A record 53 100 Australian MotoGP fans turned out at Phillip Island in cool and blustery weather to watch local hero Casey Storer storm to an unprecedented sixth consecutive Australian Grand Prix win in his final appearance at his home circuit, before retiring from the works Honda team at the end of the 2012 season.
Despite the pain and restricted movement of his injured right ankle he completely outclassed Yamaha's championship leader Jorge Lorenzo to win by an emphatic nine seconds, but a disastrous crash for Stoner's team mate, championship contender Dani Pedrosa, decided the 2012 World title battle in Lorenzo's favour with one race still to go.
MOTOGP
Lorenzo got the hole shot into Turn 1 after a lightning start with Pedrosa and Stoner close on his tail. Pedrosa was aggressive from the start, pushing past Lorenzo within a couple of turns and trying to pull away, while Stoner was soon all over Lorenzo and took him on the home straight heading into lap two.
Moments later there was huge drama as Pedrosa pushed too hard and lost the rear of his Honda, right in front of Stoner and Lorenzo. Pedrosa was able to remount but the Honda was too badly damaged to continue, meaning that Lorenzo had only to finish 12th or better to take his second World title.
Which may have been why Stoner was able to pull away at the front, while an entertaining battle for third ensued between Yamaha Tech 3 team mates Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso, and Honda privateers Álvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl.
By lap 10 Crutchlow was on a charge, lapping faster than Lorenzo and pulling away slightly from Dovizioso, who had Bautista stuck to his rear wheel while 10 seconds further adrift, Valentino Rossi was leading a battle of the Desmosedicis ahead of Karel Abraham and Nicky Hayden.
On lap 12 Bautista got past Dovizioso as both came under pressure from Bradl, who passed Dovizioso a lap later. Bradl was a man on a mission as he then took Bautista on the home straight, with Dovizioso following suit a few corners later.
With five laps left Dovizioso picked up the pace, passing Bradl for fourth, and and a lap later Bautista squeezed past the German for fifth. The three put up the dice of the race, bashing elbows throughout the final two laps to come home with 0.14sec, with Dovizioso in front of Bautista and Bradl when it mattered.
Crutchlow put in a terrific ride as he stormed to his second GP podium despite suffering from illness, but the day belonged to Stoner, who will retire as the undefeated king of Phillip Island, and Lorenzo, who nailed down his second premier-class World championship with one race to go.
MOTO2
Top qualifier Pol Espargaró (Kalex) got a bad start and was blitzed Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex), and Suter riders Marc Márquez and Thomas Lüthi in the first few corners, but by the end of the first lap Espargaró was leading from Márquez as the Spanish rivals set the poace, ahead of Scott Redding (Kalex), Nakagami and Motobi rider Johann Zarco.
A lap later and Espargaró already looked in a class of his own as he pulled out a significant gap over Márquez in second. On lap six Redding made his way past Márquez into second, while local hero Anthony West (Speed Up) held the front of a big group, dicing with Dominique Aegerter (Suter) and Simone Corsi (FTR) for fourth.
By half-distance Espargaró had pulled out an gap of over eight seconds - an enormous lead in a class where winning advantages are normally measured in hundredths of a second - but Marquez was still grimly holding on to Redding, while Lüthi seemed to be struggling as he dropped into 12th, and Espargaró's team mate Esteve Rabat fought his way up to sixth.
A couple of laps later Lüthi's race got even worse as he crashed out, blaming a rear tyre issue.
With eight laps to go, West began to pull away from the battle for fourth and close in on Márquez to challenge for third - but behind them the fight for fifth became a six-way battle as Kalex riders Mika Kallio and Randy Krummenacher joined in.
Three laps from the end West made his move on Márquez, much to the delight of the local crowd, and then tried a move on Redding, but couldn't make it stick, just as Kallio bumped fairings with Corsi, ran wide and dumped the Kalex in the kitty litter.
The last lap was a thriller as the local hero made a brave move into second, only to be dramatically followed by Márquez in the final corner, relegating Redding to fourth.
By then Espargaró had already taken the chequered flag with an huge margin of more than 16 seconds, as West, Márquez and Redding finished in less than 0.2sec, with West taking only his second Moto2 podium in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
The final spot on the rostrum - and the 2012 title - went to Márquez. Ten seconds later Redding led home Aegerter, Zarco, Corsi, Rabat, Krummenacher and Nakagami, all within less than half a second after a superb battle.
