PHILLIP ISLAND, Australia—Casey Stoner showed no sign of the illness that has derailed his season when he upstaged Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo to secure a hat-trick of home Australian Grand Prix wins on Sunday.
Stoner, who missed three races with fatigue before posting a podium finish at the Portuguese Grand Prix this month, took the tactical battle by 1.935 seconds over champion Rossi in sunny conditions at the 4.45km Phillip Island circuit.
"I was just really happy with the way everything was working, especially my body," the 2007 world champion told reporters. "Every lap that I kept going past the point where I used to just hit my wall, it made me smile."
Rossi's second place was achieved despite personal tragedy, the Italian hearing of his stepfather's death before qualifying on Saturday, and lifted him closer to retaining the title.
Crossing the line well clear of Dani Pedrosa in third, Rossi stretched his championship lead over nearest challenger Lorenzo to 38 points with two races remaining after the Spaniard crashed out before the first turn.
After a sluggish start out of the grid, pole-sitter Stoner managed to snatch the lead back from Spain's Pedrosa before the end of the first lap and was soon joined by Rossi.
The two quickly opened up a large gap over the rest of the pack and engaged in an epic game of cat-and-mouse, Rossi's Yamaha pressing agonisingly close at the corners, only for Stoner's Ducati to slip away on the straights.
Stoner saw off the Italian champion's challenges, however, and survived a hair-raising wobble late on to post his third win of the season in front of ecstatic home fans.
The 24-year-old said he had almost expected his arms to start buckling when braking at some of the more taxing turns at the Phillip Island circuit, but that his break from competition had ultimately paid dividends.
"After we took those three races off, even before, it's not that we gave up the championship, but we were realistic about it," added Stoner, who leapfrogged Pedrosa to move third in the championship standings.
"We realised that to try and salvage every point we can for this championship and just slowly finish the season and not fix the problem before next year -- we decided to take the time off and fix it and get ready for next year."
Lorenzo's gift
Having pulled within striking distance of Rossi with his win in Portugal, Lorenzo's championship bid was all but ruined just seconds after the start.
Fourth on the grid, Lorenzo lost control and came off his bike after brushing another rider, the accident also dragging American Nicky Hayden into the paddock.
Rossi was pleased to accept the Spaniard's gift with only races in Malaysia and Valencia to come this season.
"I was very close, I think some two or three laps (I was) faster, but anyway there was no way for the victory but these 20 points are like gold for us," said the Italian, who is chasing a seventh premier class title.
Honda-rider Pedrosa's third place was his third podium finish in as many races.
In the 250cc class, Marco Simoncelli was awarded victory with six laps left after a crash left Italian Roberto Locatelli stricken on the race track.
The win put the hirsute Gilera rider within 12 points of leader Hiroshi Aoyama of Japan, who was classified seventh.
Aprilia-rider Hector Barbera of Spain finished second and Italian Raffaele De Rosa third.
Spaniard Julian Simon clinched the 125cc race and the championship in dramatic fashion, overtaking British team mate and nearest challenger Bradley Smith on the final lap.
Australian Grand Prix MotoGP result from Phillip Island on Sunday
1. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 40 mins 56.651 secs
2. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 40:58.586
3. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 41:19.269
4. Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Honda 41:29.353
5. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 41:32.536
6. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 41:35.133
7. Marco Melandri (Italy) Kawasaki 41:41.112
8. Randy de Puniet (France) Honda 41:41.592
9. Mika Kallio (Finland) Ducati 41:50.996
10. Toni Elias (Spain) Honda 41:57.856
11. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki 42:02.068
12. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Suzuki 42:02.601
13. Gabor Talmacsi (Hungary) Honda 42:14.602
14. James Toseland (Britain) Yamaha 42:14.636
15. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Ducati +1 Laps
Championship Standings
1. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 270
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 232
3. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 195
4. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 189
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 152
6. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 145
7. Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Honda 101
8. Randy de Puniet (France) Honda 101
9. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Suzuki 101
10. Marco Melandri (Italy) Kawasaki 100
11. Toni Elias (Spain) Honda 96
12. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki 95
13. James Toseland (Britain) Yamaha 87
14. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Ducati 82
15. Mika Kallio (Finland) Ducati 58
16. Niccolo Canepa (Italy) Ducati 38
17. Gabor Talmacsi (Hungary) Honda 17
18. Sete Gibernau (Spain) Ducati 12
19. Yuki Takahashi (Japan) Honda 9
20. Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Ducati 8
