Stoner demolishes field

It wasn't much of a race, but it was the perfect result.

Hometown hero Casey Stoner dominated yesterday's MotoGP at Phillip Island with a start-to-finish demolition of his rivals.

The Ducati star never looked threatened during the 27-lap race and left the 50,541-strong crowd to cheer him home for his second win at the track.

“It's just good to see Australians are enjoying motorcycle racing,” Stoner said yesterday.

“It's still good to see such a large crowd. I know it's not as big as last year when I won the championship, but it was still a fantastic crowd here.”

Italian megastar Valentino Rossi charged through the field to take second place ahead of American Nicky Hayden, but the pair were six seconds behind Stoner.

As with all things that are made to look easy, behind-the-scenes it was anything but straightforward.

“I never imagined winning my home GP twice in a row,” Stoner said.

“It's been a bit of a difficult patch. Going into this weekend we felt that if everything worked like it did in testing we'd be very confident for the race. But it was a lot more difficult. We had a lot of dramas and it was a hard weekend trying to find the right set up.”

Concerns early in the week about Stoner's injured wrist, which will require surgery at the end of the season, proved unfounded.

“In (the previous race in) Japan I struggled a lot more with change of direction than brakes,” Stoner said.

“I think it was the braking points in Japan that caused my weakness in change of direction.

“This weekend has been really good. It hasn't given me any dramas so once we got to two-thirds race distance I could actually ease off a bit in the braking points. I could flow the track together and take a lot of weight off it.”

While Stoner controlled the race at the front, world champion Rossi created excitement with another brilliant display, riding from 12th place to second.

The Yamaha star had to start deep in the pack yesterday after his qualifying crash but lived up to his nickname, The Doctor, by carving his way to the front with surgical precision.

“Yes, I enjoy a lot,” Rossi said.

“For enjoyment, for sure, starting from the fourth row is good.

“But to try to win is a bit more difficult.”

That comment drew a reaction from the quick-witted Hayden in a great display between the pair in the post-race press conference.

“Maybe he should start every race from there if you enjoy it so much,” Hayden said. “Just a thought.”

Rossi said he was still struggling with the after effects of his crash in qualifying yesterday when he hurt his head and neck, but was determined to race.

“I was confident because before the crash we find quite good setting and quite good rhythm for the race,” he said.

“This morning when I wake up it was a disaster because my head was like this (gestures throbbing pain), like explode. It was a very bad feeling, more than the neck.”

On the first lap he only narrowly missed being caught up in an accident involving Honda's Alex de Angelis. “The race was good. It was a great battle from the beginning,” Rossi said.

“I was very lucky with de Angelis because he crashed right in front of me and I miss him by two centimetres I think.”

Rossi had a battle with fellow Yamaha rider James Toseland for third before beginning his pursuit of Hayden in the second half of the race. Rossi caught Hayden on the last lap and made a bold move to take the place at the high-speed turn one.

“Coming down the front straight, away out of the corner of my eye, I've seen him on the big screen and seen him in my draft,” Hayden said.

“I knew it was going to be tough but it is cool to be on the podium here. I enjoyed it.”

Although he did not add to his tally of wins and lost the chance to record 11 victories in a season, Rossi said he was pleased with his efforts.

“I think today for us second place is the best result possible,” Rossi said.

He will return home to celebrate his sixth MotoGP title, which he won last month in Japan, in typical Rossi style.

“I (will go) back to Italy because I stay around for another week and then I have another two races in a row,” Rossi said.

“I'm quite old. I need to sleep in my bed (and) speak a little bit with my dog. So I need a rest. I go back to Italy.”

Hayden was the only rider to get close to Stoner in the race.

The Honda rider jumped to second at the start and was on Stoner's tail for the early laps.

But he couldn't keep up with the Australian's relentless pace.

“I got a really good start and I thought I was going to lead,” Hayden said.

“Things felt pretty good early and I went a lot faster in the race than I went all weekend.

“The bike and everything was working pretty good and I was able to stay with Casey.

“I felt comfortable there and then he started to pull away. I had a few issues and couldn't keep the corner speed that I had early on. But I enjoyed the race, it was a lot of fun.

“To ride this track at the limit for 27 laps is quite intense.”

Behind the leading trio there was some spirited action.

Rossi's Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo won the battle for fourth, but had to race hard against Shinya Nakano (Honda), Toseland and Andrea Dovizioso (Honda).

Hayden's factory Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa was the only rider besides de Angelis to fail to make the finish.

He made a great start from sixth place on the grid but threw it all away by crashing at the second corner of the race.

TOP TEN

AUSTRALIAN MotoGP

1 Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 40min 56.643sec

2 Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha +6.504sec behind

3 Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda at +7.205

4 Jorge Lorenzo (ESP) Yamaha +11.500

5 Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda +11.914

6 James Toseland (GB) Yamaha +12.243

7 Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Honda +12.780

8 Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha +25.920

9 Randy De Puniet (FRA) Honda +26.037

10 Loris Capirossi (ITA) Suzuki +26.799

MANUFACTURER POINTS

Yamaha 361, Ducati 286 Honda 275 Suzuki 165 Kawasaki 81.