A triumphant homecoming for Casey Stoner at Phillip Island, at the head of a Ducati one-two with Loris Capirossi, gave the Italian factory the Constructors and Teams World Championship in perfect fashion at the GMC Australian Grand Prix.
In his first race since clinching the riders World Championship at Motegi from outside the podium spots, Stoner was able to start the celebrations in earnest with victory number nine of his flawless 2007 season. The Australian joins the likes of Mick Doohan and Wayne Gardner in winning his home race after taking the premier class title, and did so by storming away from the pack right from the off. Given some early trouble by World Championship predecessor Nicky Hayden, once the American had been eliminated from the equation with a mechanical problem, Stoner could go about his business without needing to look over his shoulder too frequently. He eventually took victory by nearly seven seconds.
Following on from his own 2007 highlight at Motegi – his only win to date with an 800cc machine - Loris Capirossi ensured his presence at the forefront of the Ducati celebrations by bursting through the field and taking second place. The Italian, who has been one of the key factors behind Ducati’s success since the creation of the MotoGP project, battled with old rival Valentino Rossi and Honda rider Dani Pedrosa for the podium place and continued his recent resurgence of form.
Rossi, never off the podium in his seven visits to Phillip Island in MotoGP, completed the rostrum places and all but confirmed his second place in the 2007 standings. The Yamaha factory man was eventually too much for poleman Pedrosa, whose strange crash in the morning warm-up when undertaking a practice start may have been the cause of a nervous opening for the Spaniard.
Alex Barros took fifth from his highest grid placing of the season, ahead of Randy de Puniet, whilst the Suzuki duo of John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen sneaked up the standings from lowly qualifying positions. The two remain virtually inseparable in the battle for fourth place in the overall classification, experiencing their best ever seasons in MotoGP.
Colin Edwards and Marco Melandri completed the top ten, with the latter making an unfortunate drop down the placings after providing much excitement in the early going.
Results:
- Casey STONER (AUS) DUCATI 41'12.244
- Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) DUCATI 41'19.007
- Valentino ROSSI (ITA) YAMAHA 41'22.282
- Dani PEDROSA (SPA) HONDA 41'23.907
- Alex BARROS (BRA) DUCATI 41'31.719
- Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) KAWASAKI 41'39.557
- John HOPKINS (USA) SUZUKI 41'41.487
- Chris VERMEULEN (AUS) SUZUKI 41'47.077
- Colin EDWARDS (USA) YAMAHA 41'47.317
- Marco MELANDRI (ITA) HONDA 41'49.215
Championship Positions after Round 16:
- STONER 322
- ROSSI 230
- PEDROSA 201
- HOPKINS 165
- VERMEULEN 160
- MELANDRI 154
- CAPIROSSI 150
- EDWARDS 115
- Nicky HAYDEN (USA) 112
- BARROS 102
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