Bridgestone motorsport wrap for 15th October 2007

Stoner celebrates home victory at Phillip Island

The Bridgestone-shod Ducati Corse team is celebrating a spectacular 1-2 at Phillip Island, with newly-crowned world champion Casey Stoner winning the Australian Grand Prix ahead of team mate Loris Capirossi.   

The young Aussie champ started from third on the grid after finishing behind Dani Pedrossa's Honda and Valentino Rossi's Yamaha in final qualifying on Saturday, but he snatched his ninth win of the season thanks to a blistering start which provided him with a comfortable lead for the duration of the 28 lap race.

"This is the most special of all my wins," Stoner said.

"Standing on the podium with all the crowds was fantastic.  I've worked a long time to win my home race but this whole season has just been magical, with the Ducati and the Bridgestones," he said.

Rossi filled third spot on the podium with the former World Champion pushing his bike to the limit in an effort to catch the Ducatis - running onto the grass out of Turn 12 on only the second lap.

Ducati's 1-2 secured the Team Championship to add to the rider's title and the Constructor Championship.

Bridgestone riders dominated the race's top ten, with Stoner's success making it the eleventh win by a rider on Bridgestone tyres this season and the first ever in MotoGP at the technically challenging Phillip Island circuit.

Bridgestone's range of tyres performed well over the duration of the event in spite of increased track temperatures after a weekend hit by cool and often wet conditions.

The demands of the 4.428km track do not place the front tyre under too much stress and, as a result, all riders opted for a softer specification front tyre and were split between medium and hard specification rear tyres.

In Formula One news, the championship title will go down to the wire at Interlagos this weekend as teams head to Sao Paulo for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

In the final race of the year, one of three drivers, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen or Fernando Alonso, will follow in the footsteps of Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher to become the next Formula One drivers' champion using Bridgestone Potenza tyres.