At the age of 19 years and 254 days Marquez became the third youngest rider yet to win the World title in the intermediate class and the fifth Spanish champion, joining Sito Pons (1988 and 1989), Dani Pedrosa (2004 and 2005), Jorge Lorenzo (2006 and 2007) and Toni Elias (2010).
With one race still to go Marquez already has nine wins in 2012, a record for the most Moto2 wins in a single season and, with 26 victories, he has won more Grand Prix races than any other rider in the history of the sport whilst still a teenager.
MOTO3
KTM rider Zulfahmi Khairuddin got a lighting start to lead the early stages from Luis Salom (Kalex KTM), who had made his way up from ninth on the grid, Jonas Folger (Kalex KTM) and Louis Rossi (FTR Honda), while newly crowned champion Cortese stalked them from behind.
Then the stewards turned the race on its ear by imposing ride-through penalties on Folger, Salom, Rossi, Alberto Moncayo (FTR Honda) and local hero Jack Miller (Honda) for jumping the start - although Rossi was already in difficulty after running on to the grass, although he managed to stay upright.
On lap eight Niklas Ajo was lucky to survive a big moment on his KTM, while Cortese took over as the early frontrunners disappeared off the leaderboard and into pit lane to take their penalties.
Also taking advantage Miguel Oliveira (Suter Honda) in second, while Maverick Viñales (FTR) Honda debated third with Cortese's team mate, local rider Arthur Sissis.
By half-distance FTR Honda team mates Romano Fenati and Alessandro Tonucci, Oliveira's team mate Alex Rins, Efrén Vázquez on an FTR Honda and works KTM rider Danny Kent had moved up to join the battle for third.
But, with eight laps to go, Viñales crashed out, putting even more pressure on Sissis, while, two laps later, Oliveira made his move on Cortese to take the lead for the first time, only to have the German strike back two laps later.
The new World champion put in a blistering final two laps to come home two seconds ahead of Oliviera, while five seconds further back the fairing-bashing six-way fight for third went right done to the line, elbow to elbow, as Sissis, Rins, Kent and Fenati finished within 0.08 of a second, with Tonucci and Vázquez less than a second adrift.
Sissis in particular was thrilled to get his first GP podium in front of his home crowd.
RESULTS - MOTOGP
1 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda - 41min01.324
2 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha +9.223sec
3 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha +14.570
4 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Yamaha +23.303
5 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda +23.432
6 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda +23.467
7 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati +37.113
8 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati +38.387
9 Karel Abraham (Czech Republic) Ducati +52.613
10 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) ART +1min00.299
11 Randy de Puniet (France) ART +1min00.342
12 Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati +1min21.951
13 Danilo Petrucchi (Italy) Ioda-Suter +1min27.857
14 Michele Pirro (Italy) FTR +1 lap
15 Ivan Silva (Spain) BQR +1lap
MOTO2
1 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Kalex - 39min26.486
2 Anthony West (Australia) Speed Up +16.811sec
3 Marc Marquez (Spain) Suter +16.837
4 Scott Redding (Britain) Kalex +16.957
5 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) +26.018
6 Johann Zarco (France) Motobi +26.028
7 Simone Corsi (Italy) FTR +26.091
8 Esteve Rabat (Spain) Kalex +26.372
9 Randy Krummenacher (Switzerland) Kalex +26.474
10 Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) Kalex 26.580
MOTO3
1 Sandro Cortese (Germany) KTM - 38min20.014
2 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Suter Honda +2.108sec
3 Arthur Sissis (Australia) KTM +5.031
4 Alex Rins (Spain) Suter Honda +5.084
5 Danny Kent (Britain) KTM +5.107
6 Romano Fenti (Italy) FTR Honda +5.109
7 Alessandro Tonucci (Italy) FTR Honda +5.374
8 Efren Vasquez (Spain) FTR Honda +5.894
9 Alex Marquez (Spain) Suter Honda +30.783
10 Isaac Vinales (Spain) FTR Honda +30.911
14 Brad Binder (South Africa) Kalex KTM +34.102