MotoGP: Phillip Island Australia October 16-18 *SPOILERS*

[Mothers Worry]

Stoner eyes stronger race at home 

From autosport.com:

Stoner eyes stronger race at home 

Monday, October 12th 2009, 10:42 GMT

Casey Stoner is hopeful he will continue to make progress at his home race in Phillip Island this weekend after returning to MotoGP in Portugal.

The Ducati rider was back to racing action at Estoril after having missed the previous three events to recover from his illness.

Despite his absence from the tracks, Stoner finished in an impressive second place in Portugal, and now the Australian is hoping for more in his home race.

"In Portugal I was able to get to the end of the race weekend without problems, just the predictable tiredness after a full MotoGP race, following two months of inactivity," said Stoner. "So maybe I'll be a bit more ready for Phillip Island now.

"Besides that the temperature down there is a bit colder than other races we go to and that suits better my physical conditions at the moment. The track is awesome - it's fast, flowing and there isn't really a section that the riders don't enjoy.

"Normally races are fantastic there. I've had a dream run over the last couple of years but this one is going to be a little different so we have just to wait and see what we can do."

Team-mate Nicky Hayden admitted he is fired up for the Australian race, and the American is aiming to try to make enough progress to fight near the front.

"I wish we were at Phillip Island today! It's a track and place I really like," said Hayden. "The track is great - it's fast, flowing and a lot of fun. I hope we can get some decent weather because the place can be really challenging when its cold - there are not so many right hand corners so it can take a few laps to heat and scuff the right side of the tyre.

"I also enjoy the flyaways at the end of the year because it's a little different atmosphere with all the teams traveling together and staying in the same hotels - you see a different side of people.

"So we got three more races left before the end of the season and I really hope and need to make another step up toward the front. I really need to dig deep and try to make it happen."

[Mothers Worry]

Stoner unhappy with practice form 

From autosport.com:

Stoner unhappy with practice form 

Friday, October 16th 2009, 06:46 GMT

Casey Stoner ended Friday practice for his home grand prix dissatisfied despite being a close second to Valentino Rossi on the timesheets.

The Australian's first run of the day put him a second clear of the rest of the pack, but he was beaten by Rossi soon afterwards, who went 0.6s clear.

Although Stoner chipped away at that margin and ended up only 0.135s behind, he had expected a better performance from Ducati.

"I'm not that happy with today's session to be honest," said Stoner, who has won the last two MotoGP races at Phillip Island.

"The track conditions weren't good at all and we struggled for traction, which is usually a strong point of our bike.

"We tried a few different settings, one of which gave us better rear grip but compensated in turning, which was otherwise really good. The front end was quite consistent throughout so it's just a case of working on the rear tomorrow and hoping that the track conditions improve so that we can find where the limits are.

"The weather is always a worry here and there was a point in the session this afternoon where it began to spot with rain just as I was heading into turn one and I came back in. I probably had my best setting at that point so the lap time could have been better but I think it has been a difficult day for everybody so we're not too concerned."

His team-mate Nicky Hayden failed to break into the top ten today, but was optimistic that he would pick up pace tomorrow.

"I came out of the gate pretty fast but found it difficult to improve from there and I'm not really happy to be this far off the pace," said Hayden after taking 11th.

"In the past it has taken me a while to get up to speed here, even when I have had good results, so I'm not too worried but we definitely need to get the bike working better - especially over the bumps – and find some more edge grip. Hopefully we can take a big step tomorrow."

[Mothers Worry]

Stoner claims pole for home race  

From autosport.com:

Stoner claims pole for home race  

Saturday, October 17th 2009, 03:59 GMT

Casey Stoner will start from pole position for his home grand prix at Phillip Island for the second year in a row.

The Australian Ducati rider was dominant for most of the hour, and fended off a strong late challenge from Yamaha's Valentino Rossi.

The result is only Stoner's second pole position of his illness-marred season.

While Rossi failed to get pole, he will be comforted by his title rival and team-mate Jorge Lorenzo's continued struggles. Lorenzo only qualified fourth, a scant 0.001s behind Honda's Dani Pedrosa.

Stoner was fastest throughout the race practice part of the session, extending his advantage to half a second before the flying laps started at the end and Rossi managed to close in.

Rossi deposed the local hero with six minutes to go, edging ahead by just 0.075s. But Stoner soon responded, squeezing back in front by a tiny 0.005s two minutes from the end.

