Casey Stoner – King at Phillip Island!

Casey Stoner (Ducati Team) has an enviable reputation at Phillip Island. He has a habit of winning at the location. Essentially, for Stoner, losing at Phillip Island is not an option. When the Ducati introduced itself to the surface for Round 16 of the 2010 season, Stoner made the difficult seem easy. He grabbed pole, led into the first corner and then left the field for dead. To suggest that he decimated the riders on the grid would be appropriate – he crushed them and fed their remains to the hyenas!

Stoner won the race 8 seconds ahead of recently crowned 2010 world champion Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha). At Phillip Island, Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) started 8th on the grid, but as the tires gained temperature he settled into his rhythm and started moving forward.

Hayden

The most riveting battle of the race involved 2 world champions – Rossi and Hayden (Ducati Team). Hayden was brushed aside earlier by Rossi and as if to exact revenge Hayden went scalp hunting. He ripped by lesser foes and zeroed in on Rossi.

With teammate Stoner, many moons away in the top spot, Hayden relished the sound of a podium spot – the spot which Rossi held. That said, he pounced with 3 laps to go and passed Rossi. Rossi is strongest immediately after he is passed, but he had to wait until the final lap. He rode hard and denied Hayden a champagne shower. Rossi retook the position and left Hayden frowning in 4th.

Australia boasts innumerable MotoGP fans and they were thoroughly entertained throughout the GP weekend. Casey Stoner, an Australian winning the GP, was really just the icing on the cake.

Nb. Rossi got the green light to test with Ducati in November. How will the Doctor fare at Ducati?

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer