It was another eventful day of MotoGP action at the Phillip Island circuit where Casey Stoner demonstrated his familiarity of the track with a stunning display of flawless riding. For the third year in a row, the Aussie won the Australian Grand Prix and was clearly head and shoulders above everyone else, including the 6-time world champion, Valentino Rossi.
Despite being away from the racing scene for three races, Stoner seemed completely at ease after returning to the tracks in Estoril and in this, his birthday race weekend, the Aussie dominated right from qualifying with a sensational pole position run followed by a race where Stoner dominated the entire field. 
The race began with a huge blow for Fiat Yamaha man, Jorge Lorenzo. Unwell at the beginning of the week, Lorenzo was handed an ill-handling bike which simply multiplied his troubles. Rear grip had harrased Lorenzo throughout practice, qualifying and eventually, got the better of him in the race after the Spaniard brushed against Stoner’s teammate, Nicky Hayden, and ended up in the gravel. At turn one, Lorenzo’s bid to close the gap on Rossi, at the top of the standings, well away.
Rossi, meanwhile, was looking to stay comfortable and get a race win without stretching himself too much. As the pit board hung out at the end of the first lap, telling him of Lorenzo’s crash, the pressure almost eased off the Italian.
“I read on my board that Lorenzo was out, so I tried for the victory. Casey set a good pace, but my bike setting was good so I tried to follow him at 100%, but also had to remember not to make any mistakes for the championship after Lorenzo’s crash. It was a great battle. I tried, at one part of the race it was possible to attack, but at the end it was too risky and anyway Casey had a great race.”
Rossi went on to ride a safe race, never threatening to challenge Stoner’s first place however there were times when the Italian did seem to be going all out for the win. But unable to shake a solid Aussie at the front, Rossi seemed satisfied to ride out for second place. Stoner’s dominance was such that the Doctor ended up almost 2 seconds behind him, at the chequered flag. 
“These 20 points are so important for my championship. I have to thank Yamaha and all the guys in my team because we worked well this weekend and now we have a 38-point advantage with two races to go and we will try to do better next week in Sepang,” said the Italian.
Behind the front two, Dani Pedrosa came a distant third, 22-odd seconds behind Rossi. At no point did Pedrosa actually threaten to make a pass on Rossi who’s sight, the Spaniard lost, early on in the race. Alex de Angelis was having a fine weekend and his fourth place finish capped a sensational performace for the youngster in such short time.
Colin Edwards was consistent with a fifth place finish to his fifth place start while Andrea Dovizioso finished his race in sixth spot.
At the top of the race for the Riders’ Championship, Valentino Rossi has extended his 18 point lead to 38 now, thanks to Lorenzo’s non-finish. While, mathematically, there are still 50 points up for grabs and a similar fate for Rossi in the last two races can help Lorenzo grab the title, such occurances are highly unlikely as a fourth place finish at Sepang, in Malaysia, will be enough for Rossi to seal the title, irrespective of Lorenzo’s finish in the race. 
For others like Alex de Angelis, the race may have helped keeping his hopes of another season in MotoGP alive.
With Malaysia in store now, Lorenzo will be hoping that his title bid stays alive on a Sepang circuit that Rossi considers one of his favourites.