Stoner to make 100th MotoGP start

Casey Stoner is intended to make his 100th MotoGP start in this Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.

During his 99 grands prix to date, the recently crowned double world champion has won 32 races, ended on the podium 58 times, taken 33 poles and 27 fastest laps.

Here are some of the highlights and milestones of Stoner's profession in the Moto GP class:

Race 1 2006/Spain/Jerez - 6th place

Finishes 6th in his debut race on a MotoGP machine riding a Honda for the LCR team.

Race 2 2006/Qatar/Losail – 5th place

Qualifies on pole in just his second start in MotoGP to become the second youngest rider of all-time to start from pole in the premier-class; the only rider to start from pole at a younger age is Freddie Spencer.

Race 3 2006/Turkey/Istanbul – 2nd place

Finishes on the podium in his third MotoGP start to happen to the youngest Australian rider to finish on the podium in the premier-class.

Race 6 2006/Italy/Mugello - DNF

Suffers his first race crash riding a MotoGP machine.

Race 17 2007/Qatar/Losail – 1st place

Wins in his first race for Ducati to become the youngest Australian to win in premier-class and also the first Australian rider to win in 125cc, 250cc and premier-class.

Race 22 2007/Italy/Mugello – 4th place

Starts from pole for the first time since joining the Ducati factory team.

Race 23 2007/Catalan/Barcelona – 1st place

With this win in Catalunya Stoner becomes the first rider to win four times in one season on a Ducati.

Race 27 2007/USA/Laguna Seca – 1st place

Wins from pole and topped all 4 practice sessions to become the first non-American rider to win at Laguna Seca in the MotoGP era.

Race 29 2007/San Marino/Misano – 1st place

Wins three successive races for the first time and is the first to do so on a European manufactured bike since Agostini in 1972.

Race 31 2007/Japan/Motegi – 6th place

Becomes the youngest rider to win the premier-class world title since Freddie Spencer in 1983 and the first to win the title on a Ducati.

Race 32 2007/Australia/Phillip Island – 1st place

Wins at home in Australia for the first time.

Race 33 2007/Malaysia/Sepang – 1st place

Takes tenth win of the year.

Race 35 2008/Qatar/Losail – 1st place

Wins the first ever MotoGP race to take place at night under floodlights.

Race 39 2008/France/Le Mans – 16th place

Suffers mechanical problems during the race and fails to score points for first time riding a Ducati.

Race 46 2008/Czech/Brno - DNF

Crashes out of the race on the seventh lap while leading - his first non-finish on a Ducati.

Race 47 2008/San Marino/Misano - DNF

Qualifies on pole for the seventh successive race - the longest sequence of successive poles in the MotoGP era.

Race 53 2009/Qatar/Losail – 1st place

Wins the opening race of year for the third successive season.

Race 57 2009/Italy/Mugello – 1st place

Gives Ducati their first ever premier-class win at the Italian Grand Prix.

Race 78 2010/Aragon – 1st place

Wins the first MotoGP race to be held at the new Aragon circuit.

Race 81 2010/Australia/Phillip Island – 1st place

Wins his home GP at Phillip Island for the fourth successive year. This was Stoner's last win on a Ducati.

Race 83 2010/Valencia/Ricardo Tormo – 2nd place

Qualifies on pole and finishes second on last race for Ducati.

Race 84 2011/Qatar/Losail – 1st place

Qualifies pole and wins first race for the Repsol Honda team.

Race 85 2011/Spain/Jerez - DNF

Is taken out of the race by Rossi – the only non-podium finish since joining the Honda factory team.

Race 89 2011/Great Britain/Silverstone – 1st place

With this win at Silverstone, Stoner is the first Honda rider to win three successive MotoGP races since Rossi in 2003. This win gives him the lead in the world championship classification.

Race 93 2011/USA/Laguna Seca – 1st place

Wins for the 5th time in 2011 – the highest number of wins by a Honda rider during the 800cc era of MotoGP.

Race 98 2011/Japan/Motegi – 3rd place

Starts on pole for the tenth time in 2011 - a new record for most pole positions in a season during the MotoGP era.

Race 99 2011/Australia/Phiilip Island – 1st place

Qualifies on pole for the eleventh time in 2011, wins race and second world title.

vettel: I could not have done this alone

Sebastian Vettel claimed a leading second World title in Suzuka on Sunday but insists the "hardest thing is winning after winning last year."

