Oz Racers around the World
– October 2007
MotoGP,
Casey Stoner celebrated his MotoGP world title in perfect style with a pulverizing home victory at Phillip Island on Sunday, as Ducati sealed the 2007 teams' and manufacturers' crowns. The first ten laps of the Australian Grand Prix saw Stoner put under a surprising amount of pressure by outgoing world champion Nicky Hayden, before the American's rear tyre began sliding a little too much. The Repsol Honda rider soon lost second to Valentino Rossi as a result, but far worse was to follow when an engine failure forced a furious Hayden to park his RC212V just before the midway point of the 27 laps.
Meanwhile, Rossi was unable to remotely match Stoner's searing pace and the 21-year-old had already pulled 4.6secs clear of the Fiat Yamaha star by the end of lap 14. Stoner's advantage then increased to 6.7secs over an Italian at the chequered - but it wasn't Rossi...
During the closing stages of the race Stoner's team-mate Loris Capirossi put on a spirited charge, finally passing fading fellow Italian Marco Melandri for fourth on lap 18, then overtaking both Rossi and pole sitter Dani Pedrosa in a single move two laps later. The Motegi race winner went on to put over three seconds between himself and lead Michelin rider Rossi by the finish, with Pedrosa a further 1.6secs back. By then, Stoner was already celebrating his ninth win of the season - and first ever home victory - by carrying a huge Australian flag before being cheered on the podium by a start-finish straight packed with delighted fans.
Ducati had particular reason to celebrate, having secured the 2007 teams' and manufacturers' world titles to add to Stoner's riders' championship. The Italian marque is the first European manufacturer to win the constructors' crown since MV Agusta in 1973.
MotoGP Sepang
Casey Stoner's 2007 win tally reached double figures at Sepang, when the newly crowned MotoGP world champion resisted pressure from Marco Melandri and Dani Pedrosa to take his tenth victory of the season. Starting from second on the grid, Stoner passed pole sitter Dani Pedrosa into turn one and - despite running wide at the final hairpin - still held the advantage over Pedrosa, Randy de Puniet and Melandri as the 20-rider field crossed the line at the end of lap 1 of 21.
The top four then began to
stretch away from de Puniet's
Stoner was ultimately never overtaken, but the 22-year-old was never able to break more than two-seconds clear of the two RC212V riders. Melandri snatched second from Pedrosa just before the halfway stage and, despite Stoner smashing the 990cc lap record on lap 15, Marco had closed to within one second of Casey with three laps to go. But the Australian responded to the pressure from his 2008 team-mate in typical style, quickly putting vital tenths between himself and the Honda Gresini rider on his way to a 1.7secs victory margin, while Pedrosa prevented a Bridgestone podium sweep with third on his Michelin-shod factory Honda.
de Puniet was firmly in contention for his second podium of the season for much of the race, despite a heart-stopping slide on lap four, but had faded to 1.4secs from Pedrosa by the chequered flag and then stopped on the slowdown lap after running out of fuel.
Meanwhile, Valentino Rossi had dropped from ninth on the grid to eleventh at turn one, but his race pace was better than he had feared and the Italian was able to salvage fifth at the flag - making him the second best Michelin rider - as the Fiat Yamaha star finished 4.7secs from Stoner.
Melandri's team-mate Toni Elias claimed a solid sixth, after a tough battle with Repsol rider Nicky Hayden ended with the American running off track at the final hairpin when he tried to outbrake the Spaniard on lap 13.
Hayden recovered to ninth,
while Rizla Suzuki team-mates John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen fought almost from start to finish - with Vermeulen
getting the edge at the flag. The Australian
is now four points from
AMA
The 2007 AMA Superbike Championship title was decided by just a single point. Superstar Ben Spies delivered a masterful performance on Sunday afternoon at Laguna Seca to secure a repeat crown. Six-time AMA Superbike king Mat Mladin controlled the race over its opening half, holding down the top position for 15 of the race’s 28 laps. The Aussie held strong under intense pressure until lap 16 when Spies set up the move of the season at the Corkscrew where the 23-year-old Texan moved past the 35-year-old Australian and was never headed again.
World Superbikes – Championship 2007
|
1. |
J.
Toseland |
|
415 |
|
|
|
2. |
|
413 |
|
|
|
|
3. |
M.
Biaggi |
|
397 |
|
|
|
4. |
|
372 |
|
|
|
|
5. |
|
296 |
|
|
|
|
6. |
|
201 |
|
|
|
|
7. |
|
192 |
|
|
|
|
8. |
|
192 |
|
|
|
|
9. |
|
149 |
|
|
|
|
10 |
|
137 |
|
|
|
|
11 |
|
132 |
|
|
|
|
12 |
. F. Nieto |
|
125 |
|
|
|
13 |
|
116 |
|
|
|
|
14 |
. J. Smrz |
|
66 |
|
|
|
15 |
|
66 |
|
|
|
|
16 |
|
62 |
|
|
|
|
17 |
|
40 |
|
|
|
|
18 |
|
27 |
|
|
World Supersport – Championship 2007
|
1. |
276 |
|
|
2. |
133 |
|
|
3. |
128 |
|
|
4. |
101 |
|
|
5. |
94 |
|
|
6. |
90 |
|
|
7. |
83 |
|
|
8. |
70 |
|
|
9.
|
66 |
|
|
17 |
. A. Pitt |
40 |
|
25 |
25 |
|
|
28 |
20 |
|
|
32 |
6 |
|
|
35 |
4 |