By Paul Kelly
indianapolismotorspeedway.com
Monday, October 26, 2009
Valentino Rossi was World Champion once again.
Rossi finished third in the Grand Prix of Malaysia to clinch his seventh MotoGP World Championship and his ninth title overall. He also won world titles in 125cc and 250cc. It was Rossi's seventh title in the premier class in the last nine seasons.
Casey Stoner earned his second consecutive victory this season on his Ducati, and Dani Pedrosa finished second on his Repsol Honda Team machine in wet conditions.
But all eyes were on 2008 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Rossi after the race. A group of his friends presented him with a chicken sporting a miniature crash helmet and leathers and also gave him a large egg with the number 9 printed on it.
"It's great to be World Champion again," Rossi said. "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!"
Scrambled eggs may have been more appropriate for Rossi early in the 21-lap race. A torrential downpour started 30 minutes before the race after an entire weekend of dry running. Teams scrambled at their best guess for a wet-weather setup.
Centennial Era Youth Grey Sleeveless Tee
Centennial Era Youth Grey Sleeveless Tee.
Rossi dropped from pole to 10th in one lap. His Fiat Yamaha teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, started from the rear of the field after a technical problem on his pre-race warm-up lap but still managed to pass Rossi on the first lap.
But Rossi steadily worked his way back up the field to ride to the title in third, 19.385 seconds behind Stoner. 2009 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Lorenzo ended up fourth.
Stoner started fourth and held that position early on Lap 1, but he sliced past his tentative rivals. Stoner passed Pedrosa for the lead near the end of Lap 1 and never trailed thereafter, stretching his gap to 14.666 seconds at the finish.
American Nicky Hayden, the 2006 MotoGP World Champion, finished fifth on his Ducati. It was his third top-five finish of the season, with his best of third coming at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP.
It was a tough weekend for American Colin Edwards, who started ninth and finished 13th on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine. But he gained three points in his duel for fifth place with Andrea Dovizioso, who crashed out of the race.
The final race of the season is the Grand Prix of Valencia on Nov. 8.
***
RESULTS
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Results of the 21-lap Grand Prix of Malaysia MotoGP race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle, time behind winner. All riders on Bridgestone tires:
|
1. |
Casey Stoner |
Australia |
Ducati |
|||||
|
2. |
Dani Pedrosa |
Spain |
Honda |
+14.666 |
||||
|
3. |
Valentino Rossi |
Italy |
Yamaha |
+19.385 |
||||
|
4. |
Jorge Lorenzo |
Spain |
Yamaha |
+25.850 |
||||
|
5. |
Nicky Hayden |
United States |
Ducati |
+38.705 |
||||
|
6. |
Chris Vermeulen |
Australia |
Suzuki |
+41.061 |
||||
|
7. |
Toni Elias |
Spain |
Honda |
+48.555 |
||||
|
8. |
Marco Melandri |
Italy |
Kawasaki |
+55.557 |
||||
|
9. |
Loris Capirossi |
Italy |
Suzuki |
+1:00.303 |
||||
|
10. |
Mika Kallio |
Finland |
Ducati |
+1:00.440 |
||||
|
11. |
Aleix Espargaro |
Spain |
Ducati |
+1:01.655 |
||||
|
12. |
Alex de Angelis |
San Marino |
Honda |
+1:01.847 |
||||
|
13. |
Colin Edwards |
United States |
Yamaha |
+1:10.778 |
||||
|
14. |
Gabor Talmacsi |
Hungary |
Honda |
+1:15.851 |
||||
|
15. |
James Toseland |
Great Britain |
Yamaha |
+1:50.672 |
||||
|
NC |
Andrea Dovizioso |
Italy |
Honda |
+7 laps |
||||
|
NC |
Randy de Puniet |
France |
Honda |
+20 laps |
||||
NC - Not classified
Fastest lap: Rossi, 2:13.694, Lap 14; Pole lap: Rossi, 2:00.518
***
POINTS
Riders: Rossi 286, Lorenzo 245, Stoner 220, Pedrosa 209, Dovizioso 152, Edwards 148, Melandri 108, Capirossi 108, de Angelis 105, Elias 105, Vermeulen 105, de Puniet 101, Hayden 93, Toseland 88, Kallio 64, Niccolo Canepa 38, Talmacsi 19, Espargaro 13, Sete Gibernau 12, Yuki Takahashi 9.
Manufacturers: Yamaha 366, Honda 272, Ducati 261, Suzuki 131, Kawasaki 108.
***
PODIUM QUOTES
CASEY STONER (Ducati Team Ducati/Bridgestone, winner): "I didn't get a brilliant start, but I was happy to be in fourth as we came out of Turn 2, 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 three 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. 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.
DANI PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Bridgestone, second): "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."
VALENTINO ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, third, 2009 World Champion): "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 (Burgess) ... 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 tires 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 tires 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!"
***
AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES
NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Team Ducati/Bridgestone, fifth): "We'll take a top five; that'll work for us. I was quite excited when it started to rain because I've been on the pace with this bike in the wet this year, and I felt I could do something special. Unfortunately, I struggled a lot on the brakes in the beginning, and a lot of guys came past. From there, I had a lot of fun passing and fighting with people, trying to close down the gap to the lead group, but I was just missing a little bit to really go with Rossi and Lorenzo and try to fight for the podium. When Vermeulen came, I knew he was a rain specialist, so I pushed hard to make sure he didn't see a crack in the door and think he could push it open. I've been fourth here five times, so I'm only one spot off my mark! After Phillip Island, it seems every time we try to get something going, we have huge bad luck, but I'm thankful I have a team who keep working and never give up. We're trying to build something here together, and we're making progress. Even this weekend, we were consistently up near the top. I have to say congratulations to Casey and Valentino. It wasn't a terrible day for us, either, but now we go to Valencia and try to build on it again."
COLIN EDWARDS (Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Bridgestone, 13th): "The weekend wasn't great, to be honest. The bike wasn't fast in the dry for some reason, and I just couldn't get going all weekend. We tried a different setting this morning and it felt better, but it certainly wasn't a miracle spark. But with the rain coming like it did, it just made it a guessing game. I did two warm-up laps behind Valentino to check the conditions, and from that moment the front feeling wasn't great. Even then I was worried I wouldn't be able to get any weight on the front, and that's exactly what happened. I could carry the lean angle I wanted, but the front wouldn't load at all, so I couldn't get the bike turned. When it was properly wet, I felt like I was upping my pace and closing in on the group for 10th, but then the tires started heating up, and I was sideways all of the time. In the final laps, I was losing a lot of time. I'm going to Valencia still fighting for fifth in the championship with Dovizioso crashing, but I don't like taking profit from the mistakes of other people. I just want to say congratulations to Yamaha and Valentino. He's done another amazing job, and nine world titles is just a phenomenal achievement."
***
MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS
250cc: Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Scot Racing Team 250cc.
125cc: Julian Simon, Spain, Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc Aprilia. American Cameron Beaubier finished 17th. He is tied for 27th in the World Championship standings.
***
NEXT RACE
Grand Prix of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, Nov. 6-8. Round 17 of 17
***
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