BARCELONA, June 10 - 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 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 John Hopkins repeated his performance of last year with fourth place on the Suzuki.

The win meant that Stoner extended his lead over Rossi in the standings to 14 points.