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Welcome to Phillip Island for this weekend’s IVECO Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, the 15th round of the MotoGP World Championship and the sixth round of the Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbike Championship.

MotoOnline.com.au will be updating this feature page direct from the circuit throughout the weekend’s proceedings, bringing you live race rundowns and news as it happens.

Check back throughout the weekend for updates as Stoner tries for three in a row on home soil in MotoGP, while the ASBK title fight is at boiling point between Allerton, Maxwell and Waters.

SATURDAY, 17 OCTOBER

9.55-10.55am: MotoGP Free Practice
Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner topped this morning’s Free Practice session, setting the quickest lap around the mid-stages of the session before the rain came, putting an end to the quick laps during the session.

Stoner’s lap of 1:30.626 edged out Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa by just 0.048 of a second, while yesterday’s quickest, Valentino Rossi, was third, 0.275sec off the pace of Stoner.

This morning saw an improvement for Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo with the fourth best time, while Gresini Honda’s Alex de Angelis continued his solid weekend to round out the top five.

Queenslander Chris Vermeulen was 13th for Rizla Suzuki with a 1:33.017, looking for further improvements in what will be his final home grand prix for at least the next two years.

A notable crasher in the dry portion of the session was Randy de Puniet, returning to his garage with no apparent injuries.

Stay tuned for news and the reports as per the schedule throughout the weekend.

1.55-2.55pm: MotoGP Qualifying
MotoGP qualifying is underway here at Phillip Island, with Stoner leading the way 15 minutes into the session with a 1:30.734, over half a second ahead of Rossi and the in-form de Angelis. Vermeulen’s currently 16th on the Suzuki. De Angelis just went down, but is up and running back to the garage to get his spare bike.

At the halfway stage of a dry qualifying session here, Stoner still remains on top, although Rossi has significantly closed the gap down to 0.166sec, while Dani Pedrosa is third, but just suffered a crash, getting up and walking away under his own power.

Lorenzo is fourth ahead of de Angelis, while Nicky Hayden is a big improver in sixth, with Mika Kallio seventh for Pramac, pushing hard on the Ducati satellite bike.

With just 15 minutes remaining in the session, Stoner has improved his time to a 1:30.466, almost half a second ahead of Rossi, while Andrea Dovizioso has displaced Hayden for the sixth position. Vermeulen is up to 15th, although 2.357 seconds behind Stoner.

Casey really is back to his brilliant best, chasing Rossi with eight minutes left to run, closing on him but not improving on his best, while Rossi meanwhile closed the gap down to 0.223.

Edwards is yet another improver, up to sixth.

Rossi posts a 1:30.391 to jump to the top on his 26th lap of the session, while Stoner’s Ducati team is throwing another tyre at his Desmosedici with just over five minutes remaining in the session.

Stoner is back on top with a 1:30.386 on his 22nd lap, knocking The Doctor off the top spot and claiming pole position for tomorrow’s 27-lap race. It’s Stoner from Rossi, Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Edwards rounding out the top five.

Casey just went faster yet again on his final lap of the session to cement his pole with a 1:30.341, just 0.050 ahead of Vale and setting up a battle royale in tomorrow’s race.

Click here for detailed results

4.20-4:35pm: Australian Superbike Race 2
Australian Superbike action is underway, with Josh Waters leading the field away for Team Joe Rocket Suzuki, while yesterday’s winner Wayne Maxwell and his Oleon Motologic Racing teammate Glenn Allerton have also broken away from the remainder of the field after the opening lap. American Jake Holden ran off the circuit in Turn Four on lap one.

Maxwell and Waters have stretched a lead out front, with Allerton slowly falling behind, still feeling the effects of a high-speed fall at the Hayshed yesterday. Behind Allerton is CJC Honda’s Craig Coxhell, who is ahead of Team Joe Rocket Suzuki runners Shawn Giles and Robbie Bugden.

Live timing has dropped out here at the circuit so hang tight for the results, but in the end it was Maxwell who won reasonably comfortably ahead of Waters in the last of the non-championship races for the weekend, while Allerton was third ahead of Coxhell.

