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SENSATIONAL STONER SEALS HAT-TRICK OF ISLAND VICTORIES, HAYDEN KNOCKED OUT OF THE RACE

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner took his third victory in as many seasons at Phillip Island today, rubber-stamping his return to form and fitness with a dominant display from pole position. After briefly conceding the lead to Dani Pedrosa in the first turn, Stoner muscled his way past the Spaniard on the opening lap and never looked back, holding off the strong challenge of Valentino Rossi in the second half of the race to put his Desmosedici GP9 on the top step of the podium for the first time since the Italian Grand Prix in June.

Stoner's victory, in front of 50,094 delighted home fans, also lifted him back up to third in the championship standings with two rounds remaining. The flip side of the coin today was for the unfortunate Nicky Hayden, who for the third time this season had his race ruined when another rider collided with him in the first lap. The American was forced off track after an impact with Jorge Lorenzo, but he did a remarkable job to stay upright across the wet grass and return to the track to eventually pick up a point in 15th place.

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ROSSI TAKES TENTH CONSECUTIVE PHILLIP ISLAND PODIUM AS LORENZO SLIDES OUT

Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi finished a strong second in an entertaining Australian Grand Prix, chasing home Casey Stoner to finish on the podium for the tenth successive year at Phillip Island and for the eleventh time this season. Jorge Lorenzo's challenge ended in the gravel trap at turn one, when a mistake at the start saw the Mallorcan slide out of the race.

Rossi, starting from the front row for the tenth race in a row, finished the first lap in third position, behind Dani Pedrosa and Stoner. On lap two both Stoner and Rossi passed the Spaniard and then quickly began to pull away on their own, quickly opening out a gap from the chasing pack. Darkening skies overhead at that point meant there was a rush in pit lane as the mechanics switched the spare bikes over to wet settings, but the sun eventually came out and the threat of rain subsided as the Italian and the Australian set in for a head-to-head battle. At times Rossi looked to be within striking distance and he made a couple of moves at mid-race distance, but with Lorenzo out he knew that he had to capitalise and he eventually played it safe to come home behind the resurgent Stoner with twenty important points in his pocket and an impressive gap of over twenty seconds to Pedrosa in third.

Lorenzo had struggled with grip issues all weekend here and he made a mistake at the start, braking too late and cannoning into the back of Nicky Hayden. The impact damaged his front brake and he was unable to slow down for the corner, losing the rear and tumbling into the gravel trap. He was taken to the Clinica Mobile and treated for mild cuts to his nose and the little finger of his right hand, but there were no serious injuries and nothing that will affect his being able to ride next week.

Today's result means that Rossi now has a lead over Lorenzo of 38 points with two races left. He will have his first chance to clinch the World Championship title at the next round, which comes at Sepang in Malaysia in one week's time.

Valentino Rossi

Jorge Lorenzo

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HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Results Phillip Island

Australian Grand Prix, Phillip Island Race day, Sunday October 18 2009

Crowd: 50,094 Weather: cool and sunny Ambient temperature: 16 degrees Track temperature: 31 degrees

PEDROSA ON THE PODIUM AGAIN

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) recovered from a harrowing second turn crash in qualifying to garner his ninth podium of the season in the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island. By finishing third, the Spaniard was Honda's top performer in the race, with Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) equaling his second best finish of the year in fourth place, while Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) took sixth.

Pedrosa got his customary holeshot from third on the grid and led across the stripe for the first lap. But on lap two he was consumed by the battle between Casey Stoner (Ducati) and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and fell in line. Today Pedrosa didn't have the pace of the leaders and settled into a lonely third place, where he would finish. Stoner and Rossi carried their battle to the end, with the Australian Stoner winning his home race for the third year in a row, this time by 1.935s over Rossi.

By winning the race, Stoner took third in the championship from Pedrosa by six points. With two races remaining, in Malaysia and Valencia, Pedrosa is determined to claim back the spot and finish on the championship podium.

De Angelis settled into fourth on the first lap and stayed with the leaders for the first four laps before they were able to break away. Once that happened, he secured his fourth place to the end of the 27-lap race, held under mostly sunny conditions, with scattered clouds before a crowd of over 50,000.

Dovizioso overcame a slow start-he was ninth as late as the seventh lap-to move up three spots and finish sixth. by the ninth lap there was a pack of six riders battling over sixth, but the order sorted itself out with Dovizioso moving into sixth on the 16th lap. Within a few laps he left the pack behind and rode mostly alone to the end.

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) was engulfed in the most entertaining battle behind the leaders. The Frenchman sparred with Marco Melandri (Kawasaki) and Mika Kallio (Ducati) for much of the race, and with Melandri to the very end. Melandri made the pass for eighth five laps from the end, but De Puniet kept the pressure on to the stripe, finishing behind the Italian by less than half a second.

Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) was in line to equal a career best finish when he was passed on lap 20 of 27. That put him 13th on a high speed track where he struggled with changes of direction.

HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 3rd. "It's good to be on the podium again, especially after the crash in qualifying yesterday, so I'm happy about that. I pushed myself to the maximum in the race and we led for a short while from the start. Actually it's a shame they don't award points for getting the holeshot! Casey and Valentino were going superfast today and I just couldn't keep pace with them once they came past. From then on I just tried to keep my rhythm going and tried not to make any mistakes. It's a little frustrating of course not to be able to fight at the front, but considering the crash yesterday this result was OK and I'd like to say thanks to the team because they worked hard this weekend. The next race is in Malaysia and it's a track that I like, so I'm looking forward to next weekend and I hope we can get another strong result."

Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 4th."It has been a fantastic weekend all round and I really enjoyed myself in that race - especially the first four or five laps when I was running with the top guys in the championship. It was a good feeling but their pace was incredible and for me it was just an achievement to stick with them for a while and open up a gap over the guys behind me. From then on it was a case of staying consistent and holding my position, which is a great result for us. Despite not scoring points in the last two races we have been on an excellent run of form since Germany - I've finished in the top five in four of the races since then, and I think I've proved that I deserve to be seventh in the championship and I deserve to be here again next year. It is a credit to my team as well because we have worked fantastically well together recently and I want to thank them too."

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 6th. "In the second half of the race my feeling on the machine improved and this was probably the highlight of my weekend here. Once I was clear of the battle for sixth I was able to ride at a good pace and realistically I think I could have fought with De Angelis and Edwards in this race. It's just a shame that I lost time starting from tenth and then fighting with Kallio, De Puniet and Elias - which is what I feared might happen. I cannot be happy with the 6th position but I have to consider the whole weekend and the set-up issues we experienced in the practice sessions and also my physical condition which wasn't perfect this weekend. Still, I felt good at the end of the race, so I'm looking forward to Malaysia with confidence."

Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda: 8th. "We could finish in a better position but I took a bad start and got stuck behind Elias for 4 laps. After that I started to set my pace and was pretty fast. I had fun battling with Dovizioso, Kallio and Melandri but in the middle of the race the rear tyre dropped and had too much spinning. With 8 laps to go I was not comfortable on the front and decided to keep my position to score important points for the world classification. Honestly I aimed to finish sixth today but I still feel very confident for the next races."

Toni Elias, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 10th. "We have made the bike a lot better as the weekend progressed but we never managed to find any consistency from the tyres. We had them working well for six or seven laps and after that they were gone. That is exactly that happened in the race: I got a great start and kept pace with the front guys for the first few laps but then the tyres went and I was dead. I went from setting high 1'31s to struggling around in the 1'33s - losing two seconds a lap is just ridiculous. Anyway, considering all the problems we've had we've rescued a few points and we're within five points of seventh place, which is now occupied by my team-mate. That is our goal over the next two races and I'm sure we won't suffer the same problems in Malaysia."

Gabor Talmacsi, Scot Honda: 13th."The engine was OK, and the bike was OK in the very fast last corner. That was important. I have still problems going into the corners and in braking. But probably the main issue is the fact that I struggle when changing direction rapidly. I'm confident that if we can fix this problem, everything, including braking, will be by far better. Anyway, I can say we got the right direction. It's OK."

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Fantastic fifth for Edwards, Toseland frustrated in Phillip Island

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland had a day of contrasting fortunes at the spectacular Phillip Island circuit in Australia this afternoon.

Starting from fifth on the grid for the fifth successive race, Edwards made a slow getaway off the line and dropped down to ninth on the first lap in front of 50,094 fans. The Texan then produced a magnificent exhibition in overtaking to first pass Andrea Dovizioso on lap four. Setting a fast pace after pre-race tweaks with the set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 helped with stability and agility, the 35-year-old then superbly passed Mika Kallio, Toni Elias and Ran dy de Puniet in quick succession on lap five.

Edwards then set about closing the gap on Alex de Angelis in fourth position, but despite consistently lapping faster than the San Marino rider throughout the race, his hard challenge was in vain. His seventh top six finish of 2009 though boosted his hopes of overhauling Dovizioso for fifth place in the championship standings. With just two races remaining, Edwards is just seven points behind the Italian.

It was a frustrating afternoon for British rider Toseland, who had started the 27-lap race optimistic of claiming a second successive top six finish at Phillip Island.

Toseland was locked in the intense battle for fifth place when Race Direction imposed a ride through penalty after the 28-year-old was adjudged to have jumped the start. Toseland entered the pits on lap 10 and gallantly rode a hard pace in the second half of t he race to almost fight his way back into a creditable 13th place, finishing just 0.034s behind Gabor Talmacsi.

Colin Edwards 5th - 145 points

"I'll hold my hands up and say I really messed up the start. I pretty much fell asleep and when the lights went out, I was just sat there. That left me down in ninth place but the pace was pretty quick in the low 31s and I was able to pick off a few of them quite quickly. I knew if I didn't get my head down then I'd be towing them around because of how you can slipstream at this track. I never relented and my pace was pretty hot, and thankfully it wasn't too difficult for me to make a break from the pack. I saw de Angelis in front of me and I tried everything I could to get close to him. I'm tired of finishing fifth, so I gave it everything I had. But the start cost me fourth and some precious points. Towards the end of the race I star ted to lose some side grip and I couldn't do anything more to try and put pressure on de Angelis. I beat Dovizioso again which is all I can do to try and get fifth in the championship. I really want that fifth to reward all my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. They've been great and I'll be giving it my all for them in the last two races."

