2009 Australian MotoGP - Phillip Island
More than 50,000 fans saw Stoner deliver an incredible win, after securing pole position during qualifying, and then going on to beat Valentino Rossi by just 1.935 seconds.
Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi finished a strong second, chasing home Casey Stoner to finish on the podium for the tenth successive year at Phillip Island and for the eleventh time this season.
Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo's challenge ended in the gravel trap at turn one, when a mistake at the start saw the Mallorcan slide out of the race on the opening lap.
Rossi, starting from the front row for the tenth race in a row, finished the first lap in third position, behind Dani Pedrosa and Stoner. On lap two both Stoner and Rossi passed the Spaniard and then quickly began to pull away opening out a gap from the chasing pack. Darkening skies overhead at that point meant there was a rush in pit lane as the mechanics switched the spare bikes over to wet settings, but the sun eventually came out and the threat of rain subsided as the Italian and the Australian set in for a head to head battle. At times Rossi looked to be with in striking distance and he made a couple of moves at mid-race distance, but he eventually played it safe to come home behind the resurgent Stoner with twenty important points in his pocket and a gap of over twenty seconds to Pedrosa in third.
Rossi said, "This was one of the most fun and definitely one of the most important second places of my career!
"We were on the limit for the whole race and there were some amazing slides, it was 'old-style' racing.
"To have a race like this in the sunshine at Phillip Island is an incredible emotion and I really enjoyed myself. Of course I wanted to win but I had to use my head a bit and once I'd seen that Lorenzo was out, I knew that if I made a mistake it would be a big disaster! Anyway I tried in places but Stoner was a bit faster than me. I didn't give up until the end but Casey really deserved this win; I want to give him my congratulations."
The victory was especially sweet for Stoner, as he came back from a 3 race lay off.
"It's been a really tough (season) for us. The start of the season, we were competitive enough to fight for the championship. By the time we got halfway through, we were just collecting points - we were not really even fighting for anything. That's why we took that decision to take time off, and this is the result of it. Without taking that time off, we would not be anywhere near that podium today. Things would have been too difficult for me, and physically I would not have been able to last the race. It's been fantastic to come back and get a second in Portugal, and almost have enough pace to win it, and to have enough pace to win here."
Stoner looked and rode really good, and he said that physically, "every time I went on the brakes into (Turn 10) or (Turn 4), I kept expecting my arms to start buckling and for things to start getting real hard. But it just never came. Five months does not sound like a long time, but when you have the same thing week after week and you're not able to fix it, it was very difficult. I was definitely a little more exhausted in Portugal, because the weather was hotter and we had not had any physical training. I did a little bit (of training) in the last week before this race to get my fitness up, and we were able to stay consistent throughout."
MotoGP Race Results
1. Casey STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 40:56.651
2. Valentino ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team) 40:58.586
3. Dani PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team) 41:19.269
4. Alex DE ANGELIS (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 41:29.353
5. Colin EDWARDS (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) 41:32.536
6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Repsol Honda Team) 41:35.133
7. Marco MELANDRI (Hayate Racing Team) 41:41.112
8. Randy DE PUNIET (LCR Honda MotoGP) 41:41.592
9. Mika KALLIO (Pramac Racing) 41:50.996
10. Toni ELIAS (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 41:57.856
11. Chris VERMEULEN 42:02.068
12. Loris CAPIROSSI 42:02.601
13. Gabor TALMACSI 42:14.602
14. James TOSELAND 42:14.636
15. Nicky HAYDEN 41:27.127
Not finished 1st lap
99. Jorge LORENZO