Both stayed out hoping to squeeze some more speed from their existing tyres, and while Rossi failed to gain any time, Stoner managed to extend his pole margin to an only slightly more comfortable 0.050s.

Pedrosa recovered from a mid-session crash to take third. The Honda slid to the ground at high speed going into the Southern Loop as drizzle briefly fell. Despite tumbling across the grass, Pedrosa quickly got up unhurt and returned to the pits for his spare bike.

Lorenzo failed to qualify on the front row for the first time all year, but having languished further down the top ten for much of the hour, fourth still counted as damage limitation.

Gresini Honda's Alex de Angelis also crashed during the session, falling at MG corner early on. But he too recovered rapidly and built on his promising practice form by qualifying sixth behind Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha).

Nicky Hayden put the second factory Ducati seventh, ahead of LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet, Pramac Ducati's Mika Kallio, and Andrea Dovizioso on the second works Honda.

MotoGP's other Australian rider Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) had a terrible session in his last home appearance before heading back to Superbikes. He struggled for speed all afternoon and will start on the penultimate row, ahead of only Scot Honda's Gabor Talmacsi.

Only 16 bikes will take the start tomorrow, with Pramac Ducati's Niccolo Canepa sidelined by the arm injuries he suffered in his practice crash.

Pos  Rider             Bike             Time       Gap
 1.  Casey Stoner      Ducati           1m30.341s
 2.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha           1m30.391s  + 0.050s
 3.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda            1m31.070s  + 0.729s
 4.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha           1m31.071s  + 0.730s
 5.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha    1m31.096s  + 0.755s
 6.  Alex de Angelis   Gresini Honda    1m31.260s  + 0.919s
 7.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati           1m31.325s  + 0.984s
 8.  Randy de Puniet   LCR Honda        1m31.380s  + 1.039s
 9.  Mika Kallio       Pramac Ducati    1m31.384s  + 1.043s
10.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda            1m31.472s  + 1.131s
11.  Toni Elias        Gresini Honda    1m31.640s  + 1.299s
12.  James Toseland    Tech 3 Yamaha    1m31.722s  + 1.381s
13.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki           1m31.873s  + 1.532s
14.  Marco Melandri    Hayate Kawasaki  1m32.190s  + 1.849s
15.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki           1m32.338s  + 1.997s
16.  Gabor Talmacsi    Scot Honda       1m32.752s  + 2.411s

The Stoner comeback continues in fie form. Go boy!  

[bpratt]

Big Congratulations to Casey Stoner for his win at Phillip Island today !!   

[Thorsdad]

Well Done Casey !!

Stoner and Rossi were in a class of their own today. I think Valentino didn't risk an accident and didn't have to go all out for the win against casey when Jorge ran off at turn 1 in a pretty scary crash.

Rossi is certainly an amazing character, some of the antics he gets up to. Wouldn't it be great to see him in Formula 1 one day. Would certainly lighten up the whole F1 image i think 

[Mothers Worry]

Casey you may not be champion this year but that was a champion effort.

Top notch, quality ride.

[Mothers Worry]

Stoner victory 'one of most important'  

From autosport.com:

Stoner victory 'one of most important'  

Wednesday, October 21st 2009, 10:34 GMT

Casey Stoner's Australian Grand Prix victory was one of the most important in the history of Ducati, according to his team boss Livio Suppo.

Stoner, who missed three races during the middle of the MotoGP season due to illness, won his home race for the third year in a row after an intense race-long fight with Valentino Rossi.

Suppo believes that his victory, coupled with the second place he achieved on his return in Portugal two weeks earlier, was, in part, down to the support offered to the 2007 world champion by the Italian squad.

"We've shown we are a company and a team able to react to difficulties, by staying united and by putting up with all kinds of criticism, even the unpleasant kind," Suppo told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"That's why the Phillip Island victory is undoubtedly of particular significance: it's one of the most important ever."

Suppo said that it was the right decision to rest Stoner for three races at Brno, Indianapolis and Misano, and replace him with rising star Mika Kallio, and believes he will be a stronger competitor next year as a result.

"There are no regrets: Casey needed this break, and if he had carried on racing he would have simply risked to get hurt," he added.

"Clearly he potentially had everything to win the title and this year, despite all the difficulties, he's one of the main players. Rather than looking at the past, I prefer to look at the future: in 2010 we'll be even more competitive."