/world sport
MOTEGI, Japan -- Australia's Casey Stoner won the MotoGP world title for the first time by finishing in sixth place at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.
Stoner toasts his championship success at the tender age of 21.
The 21-year-old, the second youngest man to win motorcycling's premier class, only needed to finish ahead of five-time champion Valentino Rossi to clinch the title.
Rossi suffered mechanical problems on his Yamaha as he finished in 13th place and now trails Stoner by 83 points in the standings with three rounds to go of the 18-race championship.
"I've been working for this for so long and it's difficult to know how to react," said Stoner, who has dominated the MotoGP season with eight wins.
"Over the last few laps I was just trying to stay focused on the job in hand and bring it home for my team," he added.
He started only ninth on the grid, but in wet conditions at Motegi quickly moved to fourth ahead of Rossi by the first corner.
Rossi gave Stoner a late scare by passing him with 12 laps remaining as both opted to stay out on wet tires on a drying track.
Both men then switched to slick tires and Rossi moved into second place behind eventual winner Loris Capirossi.
But Rossi was forced to pull into the pit lane for a second time and Stoner was able to cruise home to clinch the crown ahead of the Australian round of the championship in three weeks time.
Italy's Capirossi powered on to secure a hat-trick of victories at Motegi in 47 minutes 05.484 seconds with Randy De Puniet of France in second place and Spain's Toni Elias third. E-mail to a friend 
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