Marlboro Ducati's Casey Stoner has handed over his MotoGP World Championship to Valentino Rossi this morning at Motegi in Japan, congratulating the Italian on a near-perfect season.

The Aussie will have to relinqish the number-one plate after the last round at Valencia but we don't yet know if the Doctor will break with tradition and carry it instead of his number 46.

"He's had an amazing season - he only made one mistake at Assen and the rest of the time he's been on the podium, winning races," said Stoner of Rossi.

"He's a worthy champion - eight world titles show that - and I want to congratulate him for that. I'm just disappointed that we made two mistakes in the mid-point of the season that allowed him to open up such a big advantage. Anyway, after the recent misfortune we've had it was important to come back here with a strong performance and some solid points.

"Now we can go to Australia with confidence and look to finish the season strongly."