tarmac on the penultimate lap, handing Dovizioso the race, and second place in the championship, on a platter. Japan's Hiroshi Aoyama took third, just ahead of compatriot Yuki Takahashi.

Lorenzo's lead is now just 11 points over Dovizioso, while De Angelis is seven points further back in third. Sportal

In Italian: Donington, trionfo Stoner, Vale fuori anche dal podio

L'australiano della Ducati recupera dal 9° posto e trionfa sulla Yamaha di Edwards. Male Rossi che chiude 4° dietro a Vermeulen e vede allontanarsi la vetta del Mondiale. Capirossi cade, Melandri 10°

Stoner vede il sole, le nuvole sono su Rossi. Che dopo aver perso nel regno di Catalogna, perde anche nella sua seconda casa di Donington. Troppo forte l'australiano della Ducati, 9° dopo la prima curva, in testa al traguardo. Dietro, l'altra Yamaha di Edwards, dietro ancora quella di Rossi, quarto e pensieroso, sorpassato pure dalla Suzuki di Vermeulen: ora il distacco mondiale è di 27 punti.