Stoner Takes 4th Consecutive Win at Phillip Island

Casey Stoner dominated his home grand prix from beginning to end this weekend, clinching an easy fourth consecutive win at Phillip Island. The Ducati rider started from pole position on Sunday and took a commanding lead only a few laps into the race, eventually finishing ahead of Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo by more than 8 and a half seconds.

If one were to judge by the time difference between Stoner and Lorenzo, the conclusion would be simple. As far as those two were concerned, it was a boring race from start to finish. The true show for the Aussie fans was provided by the battle for 3rd place, in which no less than 5 riders were involved (in different stages of the race).

Initially, it was Tech 3 Yamaha’s Ben Spies against Ducati’s Nicky Hayden, Gresini Honda’s Marco Simoncelli and Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso. The Italian was forced to retire early in the race due to a steering issue, but was soon replaced in that battle for the podium by Valentino Rossi, who started the race from 8th place.

The 4 riders exchanged lead in the pack several times, before Rossi and Hayden finally managed to put some bike lengths between them and their rivals, making it a 2-rider fight. With 2 laps to go, the “Kentucky Kid” passed Rossi for 3rd, but the Italian did not let go and returned the favor in the last lap.

Eventually, the Doctor crossed the finish line some 0.038 seconds ahead of his future Ducati teammate, while Spies and Simoncelli had to settle for 5th and 6th respectively. The Top 10 was completed by Tech 3’s Colin Edwards, Pramac Ducati’s Aleix Espargaro, Gresini Honda’s Marco Melandri and LCR Honda’s Randy de Puniet.