Stoner repeats Australian victory ahead of rejuvenated Rossi

2008-10-05 01:30
In front of 50,541 spectators at Phillip Island, Casey Stoner repeated his 2007 home victory in the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. The Ducati rider led the race from start to finish after taking off from pole, and eventually crossed the line some six seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

Stoner's fifth victory of the year, combined with a first lap crash from Dani Pedrosa, means that last year's MotoGP World Champion is all-but assured of the runner-up spot in the standings in 2008. Pedrosa picked up a contusion to his left leg in the fall, but was otherwise unharmed in the incident.

Stoner's future Ducati teammate Nicky Hayden attempted to keep up with the local hero over the course of the race, but the Australian proved too hot to handle in the final third. From then on Hayden had to be aware of the threat of newly crowned MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi lurking in the shadows, as the Fiat Yamaha stalked the man who beat him to the title in 2006.

Rossi overtook Hayden on the final lap, and held off the American's attempts to re-pass him as the chequered flag loomed. Starting from his worst position on the grid of the entire season, Rossi's move up to second from twelfth was nothing short of majestic.

Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo came home fourth in the battle of the race, involving himself, Shinya Nakano, James Toseland and Andrea Dovizioso. Toseland had been the chief protagonist of the action over the course of the 27-lap race, duking it out with Rossi and Lorenzo in the early stages and pushing hard for the podium on his 28th birthday. The Tech 3 Yamaha rider gave perhaps his best performance to date onboard a MotoGP bike, and was unlucky to be hustled by the more experienced Nakano and relegated to sixth.

Colin Edwards, Randy de Puniet and Loris Capirossi rounded off the first ten past the line, whilst home rider Chris Vermeulen was denied the chance to push for a higher position by his running off-track on the opening lap.

Rossi's charge up the field could easily have been halted by the only other crash apart from that of Pedrosa, when Alex de Angelis hit the ground just a few yards in front of him.

Casey Stoner- Race Winner
"I wasn't disappointed in Japan, the two crashes that I had was when I lost the championship. Valentino has ridden really well and was hard to beat this year. This morning we changed some things on the bike and felt comfortable. We knew that the race was going to be hard, as normally you cant get away here, but we did. Nicky was with me for a while but then he seemed to drop off. To be World Champion last year and in running for second this year is great; If we can challenge for the title again next year it will be fantastic, and if not for now the home victory is something that we can be happy with."


250cc

Marco Simoncelli held off the challenge of Alvaro Bautista at Phillip Island to edge one step closer to the 250cc world title, taking his fifth win of the 2008 season in a fiercely contested duel.

The race had been a two-rider battle between the top pair in the class from the halfway point, as Simoncelli and Bautista shook off the rest of the leading pack with some blisteringly fast laps. Sebastian Porto's circuit record from 2004 came tumbling down after having been broken by Simoncelli on just the second lap, and the final moments of the race involved Bautista stalking his persistent rival for a last-gasp pass.

Simoncelli found just enough of an advantage to steer clear of Bautista's advances, the two riders touching on the last lap in a tense moment. Both riders stayed up, with the Metis Gilera rider pulling away from the Mapfre Aspar man.

The top three in the race were the same as in the overall standings, with Mika Kallio slipstreaming Julian Simon on the home straight to take the podium by just 0.028. The Finn picked up valuable points for his own attempts to prevent a Simoncelli title victory, whilst Simon was once again denied a first podium in the class.

Alex Debon, Roberto Locatelli and Yuki Takahashi had an entertaining fight to decide positions five through seven, whilst Aleix Espargaro, Ratthapark Wilairot and Fabrizio Lai rounded off the top ten.

Simoncelli has the chance to win the quarter-litre crown at the next race in Malaysia.


125cc

As Valentino Rossi had done last weekend at Motegi in the premier class, Mike di Meglio took the 125cc World Championship crown with a victory at the Australian Grand Prix. The Frenchman capped off a great weekend and a fantastic season with his fourth win of 2008, having led for almost the entire race.

The Ajo Motorsport rider had started from pole, although he was beaten to the first corner by Polaris World's Bradley Smith. A crash for the Briton left a clear track ahead for the World Championship leader, who soon broke free to put a considerable gap between himself and his rivals.

Winner of the last round in Japan, Stefan Bradl continued his rostrum form from five of the six most recent Grands Prix, coming home a comfortable second to Di Meglio. The German was some ten seconds down on his rival, but still held a solid advantage over Gabor Talmacsi and Andrea Iannone —the two riders battling for the final podium spot. Talmacsi ensured that the top three riders from Japan returned to Cava-spraying duties.

Pol Espargaro came home in fifth, ahead of Sandro Cortese who had crashed on the second lap but picked his Emmi-Caffe Latte Aprilia up to continue the race. They were involved in an entertaining tussle with Repsol KTM riders Esteve Rabat and Marc Marquez, the latter crossing the line seventh but relegated to ninth after being hit with a 1 second penalty for his move on Simone Corsi. Eighth place finisher Corsi conceded the 125cc title by failing to place fifth or higher.

The top ten was completed by British rider Scott Redding.

Source: Dorna

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