With Lorenzo's title hopes sliding away at the last MotoGP round at Phillip ISland, it was a comparitively easy task for Italian legend Valentino Rosi to wrap up his ninth world title - despite yesterday's rain in Malaysia. Meanwhile Casey Stoner, now almost back to full fitness, reminded everyone that he's very much a force to be reckoned with, sealing his second win in a row. Here are some of the highlights...
From Ducati: Ducati MotoGP Team rider Casey Stoner took his second victory in succession today with a display of absolute dominance in torrential conditions at Sepang, where his team-mate Nicky Hayden picked up a fantastic fifth place. A heavy tropical downpour just moments before the riders were due to take to the track for the penultimate round of the season saw the race delayed by 36 minutes, but once the lights went out Stoner proved once again that he is a master of any condition. After taking the lead on the first lap the Australian opened up an advantage of almost four seconds by the end of the second circulation – increasing it lap by lap to over 17 seconds at one point as he stormed to his fourth victory of the season, becoming the first rider ever to win at Sepang from the second row of the grid.
From Stoner: "I didn’t get a brilliant start but I was happy to be in fourth as we came out of turn two and by the end of the first lap I was clear by a second. I have to be honest, I didn’t expect to be so far ahead so early in the race but when I looked up and saw 3 seconds on my pit board I decided to step the pace up even more and try an escape. I kept pulling out a second a lap and then eventually decided to back it off and not take any risks. This is another fantastic day for us and I want to thank everybody in the team for their effort. We’ve struggled with the bike in the wet this season but everybody has worked so well and the difference today was clear to see. We’re really strong now and I can only see us getting stronger from here, which is great news for next season. I want to congratulate Valentino because to win nine World Championships is an incredible achievement. I’m sure that if we continue to work like this ourselves we can put up a much stronger challenge next time.”
From Honda: Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) scored his first ever podium in a wet MotoGP race with a second place finish before nearly 60,000 fans in the rain-lashed Malaysian Grand Prix.
Tropical, torrential rains hit the Sepang Circuit half an hour before the scheduled start of the penultimate weekend of the MotoGP World Championship, which, up to that point, had been held in mostly sunny, humid conditions. Race direction moved the start to 3:35 p.m., though the riders had only their traditional sighting and warm-up laps to acclimatise themselves to the wet surface.
From third on the front row, Pedrosa got his usual lightning start before being passed on the first lap by Casey Stoner (Ducati). Stoner then sped away to the victory, his second in a row.
Pedrosa slotted into second with teammate Andrea Dovizioso third, the duo leaving the rest of the field in the mist. They circulated as a pair until the 15th lap when Dovizioso lost the rear end and crashed from third place. Fortunately, the Italian was unhurt, but he wasn’t able to continue.
Then Pedrosa began to come under pressure from Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), but the Spaniard upped his pace and held Rossi off to not only finish second, but score his fourth podium in a row and tenth of the season.
Rossi finished third and clinched the MotoGP World Championship.
From Pedrosa: “Riding in the rain has always been one of my weakest points and so for a long time I have tried to improve this by working hard and going over my limit in the wet. This hasn’t been an easy process, but now, finally, I achieved a podium in the wet, so I’m really happy and I want to thank all the people who have helped in this process. In the middle of the race Andrea was just behind and he was closing and was putting some pressure on me, but I was riding well and I was able to keep my focus and concentration. Finally when Andrea went off, another rider was coming and this time it was Valentino. He was going quite a lot faster than me, but in the last laps I kept my rhythm and was able to finish in second place. I’m very happy today. I also want to congratulate Valentino on the world championship; nine titles is amazing. Now we go to Valencia and we’ll be trying hard again there. It’s a track that I love and there will be a lot of fans too, so I’m looking forward to it.”
From Yamaha: The indomitable and irrepressible Valentino Rossi took his ninth World Championship crown in Malaysia today, riding to third place in a dramatic rain-hit race at Sepang. It was the Italian's seventh title in the premier class, his fourth for Yamaha - more than he has won with any other manufacturer - and his 163rd career podium. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was forced to start from the back of the grid after a sighting lap problem but he recovered brilliantly and rode a superb race to chase Rossi home in fourth place.
After three dry practice sessions the heavens opened thirty minutes before the race started and a torrential downpour ensued. The race was delayed forty-five minutes, by which time the rain had abated to a steady drizzle, but with no wet track time during practice the race had become something of a lottery. Rossi seemed to get away well but at turn one he ran wide and exited in eighth position. He then surrendered two more places, including one to his charging team-mate, and finished the first lap in tenth. For the next few laps he tailed Lorenzo as the Spaniard charged his way through the field, the pair putting on a scintillating display of overtaking in the wet until they arrived in fourth and fifth on the seventh lap. Rossi now set his sights on a podium and passed Lorenzo, surviving a huge slide in the process, before quickly pulling a gap of a second on his team-mate. He slowly began to close the gap to Andrea Dovizioso in third and looked like he would soon be within striking distance when his fellow Italian slid out, leaving Rossi in the final podium spot. He didn't give up there however and started to reel in Dani Pedrosa, who was second, but with the track by then almost dry and the championship in the bag he decided in the final few laps to take the safe option and came home behind the Spaniard, with Casey Stoner the clear winner out in front.
