Stoner wins second Aussie MotoGP

AAP- Ducati's Casey Stoner won his second straight Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix with a comfortable victory over world champion Valentino Rossi.

Stoner finished the 27-lap race 6.5 seconds ahead of the new world champion with
American Nicky Hayden third on a Honda.
Rossi produced a brilliant surge from 12th place on the grid to elbow his way
through to second, passing Hayden with just a lap remaining.
The race was Stoner's fifth victory of the season for a comfortable hold on second
place in the series ahead of Spaniard Dani Pedrosa.
Hayden stuck with Stoner for much of the first half of the race before the
Australian gradually widened the gap to the Honda.
With 10 laps remaining Stoner had pulled out a comfortable 4.5 second edge over the
American, who will join him next season at Ducati.
But the highlight was Rossi's masterful ride from a lowly 12th at the start.
By the end of the opening lap he was in eighth place, improving to fifth three laps
later.
The Italian then challenged fellow Yamaha rider James Toseland for third, slipping
past the Englishman on the seventh lap.
The race claimed its first victim when Pedrosa, third in the world championship,
failed to complete a lap, spearing off the track at the first turn.
Suzuki's Australian Chris Vermeulen also ran wide and off the bitumen but recovered
to rejoin the field in last spot.
Battling Queenslander Ant West finished 12th while Vermeulen never recovered from
his early mistake and was forced to settle for 14th spot.