In an impressive display, Casey Stoner maintained his dominant presence at Phillip Island on Sunday, achieving victory for the fourth consecutive year as a Ducati rider at his home track.
Taking off from pole position, the 25-year-old led the Iveco Australian Grand Prix from the very beginning, securing his third win of 2010 in front of a cheering crowd of 41,537.
Stoner crossed the finish line 8.598 seconds ahead of the 2010 World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, marking a perfect conclusion to his strong weekend, during which he showcased impressive speed throughout the mixed conditions of practice and qualifying.
The race day brought bright sunshine and ideal racing conditions, allowing Stoner to gain over a second lead by the end of the first lap. Winning comfortably, he reflected, “This feels really nice. I think when I won two in a row here nobody expected me to make it three, but having done that, I felt there was a lot of expectation on me today. Everything has gone well for us; we have been happy with the bike from the first practice, and the support from the fans has been fantastic. I have to admit that before the race, I was feeling the pressure; I was more nervous than I normally am, but maybe I should feel like that more often because I didn’t make a single mistake! I am really happy with the way I rode today, but every single person in the team has done a great job this weekend, so my thanks go to them, and I hope we can keep it going to the end of the season.”
Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) managed a solitary second-place finish, crossing the line nearly ten seconds ahead of Valentino Rossi, who came in third. For Lorenzo, it marked his 14th podium finish during this title-winning season, coinciding with his 50th start in the premier class.
The battle for third place intensified down to the final lap, with Rossi narrowly beating Nicky Hayden in a tightly contested duel. Hayden looked to have the upper hand with three laps remaining, overtaking Rossi at Honda Hairpin, but Rossi retaliated at the same corner on the last lap, securing the final podium spot by just 0.038 seconds.
In his rookie MotoGP campaign, Ben Spies of Monster Yamaha Tech 3 finished in the top five for the eighth time and clinched the Rookie of the Year title, while fellow debutant Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) trailed behind in sixth by nearly three seconds.
Other riders who achieved top-ten finishes included Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing), Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini), and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda). Unfortunately, Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) did not complete the race due to technical issues he faced early on.
Missing the race due to injuries were Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), who participated in qualifying but chose not to race while recovering from a broken collarbone, and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), who incurred a groin injury during a crash in qualifying. Both riders anticipate a return to racing by the time of Estoril in two weeks.
As a result of this race, Stoner climbed to third place in the Championship standings, surpassing Rossi. Additionally, with both Italian and Spanish team-mates finishing on the podium, Fiat Yamaha secured the Team Championship for 2010 with two rounds still left in the season.
