The 2008 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix was the sixteenth round of the 2008 MotoGP Championship. It took place on the weekend of 3–5 October 2008 at the

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near Ventnor, Victoria, Ventnor, on Phillip Island, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The current circuit was first used in 1952. Along with The Bend Motorsport P ...

Race report

The premier class MotoGP race was won by

Casey Stoner Casey Joel Stoner (born 16 October 1985) is an Australian retired professional motorcycle racer, and a two-time MotoGP World Champion, in and . During his MotoGP career, Stoner raced for the factory teams of Ducati and Honda, winning a tit ...

from pole position. Stoner rode a lights to flag victory ahead of a fast and charging

Valentino Rossi Valentino Rossi ( ; ; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian racing driver, former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed "the Doctor", Rossi is widely considered one of the greate ...

who started the race from 12th position on the grid.

Nicky Hayden Nicholas Patrick Hayden (July 30, 1981 May 22, 2017), nicknamed "The Kentucky Kid", was an American professional motorcycle racer who won the MotoGP World Championship in 2006. Hayden began racing motorcycles at a young age. He began his road ...

rounded out the podium finishing in a respectable third place. In the early stages of the race, Stoner and Hayden had a battle that lasted many laps with the two pulling away from the chasing pack, trading fast laps between them. Casey Stoner gradually began to pull away as Hayden's tyres appeared to wear out slightly. Meanwhile, Rossi was charging through the midfield, getting up to 8th position after only the first lap. Rossi quickly disposed of a number of riders in the first few laps, but lost vital time while attempting to overtake his teammate

Jorge Lorenzo Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero (; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racing, motorcycle racer. He is a five-time World Champion, with three List of 500cc/MotoGP Motorcycle World Champions, MotoGP World Championships ...

and former SBK champion

James Toseland James Michael Toseland (born 5 October 1980) is an English former motorcycle racer, commentator and vocalist of his own rock band named Toseland. For 2020, he was team-manager of Wepol Racing with riders in World Supersport and Supersport 300,< ...

. Rossi was setting fast lap times but his entertaining battle with these two riders meant he was losing time, and all chances of catching Stoner and Hayden who were riding off into the distance were slowly fading. After losing the front end going in MG Corner just after Lukey Heights, Rossi lost yet more time. After a few laps he managed to get into the tow behind Toseland and past him going into the long sweeping turn 1. Toseland had no reply and Rossi had his eyes firmly set on catching the leaders. Rossi caught Hayden with only 2 laps to go, but Stoner was simply too far already to be challenged for the win. By this stage of the race, Hayden's rear tyre was very worn as he had not conserved it in the early stages of the race. Rossi pulled a textbook move going into turn 1 on the last lap, Hayden lost ground from here and could not get close enough to attempt to retake second place.

MotoGP classification

250 cc classification

125 cc classification

Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)

Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round sixteen has concluded. ;Riders' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Notes

References

{{Coord, 38, 30, 11.5, S, 145, 14, 1, E, display=title, type:event Australian motorcycle Grand Prix

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

Motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

Motorsport at Phillip Island