James Toseland 14th - 87 points

"I'm really struggling to describe how I feel right now. All I can say is I feel the jump start decision was incredibly harsh and I am extremely disappointed. I have looked at the start on TV and I can't see I've done anything wrong. It is hard for me to take but I've got to try and put it behind me as soon as possible and aim for a strong result in Sepang next weekend. I was confident of a strong race today and I was latched onto the back of the group fighting for fifth. I felt my pace was strong enough to hav e put up a strong fight for a positive result, but the ride through ended all that. I want to thank all my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 for all their hard work and effort this weekend. They have been brilliant as always and I'm not going to let this disappointment stop me from giving my all to finish this season on a high at the last two races."

Herve Poncharal - Team Manager

"It was another very strong weekend from Colin and he rode another hard race. Had he made a better start then I'm convinced he would have been able to fight with de Angelis for fourth place. His lap times were better than Alex for most of the race and it would have been a good battle. Unfortunately we only gained one point on Dovizioso, but Colin is still fighting hard for fifth in the championship and there is still a lot to fight for. With James, I understand his frustration. I went with him to Race Direction to look at the start and honestly speaking, it was a very marginal decision. We have to respect the decision of Race Direction and I am convinced that James will bounce back strongly in Malaysia next weekend."

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KALLIO NINTH IN THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

Fabiano Sterlacchini - Pramac Racing Technical Director

"Mika has found a good feeling with the Ducati Desmosedici GP9 Sat. At Estoril and here in Australia Mika was fighting for fifth, sixth position, but first in Portugal a slip and today a technical problem didn't allow him to fight at the same level with his rivals until the end of the race. For sure we can say that in the last two races luck hasn't been on our side. We know what we are capable of and we are sure that better results will arrive really soon."

Mika Kallio - Pramac Racing rider - 9th in the race - 15th in the Championship

"I am very disappointed today notwithstanding the ninth position isn't such a bad result. Until half of the race I was easily fighting for sixth position, but then something happened in the front part of the tyre and I couldn't maintain the same rhythm. From there on my only objective was to finish the race, as I didn't want to throw away a full racing weekend. Back in the garage we have checked the situation of the bike and we could clearly see that the front tyre was particularly worn out. A pity, we know that this sort of thing can happen to anyone and we confide that in seven days in Malaysia we can achieve a better result, but the disappointment to have wasted a good opportunity remains."

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Rizla Suzuki ready to re-group after a demanding Australian GP

Rizla Suzuki racers Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi finished in 11th and 12th place after 27 tough laps of today's Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

Starting from 15th and 17th place on the grid respectively, Vermeulen and Capirossi set about the daunting task of making their way through the field. Both riders made passes as they tried to get a respectable result at the 4,448m track and also benefited from some misfortunes suffered by other riders to promote them further up the field. The Rizla Suzuki riders then got involved in their own personal battle, before Vermeulen came out on top by just over half-of-a-second to take 11th place from his team-mate.

A crowd of over 50,000 fans enjoyed bright sunshine for today's race and witnessed home hero Casey Stoner take his third successive victory at Phillip Island. World Championship leader Valentino Rossi finished second to strengthen his grip on retaining his world title.

Rizla Suzuki will now regroup and head straight to Malaysia next weekend for the 16th round of the season on Sunday 25th October.

Chris Vermeulen:

"We went with the harder rear tyre because we didn't notice a lot of difference between that and the softer one in practice, but in the first few laps we lost a lot of time as it took a lot to warm it. I was struggling, but then I had Loris on my tail for the rest of the race, so at least that gave us something to fight for. I had to ride consistently and make no mistakes, so with having Loris there kept me honest for the last few laps. Obviously we haven't taken the step forward here that we wanted to, but hopefully it will be a lot better at Sepang."

Loris Capirossi:

"It's easy to say that today has been tough, but really we have struggled all weekend and never found the best solution. We also had an engine problem in the warm-up and that forced us to start on the back of the grid, but that was no big problem. My start was not too bad but I just didn't have any feeling in the bike in the first five or six laps, so that was a nightmare for me. I caught up with Chris and we had a bit of a battle, but I couldn't get past him. Overall this race track is very difficult for us and I think we need to forget this weekend because we tried as hard as we could and got nothing from it. I hope we will have a better weekend in Sepang because we really need a good result, but we also need to fix why things have been so bad here."

Paul Denning - Team Manager:

"There's nothing positive to be said about the performance here today and frankly speaking we only inherited 11th and 12th through the misfortune of others. I'd like to thank both the riders for keeping their heads down and trying as hard as they did in such difficult circumstances. The trip to Sepang can't come quickly enough and we'll be going there with an upbeat attitude to get things back in the right direction as quickly as possible!"

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