Casey Stoner’s authority on his home Phillip Island track continued in style on Sunday as the Ducati rider won at the circuit for the fourth year in a row. Starting from pole position – his third of the season – the 25 year-old led the Iveco Australian Grand Prix from start to finish as he made it a third win of 2010 in front of a partisan crowd.
Eventually crossing the finish line 8.598s ahead of 2010 World Champion Jorge Lorenzo it was the perfect end to a strong weekend from Stoner, who had demonstrated his pace throughout the practice and qualifying sessions.
Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) rode a lonely race in second position as he finished almost ten seconds ahead of third-placed Valentino Rossi. For the Spaniard it was a 14th podium finish in his title-winning campaign – his 32nd top-three result in the MotoGP category in what was his 50th premier class start.
The fight for third place went right down to the final lap and Fiat Yamaha man Rossi edged out Nicky Hayden in what was a fantastically close battle. The Ducati rider appeared to have got one over on his Italian rival with three laps to go when he overtook at Honda Corner, but Rossi returned the move at the same place on the final lap to beat the American to the final podium spot by a margin of just 0.038s.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Ben Spies achieved his eighth top-five finish of his maiden MotoGP campaign and with it secured Rookie of the Year, with fellow premier class debutant Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) just under three seconds further back in sixth position.
There were top-ten finishes also for Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing), Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda). Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) was the only rider who failed to finish the race after he experienced technical problems early on.
Absent due to injuries were Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) – who rode in qualifying but opted not to race as he continues his recovery from a broken collarbone – and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), who sustained a groin injury in a qualifying session crash. The pair both expect to be fit to return at Estoril in a fortnight.
The result lifted Stoner into third in the Championship standings ahead of Rossi, and with the Italian and his Spanish team-mate’s podium finishes Fiat Yamaha also secured the Team Championship for 2010 with two rounds remaining.
IVECO AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX MotoGP Race Classification 2010
Phillip Island, Sunday, October 17, 2010
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap
1 25 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team Ducati 175.1 41'09.128 2 20 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 174.5 +8.598 3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 173.8 +17.997 4 13 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 173.8 +18.035 5 11 11 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 173.5 +22.211 6 10 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 173.3 +25.017 7 9 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 172.6 +35.168 8 8 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 171.9 +46.194 9 7 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 171.9 +46.294 10 6 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 171.0 +59.635 11 5 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team Ducati 171.0 +59.664 12 4 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 171.0 +59.732 13 3 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP Honda 170.6 +1'05.029 14 2 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 170.6 +1'05.053
Not Classified 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 165.8 24 Laps