Vettel has been by far the best driver on the grid this season, claiming 12 pole positions and nine race victories. Added to that, he also had an added five podium finishes to his name.

But while his race to the World title may have looked easy on paper, Vettel reckons winning the second is harder than claiming the first.

"The hardest thing is winning after winning last year," he said. "We won the Championship, it was so close and we were so eager, even knowing how to do it doesn't let you to forget all these steps.

"I could not have done this all alone. It is as confusing as the first one I must say. It is hard to hit upon the right words."

The German, who finished Sunday's Japanese GP in third place after being beaten by Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso in the pits, was quite emotional in the post-race press conference.

"It's hard where to start. It's such a long year and a unbelievable year and the good thing is it's not over yet," he said.

"Today's race we weren't as quick on the soft tyres and we misplaced two positions. It was difficult to get past Alonso and I don't think he's letting me throughout this way twice after Monza.

"To win the Championship here is unbelievable.

"There are so many things you want to say but it's hard to keep in mind all of them. I'm so thankful to everyone in the team, pushing hard to construct those two cars. It's great to attain the goal we set ourselves this year already now.

"One person that actually stands out this year is the person I spend most of my time with my trainer Tommi Parmakoski. He was the one not allowing me at any stage this year to start to think about things that were not in my power.

"It's great to know that it is so rigid but to know that we can come so strong out of it. This year we've always been this one step ahead. It's down to people like Tommi and persons who keep us on the right track."

Sunday's title means Vettel has gone downward in the record books as F1's youngest double World Champ and youngest back-to-back title holder.

US premiere of Fastest to get place this month

The much predictable US premiere of Fastest will take place on October 14th with a private and exclusive screening at The Deuce Lounge inside the Aria resort and Casino at City Center in Las Vegas.

Shot around the world in 2010 and 2011 Fastest, the sequel to the enormously successful Faster, captures the thrilling reality of the MotoGP World Championship and distills it into a maximum-speed, full-length documentary feature film. As with its predecessor, Fastest is narrated by bike enthusiast and actor Ewan McGregor, and brilliantly captures a essential moment in the sport. In pursuit of his tenth world title Valentino Rossi meets the toughest challenge of his career to date; a wave of fiercely fast young riders, a horrific leg-breaking crash at his home Mugello GP, an amazing but agonising comeback 41 days later at the Sachsenring, and the question of who really is the fastest rider now?

Directed by the award-winning Mark Neale, whose previous work includes Faster and The Doctor, The Tornado and the Kentucky Kid, Fastest debuted worldwide on September 20th in the UK to an audience of 1300 and has established rave reviews.

Pedrosa takes spectacular Motegi MotoGP

Dani Pedrosa (Honda) took the the honours in a dramatic Japanese Grand Prix where only two of the top seven riders didn't either run off the circuit or incur a ride-through penalty (or both!). Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and Pedrosa's Honda team mate Casey Stoner completed the podium.

MOTOGP

The 24-lap race began with pole man Stoner launching into Turn 1 at the head of the field, while team mate Andrea Dovizioso jumped the start from the front row, with Marco Simoncelli (Honda) and Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Tech 3) also incurring ride from side to side penalties for the similar mistake.

Ducati's Valentino Rossi crashed out on the first lap, colliding with Yamaha rider Ben Spies and forcing off the track and down the order. Meanwhile Stoner appeared set to take another victory, leading clear and free until running off the track on lap five, just before Ducati privateer Hector Barbera crashed out, and Nicky Hayden on the second works Ducati went farming while running fourth.

MotoGP results	Points afer 15 rounds
1 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 42min47.481	1 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda - 300 points
2 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha +7.299sec	2 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha - 260
3 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda +18.380	3 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda - 196
4 Marco Simoncelli (Italy) Honda +23.550	4 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 195
5 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda +23.691	5 Ben Spies (US) Yamaha - 156
6 Ben Spies (US) Yamaha +37.604	6 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati - 139
7 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati +39.167	7 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati - 123
8 Colin Edwards (US) Yamaha +45.023	8 Marco Simoncelli (Italy) Honda - 119
9 Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) Honda +49.074	9 Colin Edwards (US) Yamaha - 98
10 Randy de Puniet (France) Ducati +59.022	10 Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) Honda - 94
11 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha +1min13.964
12 Kousuke Akiyoshi (Japan) Honda +1min21.709
13 Shinichi Ito (Japan) Honda +1min26.381 POINTS AFTER 15 ROUNDS