Casey Stoner scored his 4th consecutive victory at his home track. It was a usual affair for the Ducati rider as he was unstoppable right from the Friday practice sessions. Stoner who celebrated his 25th birthday on Saturday
Demonstrated his pace throughout the qualifying session. On the other side Dani Pedrosa made a comeback after missing couple of races due to his broken collarbone. Later on he chose to sit out of the race as he was struggling in the qualifying.
The Rizla Suzuki rider Loris Capirossi also had to withdraw from the race due to an injury on Saturday.
On race day Stoner simply dominated the whole race right from the very first lap. He never gave the opposition a chance as he bolted from pole to a two-second lead after just two laps. The newly crowned MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo 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.
Though Stoner won at his home racetrack but the main attraction of the race was the fight for the final podium position between Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden. After snapping at Rossi’s heels for most of the race, Hayden made a move on former World Champion at the circuit’s Honda hairpin with less than three laps remaining. Rossi regained track position in an aggressive move at the same turn on the final lap, and then held on for the podium spot that left Hayden looking far from happy in the pit lane after the race. It was yet another exciting battle between the rookies. Eventually 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. Further Colin Edwards, Aleix Espargaro, Marco Melandri and Randy De Puniet completed the top ten spots. It was a day to forget for Repsol Honda team as their only representative Andrea Dovizioso retired from the race as his bike experienced some mechanical problems. With this victory the Australian moved up to third in the championship standings behind second-placed Spaniard Dani Pedrosa.
Casey Stoner scored his 4th consecutive victory at his home track. It was a usual affair for the Ducati rider as he was unstoppable right from the Friday practice sessions. Stoner who celebrated his 25th birthday on Saturday Demonstrated his pace throughout the qualifying session. On the other side Dani Pedrosa made a comeback after missing couple of races due to his broken collarbone. Later on he chose to sit out of the race as he was struggling in the qualifying. The Rizla Suzuki rider Loris Capirossi also had to withdraw from the race due to an injury on Saturday.On race day Stoner simply dominated the whole race right from the very first lap. He never gave the opposition a chance as he bolted from pole to a two-second lead after just two laps. The newly crowned MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo 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.Though Stoner won at his home racetrack but the main attraction of the race was the fight for the final podium position between Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden. After snapping at Rossi’s heels for most of the race, Hayden made a move on former World Champion at the circuit’s Honda hairpin with less than three laps remaining. Rossi regained track position in an aggressive move at the same turn on the final lap, and then held on for the podium spot that left Hayden looking far from happy in the pit lane after the race. It was yet another exciting battle between the rookies. Eventually 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. Further Colin Edwards, Aleix Espargaro, Marco Melandri and Randy De Puniet completed the top ten spots. It was a day to forget for Repsol Honda team as their only representative Andrea Dovizioso retired from the race as his bike experienced some mechanical problems. With this victory the Australian moved up to third in the championship standings behind second-placed Spaniard Dani Pedrosa.
Race results:-
1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 41m 9.128s
2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 41m 17.726s
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 41m 27.125s
4. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 41m 27.163s
5. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 41m 31.339s
6. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 41m 34.145s
7. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 41m 44.296s
8. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 41m 55.322s
9. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 41m 55.422s
10. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 42m 8.763s
11. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 42m 8.792s
12. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 42m 8.860s
13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 42m 14.157s
14. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 42m 14.181s
DNF:
Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team