Casey Stoner was left to lament more front end problems with his Ducati that cost him any chance of a victory at the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.
The Australian had to settle for second place behind championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, the 10 Moto GP race in a row Stoner has competed in without securing a win.
The US Grand Prix was Stoner's best chance of victory since crashing from the lead in Qatar, as he battled Lorenzo all weekend but his front-end problems again denied him any chance of a win.
Stoner initially held second behind Dani Pedrosa, but ran wide on lap six, letting Lorenzo past. He then regained second spot when Pedrosa crashed out on lap 12 but could never close the gap on Lorenzo to push for victory.
"The bike felt good at the start of the race but at this circuit you always have to wait for a lap, a lap and a half for the tyres to warm up," Stoner said.
"As soon as everything felt alright I thought I'd try to push and make a pass on Dani for the lead but I immediately lost the front."
"I pulled myself back together and tried to hunt him down again but made another little mistake."
"Another lap or two later I closed the front again and ran well wide, I was almost off the track. At that point I decided just to gather myself, ride smooth and consistent and try not to lose too much time to the two guys in front of me."
"I started to pull them in but lost the front again. It was a shame because the bike felt good around most of the circuit, we just struggled with the front in a couple of corners."
"Having said that I'm happy and thankful to my guys because we were able to put up more of a fight this weekend."
While Stoner's win drought continued, it was the Australian's fourth podium finish in a row.
Italian Valentino Rossi, in just his second race back from a broken leg, finished in third place behind Stoner.
Victory moves Lorenzo onto 210 points, with Pedrosa second on 138 and his Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, who finished fourth, in third on 115.