Stoner romps to glory in Malaysia

The Australian Ducati rider started second on the grid but stormed into the lead on the first lap and was never headed, winning his 10th race of the year by nearly two seconds from Italian Marco Melandri with Spaniard Dani Pedrosa third.

The 22-year-old Stoner, who clinched his first world title in Japan last month, became the first rider to win in all three classes at Sepang and finished among the points for the 17th time this season, equalling the record set by Colin Edwards in 2005.

Spain's Jorge Lorenzo retained the 250cc world title after finishing third in Malaysia behind Japan's Hiroshi Aoyama and Spain's Hector Barbera.

Lorenzo moved on to 303 points in the standings, 56 ahead of Italian Andrea Dovizioso, who crashed on the penultimate lap.

"This is the culmination of some long and hard work," Lorenzo told reporters.

"Now we have to celebrate like it's the end of the world."

Hungarian Gabor Talmacsi won the 125cc race to close in on the world championship.

Japan's Tomoyoshi Koyama was second and Spaniard Hector Faubel third. Talmacsi leads Faubel by 10 points in the standings going into the final race in Valencia, Spain.

Malaysian Grand Prix MotoGP race result and standings from Sepang on Sunday:

1. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 43:04.405

2. Marco Melandri (Italy) Honda 43:06.106

3. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 43:06.731

4. Randy de Puniet (France) Kawasaki 43:08.170

5. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 43:09.178

6. Toni Elias (Spain) Honda 43:22.072

7. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki 43:25.355

8. John Hopkins (U.S.) Suzuki 43:26.603

9. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda 43:26.855

10. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 43:34.151

11. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati 43:39.328

12. Alex Barros (Brazil) Ducati 43:40.072

13. Nobuatsu Aoki (Japan) Suzuki 43:48.518

14. Carlos Checa (Spain) Honda 43:48.891

15. Anthony West (Australia) Kawasaki 43:54.063

Standings

1. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 347

2. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha241

3. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 217

4. Marco Melandri (Italy) Honda 174

5. John Hopkins (U.S.) Suzuki 173

6. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki 169

7. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Ducati 155

8. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 121

9. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda 119

10. Alex Barros (Brazil) Ducati 106

11. Randy de Puniet (France) Kawasaki 101

12. Toni Elias (Spain) Honda 98

13. Alex Hofmann (Germany) Ducati 65

14. Carlos Checa (Spain) Honda 61

15. Anthony West (Australia) Kawasaki 59

16. Sylvain Guintoli (France) Yamaha 45

17. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Honda 45

18. Makoto Tamada (Japan) Yamaha 37

19. Kurtis Roberts (U.S.) KR212V 10

20. Roger Lee Hayden (U.S.) Kawasaki 6

21. Michel Fabrizio (Italy) Honda 6

22. Fonsi Nieto (Spain) Kawasaki 5

23. Olivier Jacque (France) Kawasaki 4

24. Kenny Roberts Jr (U.S.) KR212V 4

25. Nobuatsu Aoki (Japan) Suzuki 3

26. Shinichi Ito (Japan) Ducati 1