Race

Here comes the rain! It's tipping down all of a sudden! Bautista's down! This could spell trouble!

Just four laps from glory now... Abraham has not covered himself in glory though as he hits the deck.

The Stoner garage is filled with Casey's family... they're waiting to pop the champagne corks...

Stoner's lead over Simoncelli is currently five and a half seconds now...

The fight for third place is hotting up between Dovizioso and Pedrosa... Simoncelli looks good in second for the moment.

So, as Dovizioso passes Pedrosa for third place Stoner still leads from Simoncelli with Bautista in fifth, followed by Hayden and Edwards.

Just nine laps for Stoner to hang on... and for the time being, the rain is holding off. So far so good for the Australian!

Stoner's lead is now 4.7seconds after he has a little moment. Simoncelli is being pushed by Pedrosa and perhaps that's the reason he's chasing down the race leader.

De Puniet runs off track, but he stays in eighth, albeit slightly closer to Abraham and Crutchlow in ninth and 10th.

Rossi is off! He the Italian is out of the Australian GP! Well, that caps a pretty miserable weekend for Rossi...

There are spots of rain falling now, even though the sun is still out.

Pedrosa now moves into third place and he will now set his sights on second-placed Simoncelli.

Rossi is closing in on Hayden, who still occupies that all-important sixth place.

Rain could throw a spanner in Stoner's works here... although he's got a large advantage over Hayden in sixth - the position he needs to finish in to claim the title, don't forget.

The white flags are out, meaning bikes can be changed... apparently there are a few drops of rain at turn two....

Stoner flies out of a corner in the lead, six second ahead of Simoncelli, with Dovizioso and Pedrosa both within a second of the Italian.

There's some activity in the garages as the teams sense rain on its way... Stoner leads by six seconds.

Dark clouds are looming at Phillip Island and the wind is getting up... not that the weather is affecting Stoner at the moment.

Lorenzo is already on his way to Melbourne, where a plastic surgeon is waiting to work magic on that injured finger.

Stoner is running away with it at the front. This really is his race.

With 24 laps to go, it's Stoner, from Simoncelli, Dovizioso, Hayden, Bautista, Pedrosa, Rossi, Edwards, De Puniet and Abraham completing the top 10.

Simoncelli does take second, pushing Hayden back into second with a brave overtaking manoeuvre.

Across the line they go for the first time... Stoner leads from Hayden in second. Simoncelli is pressuring Hayden at the moment though.

Cal Crutchlow is back in 13th after experiencing some problems getting his bike started on the grid!

Stoner makes a great start in an incident-free start! He's right where he wants to be as the riders begin the first of 27 laps!

The lights go out and we are go!

Stoner is on pole as he closes in on his fifth successive win at Phillip Island - and his second world title.

Nearly there now... the riders are just waiting for the off. Stoner looks focused and is refusing to give interviews on the grid. Sensible boy.

As ever at Phillip Island, the weather is proving rather unpredictable. One minute it's sunny, the next it looks like rain is on its way. At the moment, the sun's out, but who knows how long that will last.

That means that Stoner needs to finish just sixth to clinch the world title - and in front of his home fans.

The big news from Australia is that Stoner's main title rival Jorge Lorenzo will not race today - he was involved in a crash in warm-up and has been ruled out.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of today's MotoGP race at Phillip Island, with Casey Stoner on the brink of the title.