Ducati: Stoner is a genius.

Stoner had to overcome a poor start, which left him just twelfth at turn one, and a treacherously slick - but drying - Donington track to record his latest triumph.

The Australian passed Rossi with ease on his way up the order, before pouncing on a small mistake by the Italian's Fiat Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards to take the lead just after the halfway stage.

Casey then disappeared to a huge 12-second victory margin over the American, while Rossi could manage no higher than fourth after being passed by Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen in the closing stages.

"This proves to people that the Ducati doesn't just have power," declared Stoner, before warning that his machine now has no specific weakness: "We've been improving the bike and now it doesn't have any particular weak points, we just need to improve it as a complete package. Obviously today it was the best bike out there.

"I got a perfect jump at the start, a perfect clutch release, but then I must've hit a white line and it spun up straight away. I was panicking a little bit because everybody was zooming past and I thought I'd be last into the first corner. We still got in there in a reasonable position and we were able to pick our way through.

"Colin seemed to be nice and smooth, but I knew I could go quicker. Then I saw the track getting drier and drier. I was worried about destroying the rear tyre, so I started going over all the wet patches. When we got to the last five laps the tyre still had a pretty good feeling and it looked pretty good at the end of the race, considering it was our softest option.

"I'm not looking at the championship yet, I'm just enjoying all these races whether I win or don't finish on the podium. It's just nice to be out there, I've got the confidence in myself and in the bike to really get involved in the race and really enjoy it," he concluded.

Ducati MotoGP project director Livio Suppo couldn't restrain his delight at Stoner's latest victory - the credit for which he placed firmly on the 21-year-old's shoulders.

"I think that this victory proves once and for all that top speed isn't Casey's advantage, because top speed means nothing at this track, especially in these conditions," said Suppo. "Casey is a genius, he is so good at managing a race. He started today's race very calmly, then when he was ready to go, bang, he could go away at the front."

Stoner's team-mate Loris Capirossi fell from fifth place late in the race and is now just ninth in the points.