Lorenzo clinches title as Rossi wins

From motogp.com

Jorge Lorenzo was confirmed as the 2010 MotoGP World Champion on Sunday at Sepang, as the 23-year-old Fiat Yamaha rider rode to a third place finish in the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

It was a thrilling race which Valentino Rossi won as the Italian took his first victory since the season opener in Qatar, on a day on which his great rival and current team-mate celebrated his first premier class title.

Pole holder Lorenzo got off to a fantastic start and led into turn one as the race got underway, but Rossi’s getaway from the starting grid was not so swift and he had dropped as low as 11th on the opening lap.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) stuck with Lorenzo and the pair established a slight gap at the front, but by only the third lap Rossi had recovered to fourth position as he set his sights on the leaders. Soon he was into third and closing in further on Dovizioso.

Rossi was repeatedly laying down fast laps as he homed in and just past the midway point of the race the Italian took the lead, having first passed Lorenzo and then Dovizioso. The two Italians swapped first position again in what was a thrilling fight to the end.

Rossi was not to be denied his second win of the season however and crossed the line 0.224 secs. ahead of Dovizioso, with Lorenzo in third and cementing the 2010 title with his 13th podium of the season as the celebrations started.

"This is my first title in the premier category and my dream has come true," Lorenzo said. "This is really the maximum a motorcycle rider can achieve in his career so we have to celebrate and enjoy these hours, minutes and seconds like it's the end of the world.

"You imagine this moment in your head your whole life but when it comes you don't know how to act or what to say. I am trying to be relaxed, to speak clearly and not say anything crazy. I'm so tired right now; I just need to be alone in a room for a few minutes, just thinking about what I've done.

“The perfect situation today would have been to win, but it wasn't to be this time. I made a good start and was riding well and I thought I could go away from Andrea at one point, but then he overtook me and then Valentino as well, and I thought there were too many risks today to fight for the victory; it was better to wait until the end of the race."

Rossi’s second victory of the season came on a track at which the Italian has enjoyed great success in the past and the result will go down as one of the 31-year-old’s great displays.

“I want to say congratulations to Yamaha and to Jorge; he has been fast all season, at all tracks and in all conditions and he deserves to be the World Champion,” said Rossi. "This is a wonderful moment for me, I am so happy to win like this and take my 46th win with Yamaha on ‘my' M1.

“It was one of my worst starts and for a moment I was really worried, but within a few corners I understood that I could go for it, because my bike felt great today thanks to a small change we made in warm-up. Jeremy's (Burgess, chief mechanic) idea really worked. I rode so well and it was a fantastic race, one of the best of my career I think. To win like this, from 11th at the first corner, is a great feeling.”

With the result Rossi moved into third in the Championship standings, where he now lies 47 points off second-placed Dani Pedrosa with three rounds remaining.

For Dovizioso this was the second race in succession that the Repsol Honda rider took second spot, and he was extremely satisfied with the manner in which he achieved the result.

“I’m very happy with this second place today and it was a great race. We have been fighting for the victory at the last two races at two very different tracks, and also in different conditions, so this is really positive,” said the 24-year-old, who took his first MotoGP podium at Sepang in 2008.

“I tried to stay close to Valentino on the last lap but in the final braking area I wasn’t close enough to take him in the middle of the corner, even though he was too late on the brakes and went wide. Anyway, this result for Honda, Repsol and my team is really important. Last year we were 40 seconds behind the winner in the race here, so to be just 0.2 secs. behind means we’ve moved forward a lot.”

Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) took fourth position with rookie Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) equalling his season’s best result in fifth.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) and Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP) followed, with Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) eighth having battled closely with former 250cc rival Aoyama.

Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) completed the top 10.

A candidate for the race victory, Casey Stoner (Ducati Team) suffered a huge disappointment when he crashed out on the opening lap, bringing to an end his race.

Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing) were both unfortunate crashers, while Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) also experienced difficulties that meant he failed to finish.

Toni Elías was crowned the first-ever Moto2 World Champion at Sepang on Sunday after the Spaniard took fourth place in the 14th round of the 2010 campaign.

Roberto Rolfo was also celebrating as he took his first World Championship victory since triumphing in the 250cc class at Jerez in 2004 after a fantastic race that saw both Rolfo and Elías involved in separate battles.

Stepping onto the podium for the first time this season was Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2), who challenged Rolfo for the win late on, with Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) completing the rostrum after a marvellous duel with Gresini Racing’s Elías.

Marc Márquez won from pole position at Sepang on Sunday to take over the leadership of the 125cc Championship by three points. The Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider led home a podium which was completed by Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing) and Nico Terol (Bancaja Aspar), the latter of whom he deposed from top spot in the fight for the 2010 World Championship.

Márquez now tops the standings on 247 points, with Terol second on 244 and Espargaró third on 235 with three rounds remaining.

MotoGP Race Results
1. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha 41:03.448
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda +0.224
3. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha +6.035
4. Ben SPIES (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha +13.676
5. Alvaro BAUTISTA (SPA) Rizla Suzuki +15.402
6. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati +18.826
7. Hiroshi AOYAMA (JPN) Interwetten Honda +20.218
8. Marco SIMONCELLI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda +23.574
9. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda +23.964
10. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda +31.850
11. Hector BARBERA (SPA) Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati +38.579
12. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Ducati +38.849
Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha +6 Laps
Not Classified
Aleix ESPARGARO (SPA) Pramac Ducati
Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki
Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati

MotoGP Point Standings
1. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha) 313
2. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 228
3. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 181
4. Casey STONER (Ducati) 180
5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 179
6. Ben SPIES (Yamaha) 152
7. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati) 139
8. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 94
9. Marco SIMONCELLI (Honda) 92
10. Marco MELANDRI (Honda) 86
11. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 81
12. Hector BARBERA (Ducati) 74
13. Alvaro BAUTISTA (Suzuki) 69
14. Aleix ESPARGARO (Ducati) 52
15. Hiroshi AOYAMA (Honda) 44
16. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 41
17. Mika KALLIO (Ducati) 38
18. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 11
19. Roger Lee HAYDEN (Honda) 5
20. Kousuke AKIYOSHI (Honda) 4
21. Wataru YOSHIKAWA (Yamaha) 1