Bugden was next best to beat Giles, who suffered two incidents yesterday, while Yamaha Racing Team duo Dan and Jamie Stauffer were seventh and eighth respectively.

David Anthony had a comfortable ninth place finish ahead of Jordan Burgess, with a great ride for 10th after battling with Kevin Curtain throughout the race, while Holden recovered to 11th at the race’s end.

We’ve had word that it was in fact a championship-scoring race this afternoon, with Maxwell scoring the maximum points and setting a blistering new lap record of 1:32.316.

Click here for detailed results

5.42-5:57pm: Australian Supersport Race 3
Australian Supersport race three has gotten underway here, with the usual suspects up front on lap one of the scheduled eight, with Stauffer, Bryan Staring and Shannon Johnson heading the field from a fast-starting Troy Herfoss.

Herfoss has stuck with them this time in yet another incredible performance for the rookie contender, holding on for the opening laps before slightly falling behind and losing the ever important draft.

Johnson muscled his way into the lead through the fast turn three ahead of Stauffer, with series leader Staring almost coming off at Turn Four under brakes, allowing Herfoss to slip past.

The battle then came down to Johnson and Stauffer, two veterans of the Supersport field, while Staring pushed hard to close the gap after making his way back past Herfoss.

Next it was Johnson who ran wide after passing Stauffer, enabling Staring to get back in the mix to make a leading trio once again, while Herfoss settled into a comfortable fourth.

In a thrilling race, Johnson then made his way back to the front of the pack in his customary aggressive nature, before the Yamaha riders took charge again – Staring sliding it up the inside beautifully into Four before Stauffer again pounced back in a last lap stoush.

Staring made a superb drafting manoeuvre for the win over the stripe by a whisker of teammate Stauffer, while Johnson was again third – continuing his overall podium run for ESG Honda.

A new lap record went to Staring this time around, with a 1:35.200 setting a new domestic Supersport benchmark at the Island circuit.

Click here for detailed results

SUNDAY, 18 OCTOBER

8.35-8.50am: Australian Superbike Race 3
Welcome to Sunday’s race day here at Phillip Island, where the Aussie Superbike’s third race of the weekend is about to take place – another non-championship race before the final outing will be the title race.

Again it was the leading trio of Maxwell, Allerton and Waters up front from the start, with Allerton looking much more comfortable this morning, while Coxhell and Jake Holden are hanging in there better this time around.

It’s a three-way fight for the lead as Allerton hit the front, looking as though he’s got something for Maxwell and Waters today, but the lap times aren’t quite as fast this morning as they were yesterday afternoon.

Holden disappeared, but we don’t have confirmation what happened yet, bumping Giles to fifth, followed closely by David Anthony, Jamie Stauffer and Kevin Curtain. Holden is now ninth after his mishap.

Jordy Burgess and Chris Trounson have been in battle with Dan Stauffer for the final position in the top 10, eventually finishing in that order – a top result for Burgess on the Superstock bike.

Maxwell took the victory and the quickest lap of 1:33.077, edging out Waters and Allerton after GA lead early in the opening lap, with Coxhell a very solid fourth and top privateer – only 0.968 covered the leading quartet this morning!

Click here for detailed results

11.45am-12.00pm: Australian Superbike Race 4
A big accident by privateer Chris Knox brought out a red flag in the fourth Superbike race, crashing on the main straight after running off into the grass, while Craig Coxhell had a massive highside out of Turn Two on the same lap. We’ll try to bring a medical update when we can.

Upon restart it was Maxwell who lead the field away from Allerton, pulling away slightly, while Waters fought hard to get past Allerton and try to close the gap on Maxwell – setting the fastest lap at 1:32.717 in the process.

Allerton came under pressure from American Jake Holden on the Woostock ESG Honda, but managed to maintain the gap as Waters got right on the back of Maxwell.

Waters took a superb victory after lining up Maxwell on to the straight on the final lap, not using the draft, but simply driving past the Honda rider in a drag race to the line – and he’s absolutely pumped to stop the Wayne Train’s dominance for the weekend, but Maxwell should still score the round overall.

