Stoner wins world championship

At just 21 years of age, New South Welshman Casey Stoner became the second-youngest rider (after American Freddie Spencer) to win the world's peak road racing title. To do it, he finished sixth in a torrid race that saw riders switching bikes mid-race and the fortunes of most of the fancied player turn to dust.

Perhaps most tragic was the day for the Yamaha crew of Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards, who discovered the hand-cut slicks on the front of their replacement machines were virtually unrideable. Rossi in fact was so desperate that he ran off the track twice and even returned to the pits a second time, assuming there was some major mechanical drama.

Another notable day of mixed fortune was that of Australian Kawasaki rider Anthony West who momentarily anticipated the start, stopped and then took off with the pack. He actually managed to lead the race for a brief period, but was inevitably made to take a ride-through-pits penalty which put him near the rear of the field. He ended up riding like a demon and managed to claw his way back to seventh.

Honda-mounted Dani Pedrosa, who was in a serious position to challenge Rossi for second in the championship, lost the back end of this machine late in the race and ended up in the gravel.

Meanwhile it was a red-letter day for Loris Capirossi who, though he is departing for Suzuki next year and has been overshadowed by team-mate Stoner, rode a clever race to take a well-deserved victory.

It was nevertheless Stoner's day. His wife Adriana, mother Bronwyn and father Colin were there to see the drama unfold and were clearly emotional when what they hoped for, but perhaps dared not believe, finally came true.

It's been a remarkable story for Stoner. Last year with a Honda team was one to forget, when he seemed to spend most of his time sliding down the tarmac. Ducati meanwhile, though now referring to him as a "genius" on its web site, did not necessarily expect huge things from the young rider who was not the factory's first choice for this year. Nevertheless, it has ended up with its first championship in the premium class after dominating world superbikes for so many years.

At the end of the day it was also a cruel twist for Honda, to lose Nicky Hayden's world crown at its home track in Motegi.

CASEY STONER - 6TH, NEW WORLD CHAMPION
" At the moment it all feels a little bit unrealistic! I'm struggling for words, I don't think there's any feeling that can compare to this, but I think it's really going to sink in as the day goes on and heads into tomorrow.

" The race started out quite well, we were able to get up front quite early and I had a reasonably good feeling with the bike, I was in a happy position. But then my rain tyres started wearing out as the track dried, and Valentino and Dani (Pedrosa) came past. I didn't really know whether to come in or not, then my team put 'box' on my pitboard, so I had a bit more confidence to come in.

" After I changed bikes there was something up with the steering damper, the bike wasn't allowing me to tip into corners, so I had to slow down to unwind it. Then I started to find more of a rhythm, Valentino had a problem and we managed to finish ahead of him. I guess that was the aim of the game today. Towards the end everything was creeping into my head, so I just tried to stay focused on the job in hand, I wanted to bring it home for my team.

" The whole thing is a bit overwhelming, because we didn't really expect to get the championship today, it's come on me quite quickly.

" There's a lot of people I have to thank: my parents, who have always been there for me, they've supported me throughout my career, my wife Adriana's who's been there this season and the past few and everyone else who's helped me along the way - Ducati, my whole team, Bridgestone tyres, a big thanks to everyone who's had anything to with my career - we finally did it!"

VALENTINO ROSSI - 14TH, SEOND IN CHAMPIONSHIP
" It's a great pity for us how everything has turned out this weekend, because in the dry we were faster than Stoner and we could have had a good chance. The first problem today was the weather this morning, but actually we were able to find a good setting for the bike and when the race started we were quite hopeful. I got a bad start but on the drying track I had the fastest pace and I was able to make up five seconds to the leaders. After I passed Melandri I came into the box to change and maybe this was one lap too late, but our strategy was more or less okay because I was able to come back into the race with only Loris in front of me. We had an intermediate front tyre, a slick cut which is normal in these situations, but the bike was almost impossible for me to ride and turn and it felt like there was something seriously wrong. I came back in but my mechanics could see there was nothing wrong so I went straight out again, and by then it was too late; the race was over for me and the championship was gone. After four or five laps the tyre began to work better and I was able to keep going to the end, but without this problem it would have been possible for me to be on the podium or even to fight for the win with Loris. The conditions were very unfortunate. However this is racing and now we have three more races and we will do our best to find a way to win and end the season on a high note. I'm really sorry for my fans and for everyone in the team. Congratulations to Loris but especially to Casey on becoming world champion. I am very flattered that he made a dedication to me on his victory t-shirt, if someone else has to win then I am glad it's one of my fans! He is a great rival and I hope that we can continue this rivalry into the future."

LORIS CAPIROSSI - RACE WINNER, STONER TEAM-MATE
" We struggled a lot this weekend and only yesterday did we find a better set-up solution. When I woke this morning and saw the rain I said 'wow, for sure this is going to be a difficult day'. We didn't know which would be the best tyres to use, so we started with medium rain tyres. At first it was really difficult, so I decided to pit early, and for sure my tactic was the best because I won my third consecutive race here, it's a great moment for me. It's also a great day for Casey, for Ducati and for the team. I congratulate Casey, he's a really strong rider, I'm very happy for him."

DUCATI DESMOSEDICI TIMELINE:
2003 - Capirossi and Bayliss have a sensational debut season with the Desmosedici, the Italian finishing on the podium in the bike's first race and following this up with an extraordinary win in the Catalunya GP. Ducati finish second overall while Loris and Troy finish fourth and sixth respectively.

2004 - In MotoGP both Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss succeeded in finishing the season on a high note, a difficult season which saw both Ducati riders finish on the podium, thus demonstrating the worth of the Desmosedici MotoGP project.

2005 - In MotoGP Loris Capirossi campaigned the Desmosedici for a third successive year, the Italian scoring two spectacular back-to-back wins in the latter half of the season. His team-mate was Spaniard Carlos Checa, who also picked up two podiums towards the end of the year.

2006 - Capirossi again spearheaded the Ducati attack in one of the most exciting MotoGP championships in history. The Italian won three races and took eight podiums to finish his best season with the Italian manufacturer third overall. It was a difficult year for team-mate Sete Gibernau, who sparked off a spectacular crash at the start of the GP Catalunya which conditioned his entire season. Troy Bayliss returned to World Superbike for Ducati Corse and capped a superb year by winning a second world title, five years on from his 2001 victory. The 37-year-old Australian then wrote another remarkable chapter in Ducati's history when he won the final round of the MotoGP championship at Valencia after being called in to replace Gibernau.

2007 - The first year of the new MotoGP 800 cc era. The Desmosedici GP7 has an all-new 800 cc power unit: smaller and more compact, it is, compared to the 990 cc engine, characterised by regular firing intervals which enhances maximum attainable power and contains fuel consumption. The two standard-bearers of the new MotoGP 2007 team are Loris Capirossi and young Australian talent Casey Stoner.

RESULTS
Race: 1 Capirossi, 2 De Puniet, 3 Elia, 4 Guintoli, 5 Melandri, 6 Stoner, 7 West, 8 Barros, 9 Hayden, 10 Hopkins, 11 Vermeulen, 12 Tamada, 13 Roosi, 14 Edwards, 15 Ito.

Points: 1 Stoner 297, 2 Rossi 214, 3 Pedrosa, 188, 4 Hopkins 156, 5 Vermeulen 152, 6 Melandri 148, 7 Capirossi 130, 8 Hayden 112, 9 Edwards 108, 10 Barros 91 (15 West 54).

See: www.ducati.com; www.motogp.com