STONER'S BIRTHDAY TREAT AT PHILLIP ISLAND

While Stoner was virtually assured of clinching the title at Phillip Island, his task was made a little easier when sole championsip rival, Yamaha Racing's Jorge Lorenzo, crashed in the Sunday morning warm-up session. A severe injury to the ring finger of his left hand ruled Lorenzo out for the race.

Lorenzo's withdrawal meant most of the pressure was off for Stoner, so he could afford to go easy and do just enough to secure the championship. But that doesn't seem to be the Stoner way, as he bolted from the start and put a gap on the rest of the field. In front of 43,000+ fans at Phillip Island, Stoner rode a flawless race to claim the win and his second MotoGP World Championship title. For the fifth year running, the Australian dominated the weekend, leading the race from start to finish, also giving Honda their first riders title since 2006

With a strong breeze blowing and darkening skies, the MotoGP race commenced with a rearranged grid following the withdraw of both Yamaha Factory riders and Damian Cudlin. In addition to Lorenzo, Ben Spies was a non-starter, as he was still mildly concussed after a crash in qualifying on Saturday. Cudlin withdrew due to injuries from a crash in Saturday morning practice.

Stoner took the holeshot from pole position and never looked back as the rest of the field battled for positions. Behind him, Ducati's Nicky Hayden was a fast starter, but was soon swallowed up by Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Gresini Honda) and Stoner's Repsol Honda team mates, Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa. As the race progressed, the fight for the minor podium places became a battle between Simoncelli and Dovizioso. At the finish, the Gresini rider managed to hold off Dovizioso to claim his best MotoGP finish to date of second.

Off the podium, Dani Pedrosa was ten seconds adrift of Dovizioso to finish fourth, while Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) inherited fifth place after first Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) and then Alvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) crashed out of that position. Rossi fell after making a pass on the Bautista, ending his 13 year string of podium finishes at the Australian circuit, while the Suzuki man slipped toward the end of the race as rain began to fall.

The white flag had been shown on lap ten as scattered rain drops appeared, giving riders the option to swap bikes, though the rain didn't start in earnest until nearly the end, when it claimed not only Bautista but then Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini).

Hayden was the first to enter the pits to change bikes, followed by Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing), though it did not help their finishing positions as Hayden ended the race seventh behind Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) despite the Frenchman having had an earlier offtrack excursion, while Capirossi finished ninth behind Toni Elías (LCR Honda). The final race finisher was Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), who crossed the line tenth.

The penultimate race of the 2011 MotoGP series will take place at Malaysia's Sepang circuit on October 23. Despite severing his finger and undergoing surgery last night in Melbourne, Jorge Lorenzo will reportedly be fit for the Sepang round.

UPDATE 17/10/11: Latest report from the Yamaha Factory Racing squad reveal that Lorenzo will NOT be fit to race at Sepang. Citing an extended recovery time, the team have ruled out Lorenzo's appearance at Malaysia, with a decision on the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix to follow upon Lorenzo's return to Barcelona. A full medical report will be released tomorrow.