Stoner triumphs on home soil

12 April 2012

Newly-crowned MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner delighted the home crowd at Phillip Island, claiming his ninth victory of the season at the Australian Grand Prix.

Stoner, who turns 22 on Tuesday, held onto his lead as he produced a master class to finish 6.763 seconds ahead of Ducati teammate Loris Capirossi, becoming the first Australian to win at Phillip Island since Mick Doohan's 1998 victory.

The one-two finish secured the constructors' championship for Ducati with Valentino Rossi beating Dani Pedrosa by 1.625 seconds to take the final spot on the podium.

Australian Stoner, who was crowned world champion for the first time with a sixth place finish in Japan three weeks ago, was third on the grid but enjoyed an excellent start, overtaking pole sitter Pedrosa and Rossi to lead at the first corner.

Capirossi, who captured his first win of the season in Japan, produced a spectacular move eight laps from the end to overtake the Rossi's Yamaha and Pedrosa's Honda in successive corners, moving up from fourth to second.

American Nicky Hayden also enjoyed a strong start, moving up from fourth to second at the first corner. But the frustrations continued for the 2006 world champion, who has yet to finish better than third this season, as his bike appeared to lose power on the 13th, forcing him out of the race.

The only other racer who failed to make it to the finish was Britain's Chaz Davies, who also retired on the unlucky 13th lap with technical problems

Spain's Jorge Lorenzo dominated the 250cc race on his Aprilia, finishing over 19 seconds ahead of the rest of the field to open up a 45 point lead in the championship standings.

Lorenzo's compatriot Alvaro Bautista took second place, narrowly edging out Italian Andrea Dovizioso, while Ireland's Eugene Laverty finished in 16th spot.

Czech Lukas Pesek claimed victory in an exciting 125cc race on his Derbi, edging out Spain's Joan Olive by only 0.090 seconds.

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