Casey Stoner revels in Phillip Island victory

Casey Stoner was overjoyed after storming to a fourth successive home win at Phillip Island with a commanding performance in his final Ducati appearance on home soil.

Red-hot favourite to continue his golden run at the Australian Grand Prix, Stoner didn’t disappoint of a crowd of over 41,000 windswept fans as he dominated the 27-lap race.

The 25-year-old was rarely troubled and his third win n the last four races in 2010 more than made up for the crushing disappointment of his first lap exit in Malaysia the previous week.

The 2007 world champion said: “ I’m very happy with this weekend. I was a little bit disappointed after the last race in Malaysia. We felt that we definitely had the pace to fight for a win there and I mucked it up on the first lap. So that was a bit disappointing.

“But these last four races have been fantastic for me to be so competitive again. It’s been very nice for me to be able to come back to form and actually give these guys a run for their money in these last races.

“It’s the best way I can show the world that I’ve never stopped trying all season. We just didn’t have the right set-up working over a big part of the season and I wasn’t able to fight Jorge (Lorenzo) or Dani (Pedrosa0 for the championship.

“But I think the way Jorge rode this season he was going to be champion no matter what.”

Stoner’s 23rd premier class win boosted his slim hopes of taking second place in the overall rankings from injured Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa.

The Spaniard missed the race having been able to ignore the pain coming from the badly broken left collarbone he injured in Japan.

Stoner is now 23-points adrift with two races left and he added: “I’m surprised Dani didn’t try and ride. It didn’t look too bad out there for him and I think with a little bit more time on the bike he would have got more comfortable.

“Second place isn’t over for sure, but third place is the one we’ve been fighting for quite a while this season. We’re going to keep fighting for that.”

For a full seven-page round-up of all the news from Phillip Island, see Wednesday’s (October 20) issue of Motor Cycle News.