MotoGP RACE REPORT: MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX

Rossi returns to top spot; Hayden edged in duel for final podium position

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008 – Reigning MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi pulled away from pole sitter Dani Pedrosa to win the steamy Malaysian Grand Prix on Oct. 19, his ninth victory of the season.

Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Rossi prevailed by 4.008 seconds over Pedrosa on his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone in air temperatures of approximately 104 degrees F. Rookie Andrea Dovizioso edged American star Nicky Hayden for third on his JiR Team Scot MotoGP Honda/Michelin, earning the first podium position of his career.

Rossi extended his streak of podium finishes to eight consecutive races this season and earned the 150th podium finish of his illustrious Grand Prix career across all classes.

“I am so happy with this win today because all of the toughest championship of my career, including with Yamaha in 2004, have been won with nine victories,” Rossi said. “Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to win again next week, but for now I like this number! “Today was incredibly hard because it was so hot. Once I got behind Dani, I tried to pass many times, but he was very fast and very consistent, and I had a good battle to get by him. Lap-by-lap, I understood better where it was possible, and eventually I could make my move and go away from him.”

Pedrosa led the first 10 laps on his Repsol Honda Team Honda/Bridgestone. But Rossi dove under Pedrosa under braking at the hairpin at Turn 9 of the Sepang International Circuit and never trailed thereafter despite drizzle dampening the track late in the race.

Hayden and Dovizioso traded spots numerous times as they dueled for third before Dovizioso kept the position. Still, it was Hayden’s fourth consecutive top-five result on the Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, a streak that started with a runner-up finish at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sept. 14 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“A couple of times I was able to get in front of Dovi, but he held tough,” Hayden said. “Man, he don’t give in for nothing. It was a fun battle. I tried everything I could.

“Maybe I should have tried something a little more silly on the last lap. That’s always hindsight, but sure, I’ll beat myself up tonight, thinking I should have taken some bigger chances, but I was already pushing hard. Congratulations to Dovi on his first podium.”

American Colin Edwards finished eighth on his Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha/Michelin, his third straight top-10 result. John Hopkins rounded out the American finishers in 11th.

In off-track news during this event, Bridgestone was named as the single tire supplier for the MotoGP class from 2009-11. Also, Pramac Racing announced that 250cc standout Mika Kallio of Finland and Ducati test rider Niccolo Canepa of Italy will race Ducatis for its MotoGP team in 2009. Canepa was the quickest rider during the inaugural MotoGP test at IMS in July.

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RESULTS

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Results of the 21-lap Malaysian Grand Prix race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle/tire, time behind winner: 1. Valentino Rossi Italy Yamaha/Bridgestone 2. Dani Pedrosa Spain Honda/Bridgestone +4.008 seconds 3. Andrea Dovizioso Italy Honda/Michelin +8.536 4. Nicky Hayden United States Honda/Michelin +8.858 5. Shinya Nakano Japan Honda/Bridgestone +10.583 6. Casey Stoner Australia Ducati/Bridgestone +13.640 7. Loris Capirossi Italy Suzuki/Bridgestone +15.936 8. Colin Edwards United States Yamaha/Michelin +18.802 9. Chris Vermeulen Australia Suzuki/Bridgestone +23.174 10. Randy de Puniet France Honda/Michelin +25.516 11. John Hopkins United States Kawasaki/Bridgestone +27.609 12. Anthony West Australia Kawasaki/Bridgestone +41.399 13. Sylvain Guintoli France Ducati/Bridgestone +45.617 14. Alex de Angelis San Marino Honda/Bridgestone +49.003 15. Toni Elias Spain Ducati/Bridgestone +59.139 16. Marco Melandri Italy Ducati/Bridgestone +1:03.328 17. Nobuatsu Aoki Japan Suzuki/Bridgestone +1:48.363 18. Jorge Lorenzo Spain Yamaha/Michelin +9 laps 19. James Toseland Great Britain Yamaha/Michelin +19 laps Fastest lap: Rossi, 2:02.249, Lap 2 Pole lap: Pedrosa, 2:01.548

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POINTS

Riders: Rossi 357, Stoner 255, Pedrosa 229, Lorenzo 182, Dovizioso 161, Hayden 144; Edwards 134, Vermeulen 125, Nakano 117, Capirossi 111, Toseland 100, Elias 92, Guintoli 63, de Puniet 60, de Angelis 57, Hopkins 55, Melandri 51, West 50, Ben Spies 20, Jamie Hacking 5, Tadayuki Okada 2.

Manufacturers: Yamaha 386, Ducati 296, Honda 295, Suzuki 174, Kawasaki 86.

