Hayden Finish 3rd Place at Phillip Island

Stoner launched his Ducati down the hill off the line into turn one pursued by Hayden and a fast-starting James Toseland (Yamaha). As the horde peeled into turn two Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) ran wide, onto the grass, and down he went.

By mid-race distance Stoner had shed the attentions of the determined Hayden and began working his lead cushion from 2.6 seconds to the 7.9s lead he had at the flag. Nicky meanwhile had his work cut out fending off the hard-charging Rossi.

On the final lap Rossi dived past Hayden at turn one and Nicky tried all he could to get back on terms and stage a pass on the final lefts onto the start/finish straight where Hayden really hangs the back of his RCV out as he puts down the power. But it was not to be.

Dovizioso too was robbed on the final lap while holding fourth place. Lorenzo got the verdict for fourth when Toseland and Dovi tangled letting Nakano in for fifth at the same time. All Honda finishers were in the top ten, although not as high as Nicky and Dovi felt they could have been.

Phillip Island, Australia, MotoGP Result

1. Casey STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team)
2. Valentino ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team)
3. Nicky HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team)
4. Jorge LORENZO (Fiat Yamaha Team)
5. Shinya NAKANO (San Carlo Honda Gresini)
6. James TOSELAND (Tech 3 Yamaha)
7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (JiR Team Scot MotoGP)
8. Colin EDWARDS (Tech 3 Yamaha)
9. Randy DE PUNIET (LCR Honda MotoGP)
10. Loris CAPIROSSI (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP)
11. Toni ELIAS (Alice Team)
12. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki Racing Team)
13. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki Racing Team)
14. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Alice Team)
15. Chris VERMEULEN (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP)