Valentino Rossi clinched his sixth MotoGP world title with a victory Sept. 28 in the Grand Prix of Japan. It was his eighth overall world championship, as he also won a season crown in 125cc and 250cc.

Japanese GP Race Report

By Paul Kelly
indianapolismotorspeedway.com

Sunday, September 28, 2008

RESULTS

MOTEGI, Japan - Results of the 24-lap Grand Prix of Japan race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle/tire, time behind winner:

Fastest lap: Stoner, 1:47.091, Lap 9

Pole lap: Lorenzo, 1:45.543

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POINTS 

Riders: Rossi 312, Stoner 220, Pedrosa 209, Lorenzo 169, Dovizioso 136, Edwards 118, Vermeulen 117, Hayden 115, Capirossi 96, Nakano 95, Toseland 90, Elias 86, Guintoli 58, de Angelis 55, Melandri 51, Hopkins 47, de Puniet 47, West 42, Ben Spies 20, Jamie Hacking 5, Tadayuki Okada 2.

Manufacturers: Yamaha 341, Honda 261, Ducati 259, Suzuki 159, Kawasaki 77.

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PODIUM QUOTES

VALENTINO ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, winner): "It's a great victory and a great achievement; I think it's at the same level as the first title in 2004 with Yamaha, maybe even better. This championship has been very long and hard, and all of the team and all of Yamaha have worked very well, never giving up for one moment. We have been able to put a great bike onto the track in all conditions and at all circuits, and this has allowed me to ride like this and to win so many races. I am very happy. The race was a great battle, and I had to ride at 100 percent, like I have through all through the season. Pedrosa and Stoner today were very strong, and it was fun to fight with them like this. I am happy that it was a good race for the fans. It was a fantastic feeling to take the title with a win, like I did in 2001 and 2004. I think this is the hardest I have ever had to work to win a world championship, and I have to say a huge thank you to Yamaha, my mechanics, the team and everyone involved for working this hard alongside me. Of course, I also have to say a special thank you to Bridgestone. They have done a great job with the tires all season, and the decision to be with them has been a big part of our success this season. We have lost for two years, and I don't think I was the favorite this season, but we have shown that we are a great team and that we never give up. Now I have to get used to being World Champion again." 

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone, second): "At the beginning of the race, everything felt good although I made a couple of mistakes on a cold tire. We were running quite a hard compound today, so we needed a few laps to get it warmed up. Once we did that, the lap times were good, and I felt happy with my pace. Unfortunately in the second half of the race, I started to get tired in the changes of direction, and I was having to close the gap coming out of the corners to get into the next one, simply because I didn't have the strength to flick the bike over with the throttle open. The lap times dropped off, and when Valentino came past, I couldn't keep up. 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. 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." 

DANI PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Bridgestone, third): "Third place was not so bad today, though, of course, I tried to be faster. I have had some difficult races recently and some injuries, so it was a good feeling to be competitive again. I wasn't so fast at the beginning of the race, I expected to be faster. Later on, I was able to improve my pace, my times got better lap by lap, so I am happy about that. My pit board told me that Lorenzo was coming, I got 'plus zero,' 'plus zero,' 'plus zero'. I expected him to get faster because he was chasing me. On the last lap, he touched me, but I was able to stay on the bike. My thanks to Honda and to Bridgestone. Also congratulations to Valentino. He rode a great race."

AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES

NICKY HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, fifth): "I got a pretty good start and was certainly in the mix there for a couple of laps, but they just had a little bit more pace everywhere. I tried to make up for it a few times on the brakes, but I just didn't have the pace. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I had high expectations. I thought maybe we could get in there and find something extra for the race. We rode about as hard as we could, and it got harder as the tires went away. That pack was coming for me. I just tried to not make any mistakes, keep my rhythm and hold them off. I knew there was a couple of guys chasing, but I didn't know there was that many coming for me. The bandana I wore on the grid, some fan gave it to me yesterday. I wore it for qualifying and got on the front row, so I figured, try it again. Congratulations to Valentino. I know what it takes to win one, and it takes a bad dude to win eight of them. Much respect." 

COLIN EDWARDS (Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha/Michelin, seventh): "I got a good start and settled in behind Valentino and Jorge at the first corner, and I was happy because I've been caught up in a couple of incidents there in the past. I threw it in and then I just saw this front wheel staring straight at me. It was Dovizioso, but luckily we all made through. But the first lap, I was just trying to get some heat into the rear tire. I got it working and got into a good pace and saw that Loris was coming back to me. I was pushing hard, but I was having a few issues with the rear spinning, which has been a problem all weekend. But then Loris made a mistake, and he was right out to the curb at the first corner. He was nearly in the dirt, and I was right on his tail. I was behind him for what seemed like forever, but it was fun. I could almost reach out and touch his back wheel, but I couldn't do anything to get by him. Loris's bike was really good coming off the corner. It obviously has some bottom grunt because all I could do was watch him, and I couldn't do anything with him. I couldn't get close enough to out-brake him, and with the spinning problem, I couldn't get any acceleration grip out of the corner to line him up for a pass. Seventh is not where I want to be, but it feels good to get a solid race under my belt. It feels forever since I did that, so it is something to build on for the last three races." 

JOHN HOPKINS (Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki/Bridgestone, 10^th): "The start is always a bit hectic here because the first few turns are quite tight, so we just got our head down and settled into a rhythm. We caught up with James Toseland, and I tried everything to get around him, but he just had a little bit more acceleration out of the turns than us. It was quite frustrating because on the brakes and mid-corner we were much quicker, so we passed each other on many occasions. We were side by side for a lot of the time, so it was a big battle and it came down to the final lap, where I made a pass that stuck at Turn 2. We managed to achieve 10^th, but really I felt we were capable of a top-five finish because we were lapping at the same pace as riders much further up the field. We've learned a lot from this weekend, and we've made a lot of setup changes, so it's definitely been positive. I've also regained a lot of confidence, and we can now use the last three rounds to start preparing the bike for 2009."

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MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS

250cc: Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Metis Gilera.

125cc: Stefan Bradl, Germany, Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing Aprilia. American Stevie Bonsey placed 20^th and is 14^th in series points.

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NEXT RACE

Grand Prix of Australia, Phillip Island, Australia, Oct. 5. Round 16 of 18.

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