NAKANO IN STUNNING SURGE TO SEVENTH IN MAGIC ISLAND FINISH

With a stunning surge on the final lap, Japanese race ace Shinya Nakano rode his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR into a hard-earned seventh place in today's Australian Grand Prix.

In a breathtaking finish to the 27-lap race, Nakano crossed the line just 0.04s ahead of factory Honda rider Makoto Tamada who was eighth.

The three-way photo-finish also included Yamaha's Toni Elias who was ninth, just 0.001 behind Tamada, as the trio flashed across the line side-by-side.

Nakano's teammate Olivier Jacque was classified 16th, two laps down, after making a pitstop to change a rear tyre.

The sun-soaked race at Phillip Island was won by Valentino Rossi and watched by 43,400 spectators.

It was another superb display of clever race craft by Nakano, who battled a persistent gearbox downshift problem from the start that compromised the braking performance of his bike.

But over the final five laps Nakano was able to use the consistent race grip on the critical left side of his Bridgestone rear tyre to close on, and then outsmart, Tamada and Elias.

Nakano started the final lap in ninth place, in the slipstream of his rivals. He passed Tamada on the fast, sweeping back section - on the run from Siberia corner - and then timed his flying finish to perfection.

Nakano rocketed off the long and fast turn 12 and dived past Elias to claim seventh as the chequered flag was waved.

Because of the downshift problem Nakano was forced to spend most of the race patiently following Tamada and Elias, so as not to risk crashing under hard braking.

Nakano's seventh place allowed him to consolidate his tenth place in the championship standings, ahead of nearest rival, Tamada.

Jacque was bitterly disappointed with his race after running straight-on at the first hairpin twice, before stopping on lap 11 for a new rear tyre. He rejoined the race and set a string of consistent laps to finish the race just out of the points.