Lorenzo's troubles began when a problem with his race bike meant he had to switch to his spare at the last minute, meaning he left the pit lane a little late. He planned to do two sighting laps, as Rossi had, to get a better feel for the wet track but by the time he came through for the second one the pit lane had closed, meaning he then had to start from the back of the grid. The 22-year-old surged through the field at the start however and rode one of the races of his life to pass twelve riders and come home fourth behind Rossi. Lorenzo will clinch second place in the championship by taking just one point at the final round in Valencia, in two week's time.
From Rossi: "It's great to be World Champion again, I am very proud to have done this nine times in my career. I want to thank everyone in my team, Furusawa-san, Davide Brivio, Lin Jarvis, Jeremy...everybody! This season has been very hard and Lorenzo especially has pushed me to new limits, but I think it's been a great duel for everyone to watch. Today was unbelievable, when the rain came it was scary for everyone because all the work we'd done was then useless and we were riding 'blind' with the setting. I made a mistake at the first corner and then I was a long way back, so I think I did a great race to finish third! I was going to try to pass Dovizioso when he fell and then for a few laps I thought I would try to get Pedrosa but with wet tyres on a drying track it was a bit risky by then and so I decided to be safe. It's a fantastic feeling to take this title with Yamaha again and I also must thank Bridgestone, who have done a great job with the tyres all year. My celebration was because in Italy we say an old chicken makes good soup but can no longer lay eggs! I am like the old chicken - 30 years now - but I have made another egg! That's nine!"
From Davide Brivio - Team Manager: "Every year is special but this year was very interesting because we realised from the start of the season that our strongest rival was in our garage! It hasn't been easy but it's been a fascinating season for everyone and we are very proud at Yamaha. We have to give huge congratulations to Valentino because this year we've seen him work harder than ever, and when the level goes up he puts even more effort in and this means that we, too, have all had to work even harder to keep up with him! Working with Valentino is always great fun and we are very lucky in our team. Today he showed his talent once again after a bad start to come home on the podium and we are so happy that all our work has paid off. Congratulations to Valentino and thank you to everyone in the team, at Yamaha and at Bridgestone for a fantastic job."
2009 MotoGP Malaysia - Sepang 25/10/2009 |
Pos. |
Rider |
Manu. |
Nat. |
Total Time |
1 |
Casey Stoner |
Ducati |
AUS |
47'24.834 |
2 |
Daniel Pedrosa |
Honda |
ESP |
0'14.666 |
3 |
Valentino Rossi |
Yamaha |
ITA |
0'19.385 |
4 |
Jorge Lorenzo |
Yamaha |
ESP |
0'25.850 |
5 |
Nicky Hayden |
Ducati |
USA |
0'38.705 |
6 |
Chris Vermeulen |
Suzuki |
AUS |
0'41.061 |
7 |
Toni Elias |
Honda |
ESP |
0'48.555 |
8 |
Marco Melandri |
Kawasaki |
ITA |
0'55.557 |
9 |
Loris Capirossi |
Suzuki |
ITA |
1'00.303 |
10 |
Mika Kallio |
Ducati |
FIN |
1'00.440 |
11 |
Aleix Espargaro |
Ducati |
ESP |
1'01.655 |
12 |
Alex De Angelis |
Honda |
SMR |
1'01.847 |
13 |
Colin Edwards |
Yamaha |
USA |
1'10.778 |
14 |
Gabor Talmacsi |
Honda |
HUN |
1'15.851 |
15 |
James Toseland |
Yamaha |
GBR |
1'50.672 |
Rider Standings |
25/10/2009 |
Pos. |
Rider |
Manu. |
Nat. |
Points |
1. |
Valentino Rossi |
Yamaha |
ITA |
286 |
2. |
Jorge Lorenzo |
Yamaha |
ESP |
245 |
3. |
Casey Stoner |
Ducati |
AUS |
220 |
4. |
Daniel Pedrosa |
Honda |
ESP |
209 |
5. |
Andrea Dovizioso |
Honda |
ITA |
152 |
6. |
Colin Edwards |
Yamaha |
USA |
148 |
7. |
Marco Melandri |
Kawasaki |
ITA |
108 |
8. |
Loris Capirossi |
Suzuki |
ITA |
108 |
9. |
Alex De Angelis |
Honda |
SMR |
105 |
10. |
Toni Elias |
Honda |
ESP |
105 |
11. |
Chris Vermeulen |
Suzuki |
AUS |
105 |
12. |
Randy De Puniet |
Honda |
FRA |
101 |
13. |
Nicky Hayden |
Ducati |
USA |
93 |
14. |
James Toseland |
Yamaha |
GBR |
88 |
15. |
Mika Kallio |
Ducati |
FIN |
64 |
Manufacturer Standings |
25/10/2009 |
Pos. |
Manufacturer |
Points |
1. |
Yamaha |
366 |
2. |
Honda |
272 |
3. |
Ducati |
261 |
4. |
Suzuki |
141 |
5. |
Kawasaki |
108 |
Next race (final): Valencia, 8 November