STONER KNOCKS 'EM FOR SIX AT 2012 AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE - JUST BIKES

Stoner knocks 'em for six at 2012 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix

The farewell race on home soil from the 2007 and 2011 MotoGP champion saw an estimated 53,100 fans descend on the track on Sunday, making the three-day attendance a record breaking 122,470.

Almost forgotten in a weekend that belonged to Casey was the fact that Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) wrapped up the 2012 World Championship, following an incident that knocked Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) out of the race and the chase for his first MotoGP title.

Stoner was strong throughout the practise and qualifying sessions, securing pole position relatively unchallenged from Lorenzo and Pedrosa. Cal Crutchlow (Monster Energy Tech 3 Yamaha), Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) and Andrea Dovizioso (Monster Energy Tech 3 Yamaha) filled the second row of the grid, with the factory Ducati Desmosedicis of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden qualifying in eighth and tenth respectively.

Ahead of the MotoGP race, Arthur Sissis had achieved his best result with a third place in the Moto3 race, followed by a gutsy second from Ant West in the Moto2 hitout, so the bar had been set high for Stoner! At the race start, Stoner was swamped by Lorenzo and Pedrosa, the two championship frontrunners opening up a gap even before the first corner. A confident Pedrosa pushed past Lorenzo within a couple of turns as he tried to pull away. Stoner then settled and was all over Lorenzo, passing for second on Gardner Straight heading into lap two.

At Honda corner on lap 2, the race, and the race for the championship, took a decisive turn when Pedrosa pushed too hard and lost the rear of his bike, with Stoner and Lorenzo closely behind. The Spaniard was able to remount, but had to pit with the bike too damaged, leaving Lorenzo in the best possible position to take the world title. The Yamaha rider only needed three points from this race to take an unassailable lead into the Valencia MotoGP finale.

As Stoner opened a gap on Lorenzo, the focus turned to the battle for third, where Crutchlow, Dovizioso, Bradl and San Carlo Honda Gresini's Alvaro Bautista were running nose to tail. A podium finisher at Phillip Island last year, Dovizioso couldn't break free of the pack this time around, and it was actually Crutchlow who started to open a gap on the dogfight for third.

Amongst the CRT riders, Paul Bird Motorsport's James Ellison crashed out on lap 6, while NGM Mobile Forward Racing's Colin Edwards had to retire due to a technical issue, followed later by Speed Master's Roberto Rolfo.

With Stoner unchallenged at the front midway through the race, Crutchlow made a charge, lapping faster than Lorenzo. After the race, the Brit jokingly said he feared the consequences if he challenged Lorenzo for second and forced him to crash, too, but in reality, he never got close enough to seriously threaten the Spaniard.

The latter half of the race was something of a procession, with big gaps between Stoner, Lorenzo and Crutchlow. The battle for fourth saw Dovizioso, Bautista and Bradl all trading position at varying stages, while behind them, it was a battle of the Ducatis, with Cardion AB Racing's Karel Abraham mixing it with the factory Desmosedicis of Rossi and Hayden. In the fight for best CRT honours, Power Electronics Aspar's Aleix Espargaro was tussling with teammate Randy de Puniet.

With five laps remaining, Dovizioso went past Bradl into fourth. A lap later Bautista capitalised on this and also squeezed past the German. Bautista briefly held down fourth on the penultimate lap, but a fairing-to-fairing fight ultimately went the way of Dovizioso at the chequered flag.

At the front, Stoner made it six wins in succession at Phillip Island, while Lorenzo, his championship now secure, backed off to finish over 9 seconds adrift. Crutchlow, recovering from illness at this round, put in a terrific ride as he stormed to his second ever GP podium.

"It was very important for me to win a race before the end of the season and I'm really happy to do it here, at home, in front of the huge crowd," Stoner said after the race. "My biggest worry was to be fit again and competitive for this race, but we managed it and we had something over everyone else and this was the perfect way to say goodbye here.

"I was pretty nervous going into the race but the conditions were fantastic for a Phillip Island race! When I knew I only had a few laps left and a big lead, I was watching the crowd and it was fantastic to see everyone cheering me on, it made me very proud to be Australian. Thanks to everyone for coming down and showing their support!

"My biggest congratulations to Jorge, he's ridden an almost perfect season finishing 1st or 2nd when possible and I'm just disappointed not to be in the championship fight, but I made my own mistakes and this is how things go. My condolences to Dani - I saw him crash out in front of me - but he had to push today and go out and win the race to keep his championship hopes alive. It was a small mistake, easy to do in this corner and I feel very sorry for him."

2012 MOTOGP World Championship

Round 17 - AirAsia Australian Grand Prix
October 28, 2012

1. Casey STONER Honda 41'01.324
2. Jorge LORENZO Yamaha +9.223
3. Cal CRUTCHLOW Yamaha +14.570
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Yamaha +23.303
5. Alvaro BAUTISTA Honda +23.432
6. Stefan BRADL Honda +23.467
7. Valentino ROSSI Ducati +37.113
8. Nicky HAYDEN Ducati +38.387
9. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati +52.613
10. Aleix ESPARGARO ART +1'00.299
11. Randy DE PUNIET ART +1'00.342
12. Hector BARBERA Ducati +1'21.951
13. Danilo PETRUCCI IODA-SUTER +1'27.857
14. Michele PIRRO FTR 1 lap
15. Ivan SILVA BQR 1 lap
Retirements - Dani PEDROSA (accident), Colin EDWARDS (accident), James ELLISON (mechanical), Roberto ROLFO (mechanical)

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS - after 17 of 18 rounds
1. LORENZO 350 - 2012 World Champion
2. PEDROSA 307
3. STONER 238
4. DOVIZOSO 208
5. BAUTISTA 165
6. ROSSI 157
7. CRUTCHLOW 151
8. BRADL 135
9. HAYDEN 122
10. SPIES 88