Stoner dominates Sepang; Rossi wins title

From motogp.com

Valentino Rossi finished third behind Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa at a rain-soaked Sepang to take the 2009 MotoGP World Championship title on Sunday.

Stoner’s second successive win was impressive enough, as was his astounding 14.666-sec. margin of victory in the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix. But it was the Italian’s result that secured his ninth world title – a seventh in the premier class – as he defended his 2008 crown, with Dani Pedrosa finishing second with his 78th career podium across all classes.

“It’s a great achievement, and for me it’s the ninth championship, the seventh in MotoGP," said Rossi after his 12th podium finish of the season. "I have to thank all the guys from Yamaha, who are great, and all the Fiat Yamaha team, from Jeremy (Burgess, chief mechanic) and all the mechanics to all the guys that work for me, and all my friends. All the people that helped me with this great achievement.”

Second place at Portugal for Casey Stoner on his comeback after a three race absence due to illness has been followed up by two brilliant successive wins from the factory Ducati rider at Phillip Island and Sepang in the space of seven days – as he puts his mid-season difficulties behind him.

Stoner adapted most efficiently to the wet weather on Sunday afternoon.

“The conditions were the same for everyone today and none of us had tested at this track in the wet for quite a long time," he admitted. "So the early laps were a bit tentative and going into turn one I didn’t get a good start and a few people came past me.

“I slotted into fourth place coming out of turn two though and then when I got into the lead I thought I’ll just test the track condition for a few laps and I never expected to pull out the gap that I did. After that I just decided to keep going hard for at least half race distance and once I got a gap I was happy with I started to back off the pace.”

The race started on a wet track after a 35-minute delay due to rain, and there was drama from the off. A problem during the sighting lap with his machine for Jorge Lorenzo meant that failure to join the starting grid in time resulted in relegation from second to the back.

It made little difference to the Spaniard however as he flew up to overtake Rossi, who dropped to 10th after a sluggish start from pole position. Lorenzo eventually finished in fourth position.

“We tried to start the race with bike number one, but it wouldn’t start so we took the second bike but we lost a few minutes. We thought it was possible to do two (sighting) laps like the other riders, but the time was finished so we had to start the race in last place,” said Lorenzo.

“I started very well and overtook eight or nine riders in the first lap and I was feeling okay, but at the middle of the race the rear tire started to spin and it was impossible to follow Vale and Dani to finish second. Fourth place is okay and we just have to get the points in Valencia to ensure second place in the championship.”

Randy de Puniet had a very early nasty high-side which fortunately resulted in no injury for the Frenchman, as Stoner established a four-second lead at the front over Pedrosa after just two laps.

Nicky Hayden was dogged in his attempt to hold off Lorenzo in fifth place, but the Fiat Yamaha rider managed to pass the Ducati Marlboro man before Rossi passed both to move into fourth spot after eight laps.

Shortly after, Stoner’s lead at the front had grown to a huge 15 seconds, but there was no such deficit between Pedrosa in third and his Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, who diced for second spot. Disaster struck for the Italian however, as on lap 14 he succumbed to the wet conditions and slid off, allowing Rossi to move up to third and target Pedrosa.

The Spaniard was out of Rossi’s grasp for the remainder however, but third was one place higher than he required to take the title (had Lorenzo won the race), and a characteristically flamboyant celebration followed involving a chicken dressed in the Italian’s blue and yellow colours.

“Today’s race went a bit like how the season has gone, because we were so fast on the dry tires, but right before the start of the race it started to rain so we had to go out on the track without any wet setting,” said Rossi.

Having been pushed throughout the season to retain his crown by team-mate Lorenzo, Rossi paid special tribute to the 22-year-old Spaniard’s efforts.

“Throughout the season I had great rivals, at the end especially Jorge my team-mate, who stayed very close to me, and we had some great fights. He’s a great rival so congratulations to him,” said Rossi. “But we are on the top and now we’ll relax and try to take in this achievement. The ninth championship is great – I’m so happy.”

After Lorenzo took fourth spot he duly handed hearty congratulations to Rossi.

“We tried to the end to beat him, but I think he was the number one this year because he’s been faster than us in almost every race. He was more consistent than us and he was more clever, so he is the winner,” concluded Lorenzo.

Hayden equalled his second-best result of the season in fifth. Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) completed the top 10.

Elsewhere, Aleix Espargaró impressed with an 11th-placed finish in his third MotoGP race of the campaign for Pramac, while Monster Yamaha Tech 3 pair Colin Edwards and James Toseland both struggled, finishing in 13th and 15th respectively.

The 15th round of the 2009 250cc World Championship in Malaysia saw Hiroshi Aoyama prevail after an absorbing battle with Marco Simoncelli, who placed third after a photo finish was required following Héctor Barberá’s surge.

Crossing the finish line with a 6.397-sec. advantage, Aoyama extended his lead at the top of the championship standings to 21 points over Simoncelli. The result leaves Aoyama needing a 10th-placed finish or better in Valencia to secure the 2009 title ahead of Simoncelli.

World Champion Julián Simón won his sixth 125cc race of the season on Sunday with victory in Sepang. A close battle between Simón and Bradley Smith was won by the freshly-crowned World Champion, as he beat his Bancaja Aspar team-mate in a final-lap fight.

The duo, who battled closely at Phillip Island last weekend, again crossed swords as Simón held Smith’s challenge off on the last corner of the Sepang circuit. The Brit’s placing secured second position in this year’s World Championship as well, despite a broken metatarsal bone in his right foot from a qualifying crash on Saturday.

MotoGP Race Results
1. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 47:24.834 (147.435 km/h)
2. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +14.666
3. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha +19.385
4. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha +25.850
5. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +38.705
6. Chris VERMEULEN (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +41.061
7. Toni ELIAS (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +48.555
8. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki +55.557
9. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +1:00.303
10. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Racing Ducati +1:00.440
11. Aleix ESPARGARO (SPA) Pramac Racing Ducati +1:01.655
12. Alex DE ANGELIS (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +1:01.847
13. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +1:10.778
14. Gabor TALMACSI (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda +1:15.851
15. James TOSELAND (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +1:50.672
Not classified
Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +7 Laps
Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP Honda +20 Laps

MotoGP Point Standings
1. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 286
2. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha) 245
3. Casey STONER (Ducati) 220
4. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 209
5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 152
6. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 148
7. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki) 108
8. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 108
9. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 105
10. Toni ELIAS (Honda) 105
11. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 105
12. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 101
13. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati) 93
14. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 88
15. Mika KALLIO (Ducati) 64
16. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati) 38
17. Gabor TALMACSI (Honda) 19
18. Aleix ESPARGARO (Ducati) 13
19. Sete GIBERNAU (Ducati) 12
20. Yuki TAKAHASHI (Honda) 9