Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Phillip Island MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo champion, Casey Stoner dominates

Jorge Lorenzo secured his second MotoGP world championship with second place behind runaway winner Casey Stoner in the Australian Grand Prix

The title battle was effectively settled on lap two, when Lorenzo's remaining championship rival Dani Pedrosa crashed out of the lead.

Polesitter Stoner had fallen from first to third off the line, as Lorenzo's Yamaha burst to the front.

Determined to push for a fourth consecutive race win to try and close down Lorenzo's 23-point advantage, Pedrosa thrust his Honda into the lead at the hairpin on the opening lap.

Lorenzo then lost out to Stoner's sister Honda on the pits straight.

Given that Stoner had dominated the entire weekend so far, and with Honda not expected to impose team orders, it seemed only a matter of time before Pedrosa relinquished the lead.

Pushing hard to try and stay ahead, Pedrosa then lost his Honda's front end and crashed after carrying too much speed into the hairpin on the second lap.

He picked his bike up and trundled disconsolately back to the pits.

There was no longer any need for Lorenzo to even try and chase Stoner - who was clearly in another league anyway.

In his penultimate MotoGP start before retiring, Stoner was able to secure his sixth consecutive home victory by a comfortable margin, as Lorenzo easily took the second place he required.

Cal Crutchlow made an early break from the pack behind to secure a lonely third.

His Tech 3 Yamaha team-mate Andrea Dovizioso had to fight much harder for fourth, only defeating Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl after a huge race-long dice.

Valentino Rossi led the uncompetitive Ducatis home in seventh.

Aleix Espargaro very narrowly beat Aspar team-mate Randy de Puniet to top CRT honours in 10th place.

Results - 27 laps:

Pos  Rider             Team/Bike                Time/Gap
 1.  Casey Stoner      Honda                  41m01.324s
 2.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha                   + 9.223s
 3.  Cal Crutchlow     Tech 3 Yamaha           + 14.570s
 4.  Andrea Dovizioso  Tech 3 Yamaha           + 23.303s
 5.  Alvaro Bautista   Gresini Honda           + 23.432s
 6.  Stefan Bradl      LCR Honda               + 23.467s
 7.  Valentino Rossi   Ducati                  + 37.113s
 8.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati                  + 38.387s
 9.  Karel Abraham     Cardion Ducati          + 52.613s
10.  Aleix Espargaro   Aspar Aprilia         + 1m00.299s
11.  Randy de Puniet   Aspar Aprilia         + 1m00.342s
12.  Hector Barbera    Pramac Ducati         + 1m21.951s
13.  Danilo Petrucci   Ioda Suter-BMW        + 1m27.857s
14.  Michele Pirro     Gresini FTR-Honda         + 1 lap
15.  Ivan Silva        Avintia BQR-Kawasaki      + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Roberto Rolfo     Speed Master Aprilia      18 laps
     Colin Edwards     Forward Suter-BMW          6 laps
     James Ellison     Paul Bird Aprilia          5 laps
     Dani Pedrosa      Honda                       1 lap

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Australia MotoGP: Rossi, Hayden say Ducati struggling for direction
Next article Phillip Island MotoGP: Casey Stoner thrilled to win again before exit

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe