Stoner wins at home
Added on Sunday, October 5th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Stoner wins at home
Casey Stoner took home victory in the Australian Grand Prix for the second year in succession. The Ducati rider led Sunday’s race from start to finish after lining up on pole. Resurgent American Nicky Hayden pushed his Honda hard in second but his efforts got increasingly sideways as the race, and his tyres, wore on. Stoner performed faultlessly in front of the 50,000 spectators enjoying the brilliant sunshine and racing at Phillip Island. The young Australian took victory on his Ducati with a six second advantage over Valentino Rossi.
The newly crowned world champion produced another superb ride as he battled through the pack from his lowly twelfth position on the gird. Rossi had crashed at very high speed during Saturday’s practice and missed a lot of laps as he got taken away and checked out. The Doctor looked cured enough on Sunday as he carved his way up and snatched second from a frustrated Hayden on the final lap. On the way to the podium Rossi managed to show just how good he can ride a motorcycle, including saving a big front end moment as he pushed his way through the field.
Dani Pedrosa binned it when he ran wide in the early shoving and pushing. The Spaniard took the scenic route on the first lap at the challenging Australian circuit and was unable to rejoin the race. Pedrosa’s crash and Stoner’s victory means that the Australian is virtually assured the runner-up spot for 2008.
A battle for fourth raged hard as Rossi´s team mate Jorge Lorenzo fought hard with Shinya Nakano, James Toseland and Andrea Dovizioso. In a thrilling climax to the race Lorenzo somehow managed to squeeze Dovizioso to grab fourth. Earlier in the race Toseland had given Rossi a run for his money as he hunted for a podium finish to celebrate his 28th birthday. Toseland gave his best ever performance onboard a MotoGP bike but was eventually outfoxed by Nakano at the end of the race and crossed the line in sixth.
Chris Vermeulen was unable to exploit his Phillip Island circuit knowledge. The Australian was back in last after he also got hustled off track along with Sylvain Guintoli in the hectic first lap action. The pair were so far back after going grass tracking, they only managed to pass the struggling Marco Melandri by the end of the race.
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