Stoner triumphs on home soil

The Australian, who was crowned world champion for the first time with a sixth place finish in Japan three weeks ago, was third on the grid but enjoyed an excellent start, overtaking pole sitter Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi to lead at the first corner.

Stoner, who turns 22 on Tuesday, held onto his lead as he produced a master class to finish 6.763 seconds ahead of Ducati teammate Loris Capirossi, becoming the first Australian to win at Phillip Island since Mick Doohan's 1998 victory.

Capirossi, who captured his first win of the season in Japan, produced a spectacular move eight laps from the end to overtake the Rossi's Yamaha and Pedrosa's Honda in successive corners, moving up from fourth to second.

The one-two finish secured the constructors' championship for Ducati.

Rossi eventually beat out Pedrosa by 1.625 seconds to take the final spot on the podium.

American Nicky Hayden also enjoyed a strong start, moving up from fourth to second at the first corner. But the frustrations continued for the 2006 world champion, who has yet to finish better than third this season, as his bike appeared to lose power on the 13th, forcing him out of the race.

The only other racer who failed to make it to the finish was Britain's Chaz Davies, who also retired on the unlucky 13th lap with technical problems

Spain's Jorge Lorenzo dominated the 250cc race on his Aprilia, finishing over 19 seconds ahead of the rest of the field to open up a 45 point lead in the championship standings.

Lorenzo's compatriot Alvaro Bautista took second place, narrowly edging out Italian Andrea Dovizioso, while Ireland's Eugene Laverty finished in 16th spot.

Czech Lukas Pesek claimed victory in an exciting 125cc race on his Derbi, edging out Spain's Joan Olive by only 0.090 seconds.

Another Spaniard, Hector Faubel was third in a race which saw the top five separated by less than a second.

Britain's Bradley Smith finished just out of the points in 16th place while Danny Webb retired after 13 laps.