 1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit |
 2 Finally, a brilliant race day at Phillip Island. It rained on Friday but race day was fine and clear: air temperature 17° and track temperature 27°. Rossi crashed in qualifying, started from 12th (his worst start of the year) and required medication for a severe headache before the race. Casey took pole with Lorenzo and Hayden in the next two spots. |
 3 Casey lead into turn 1 closely followed by Nicky Hayden. This is turn 4 and Pedrosa has already crashed out. Alex De Angelis (15) is visible here but crashes out on MG corner, turn 10. Rossi narrowly missed the crashing De Angelis but by the end of lap 1 he was in eighth place; James Toseland (52) was in third. |
 4 Nicky and Casey had a fierce duel during the opening laps with both riders breaking the lap record. By lap 7 they were still separated by only .177 of a second. Casey pulled away on lap 9 and Hayden's charge was over. |
 5 On lap 7 Rossi challenged Toseland for third and again on lap 9. Rossi passed Toseland twice but was repassed both times. |
 6 It was not until lap 12 that Rossi made a successful pass and pulled away. Meanwhile, the field had bunched with Dovisioso (4) and Lorenzo (48) joining a race long battle for fourth place which, on the last lap, went to Lorenzo. |
 7 Meanwhile, Casey Stoner extended his lead while Hayden was clearly suffering from tyre problems. On the last lap, lap 27, Rossi caught and passed Hayden. He finished 6.5 seconds behind Stoner in second place. |
 8 It was a very popular and well-deserved win because Casey was still riding with a fractured scaphoid bone in his left wrist. With Pedrosa crashing Casey now had a 34 point advantage over Pedrosa in the championship. With only two races left, second place in the championship seemed assured. |
 9 Casey 1, Rossi 2 and Hayden 3: the 2008 champion with the 2007 and 2006 champions. Casey continued to show that he's the next big thing and Rossi showed true class in coming from 12th on the grid through to second. Ducati must be delighted to have Hayden riding for them next year. He's a true gentleman and most people feel that Honda has treated him badly. |
 10 Kropotkin's Phillip Island race report. |
