Casey Stoner rode to his fourth victory of the 2009 MotoGP season, and second in a row, with an incredible wet weather ride at Sepang in Malaysia on Sunday.

A heavy tropical storm delayed the race start and meant the 17-rider field would be riding in wet conditions for the first time all weekend.

Starting third - after Jorge Lorenzo was moved to the back of the grid - Stoner got a poor start, but salved the situation with some smart moves through the right-left first turns, which he emerged in fourth position.

The Ducati star rode around his rivals to lead by the end of first lap, then appeared to almost effortlessly pull over 17 seconds ahead, before backing off slightly as the track began to dry to win by 14.666sec.

“It was the same conditions for everyone today. None of us had tested in the wet here for quite a long time,” said Stoner. “I was a bit tentative and didn't get a good start, but slotted into fourth coming out of turn two and was pretty happy with that.

“When I took the lead I thought I'd test the track for a few laps and I didn't expect to pull the gap I did.

“After that I just decided to keep going for at least half race distance and by the time I got a gap I was happy with I backed off because the track was starting to dry a bit. The tyres were actually in a lot better condition than I thought, but they were getting a bit 'greasy',” he explained.

Having missed three rounds to seek treatment for mystery fatigue problems, Stoner has now finished a near-perfect 2nd, 1st and 1st in the three races since his return.

“We can't ask for anything more,” declared the 2007 world champion. “These last three races been have been close to perfect, we were only one result off that in Portugal and that is a difficult circuit for us anyway.

“A big thanks to my team, everyone that has supported me and all the doctors that have helped me out.

“I'm really looking forward to Valencia now, a circuit I really enjoy,” he continued. “We're really strong now and I can only see us getting stronger from here, which is great news for next season.”

Whilst Stoner celebrated victory, third for Valentino Rossi gave the Italian his ninth world championship.