Allerton held on to third, while Holden was a comfortable fourth. A tight battle was had between Giles and an improved Jamie Stauffer, edging out Bugden, Anthony, Curtain and Burgess in the top 10.

Click here for detailed results

4.00-4.45pm: MotoGP Race
Note that our MotoGP race coverage will be delayed until a detailed report is uploaded on Sunday evening.

Last minute pre-race news: Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi will start from the rear of the grid in today’s race after Suzuki used an extra engine outside of the current allocation for his first sighting lap of the weekend, infringing the MotoGP engine durability regulations. Suzuki has also copped a 10 point reduction in the Constructors World Championship.

First lap update: Lorenzo crashed out after tangling with Hayden in Turn One, while Stoner currently leads with Rossi in chase.

Once Stoner took the lead from the fast starting Pedrosa he stayed there with Rossi close in the slipstream, setting the pace in the mid-1:30s, with Rossi setting a best of 1:30.085.

A major battle was had for the sixth position between Andrea Dovizioso, Melandri, de Puniet and Kallio, while Elias rounded out the top 10 in the group.

For Aussie Vermeulen it was an improved showing in 11th as he battled with Gabor Talmacsi, heading teammate Capirossi, who is his greatest yardstick on the underpowered GSV-R.

Stoner ended up pulling the lead out to almost a second with one lap remaining, sliding his Ducati through the ultra fast turn three and going on to take a superb victory head-to-head with Rossi – who stretched his series lead.

It was a third win in a row at home for Stoner, causing a great celebration at home for the Aussie, while Rossi was second and Pedrosa a very lonely third for Honda.

Rounding out the top five was de Angelis and Edwards, both who performed very well throughout the Island weekend.

With his victory, Stoner also moved up to third in the world championship behind Rossi and Lorenzo despite missing a number of races, and the crowd has invaded Gardner Straight to salute their hero.

James Toseland copped a jump start penalty, while Hayden circulated the remainder of the race at the back of the field after his first lap tangle.

Well done, Casey!!!

Visit MotoGP.com for detailed results

News and Notes

• Pramac Ducati’s Niccolo Canepa underwent a skingraft to his arm overnight and will miss this weekend’s GP, as well as next weekend’s Malaysia round at Sepang.

• Current 250cc World Championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama has been fined USD$1000 after kicking at Axel Pons during today’s Free Practice session due to his action being prejudicial to the interest of the sport. No appeal has been lodged.

• 125cc qualifying has been run and won, with Pol Espargaro taking the pole position for Derbi, while wild card riders Brad Gross and Nicky Diles made the cut, so they’ll be racing tomorrow afternoon. Levi Day, Andy Lawson Jr and Dylan Mavin will be eligible to start the race from their times in Free Practice, despite not being within 107% of the pole time in the qualifying session.

• Casey Stoner will race with a special livery in tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix.

• Mattia Pasini took pole position in the 250cc Grand Prix qualifying session after crashing early on in the session due to heavy rainfall, but bounced back to lead the front row ahead of Raffaelle de Rosa, Mike di Meglio and Jules Cluzel.

• We’ve had word that young Aussie wild card rider Dylan Mavin suffered a broken leg in this morning’s high-speed fall – we’ll try to bring an update with confirmation when we hear more.

• Casey was out in warm-up this morning sporting his new livery for Ducati – very nice!

• Spaniard Julian Simon has won the 125cc World Championship after taking the race victory at Phillip Island today ahead of Bradley Smith and Sandro Cortese. Top wild card rider was Brad Gross in 24th, while Andrew Lawson and Levi Day were 27th and 28th respectively.

• Italian Marco Simoncelli has boosted himself back into world championship contention in the 250cc category, winning at Phillip Island comfortably in a race that was red flagged when Roberto Locatelli crashed out. Simoncelli won ahead of Hector Barbera and Rafael de Rosa, while series leader Hiroshi Aoyama finished seventh – allowing Simoncelli to close the gap to 12 points.

• Craig Coxhell has been airlifted to a hospital in Melbourne following his ASBK crash, but is reportedly in a stable condition, flow for observation purposes. We’ll provide further updates when we can.