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PODIUM QUOTES

VALENTINO ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, winner): “I am so happy with this win today because all of the toughest championship of my career, including with Yamaha in 2004, have been won with nine victories. Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to win again next week, but for now I like this number! Today was incredibly hard because it was so hot. Once I got behind Dani, I tried to pass many times, but he was very fast and very consistent, and I had a good battle to get by him. Lap-by-lap, I understood better where it was possible, and eventually I could make my move and go away from him. Everything worked very well today in such conditions, my M1 and my Bridgestone tires, and I want to thank everyone for making me so fast all weekend. I love winning here because it’s such a great track, but today was really a test, especially the last five laps when I really had to make an effort to keep my concentration in such incredible heat. Anyway, it was important to wi n here because when we came here in the winter I did a very fast race simulation, and I promised my new Bridgestone tire technician, Peter, that we would win the race. I took a gamble in February, so I had to win today. Finally I want to congratulate my friend Marco Simoncelli for winning the 250cc World Championship today. I know how hard he has worked to get here and he really deserves it – I am very happy for him.”

DANI PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Bridgestone, second): “It was a very tough race, and I’m happy very about this result. I want to thank my team. We have worked well, improving every session. On Friday morning, we were only 17th, I think. Then we started moving forward and yesterday we were able to get pole and today I finished second, so finally it has been a good weekend for me and my team. We have made another important step forward after Phillip Island, where I crashed out of the race and hurt my left knee. At the end of today’s race, Valentino was faster than me. He always puts on some extra pressure toward the end, so it was difficult to follow him, but we were closer this time than we were at Motegi, so I am happy that we are making progress with our new bike and tires. It has been a little bit difficult for me and my team to get used this package so late in the season, but we are getting faster every race, and this is important. If we can get closer at the next ra ce, then we know we are working in a good direction. I am looking forward to Valencia next week. There will be a lot of Spanish fans there.”

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO (JiR Team Scot MotoGP Honda/Michelin, third): “I was afraid in the last three laps, because I didn’t know where Nicky wanted to try to overtake me. When he overtook me with four laps remaining, I overtook him again and wanted to push 100 percent for the last three laps because we didn't have the power down the straight, so I had to stay in front of him. For the last three laps I went very fast given my package, so I'm very happy. Before I finished the year, it was very important for me to get a podium. But it’s very difficult for us. During the season there were many races where we were near the podium, but it was very difficult for us, so I’m really happy and want to say thank you to all the team.:

AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES

NICKY HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, fourth): “We knew it was never going to be easy. All weekend we’ve been sixth and seventh, and with the changeable weather we were never really able to find anything setup-wise. Then we had a bad warm-up. We tried some stuff overnight and went a bit backward, so for the race I was quite unsure how it was going to go. We put the bike back to how it was yesterday morning, and it was OK, but I was just missing that little bit. The race honestly went better than I thought I would; it could’ve been uglier. I pushed hard. A couple of times I was able to get in front of Dovi, but he held tough. Man, he don’t give in for nothing. I enjoyed the battle. It was fun battling for the podium after the dudes up front took off early. I tried everything I could. I was pushing the front quite a lot, through Turn 3 mainly. Maybe I should have tried something a little more silly on the last lap. That’s always hindsight, but sure, I’ll beat myself u p tonight, thinking I should have taken some bigger chances, but I was already pushing hard. Congratulations to Dovi on his first podium; he earned it.”

COLIN EDWARDS (Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha/Michelin, eighth): “I thought I’d got a good start, and I must have done because I nearly tangled with Jorge off the line and he was on the front row. It was pretty close, but luckily we didn’t touch. But at the first corner, people started coming around me, and there was a bit of bumping and barging and I lost a couple more places. Nakano and Capirossi came by, but in the first eight laps I felt pretty good and I got into the high 2.02s. I was right on the back of the bunch, but I felt like I was losing a bit on acceleration. As much as I’d close up on the brakes, I’d lose coming onto the back straight and the front straight. It was so hot and the track temperature was so high that the balance of the bike changed around the halfway point. Once the rear grip goes down a bit, it stops transferring weight on the front. I kept my head down and tried to push because I could still see the group in front. But I couldn’t get any pace going coming out of the corners, and I made a couple of little mistakes. I’m really disappointed, even though it is my best result ever at this race. But eighth is well below where I want to be. I leave here knowing I did the best I could do, and I hope I can give the team and Yamaha a strong finish in Valencia next week.”

JOHN HOPKINS (Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki/Bridgestone, 11th): “I got away from the start pretty well, but then I got pushed out wide a couple of times in the first lap, so I didn’t manage to make up as many places as I was hoping for. Initially the lap times were good, but as soon as the rear tire started to go off, I began having problems. We improved confidence in the front this weekend, so I was able to close right onto the back of Vermeulen into the turns, but I was losing ground on the exit every time. The bike was just spinning off the edge of the rear tire on the throttle, and it continued spinning once you’d picked it up onto the fat part of the tire. With five laps to go, the rear grip dropped off even more, giving me no chance of catching de Puniet and Vermeulen before the end. Rear traction has been a consistent issue this season, and it’s an area that we need to look at very closely if we’re to fully understand the cause and ensure that we don't transfer the sam e problem to the 2009 bike. The result today was disappointing because I really thought it was possible to get into the top 10.”

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MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS

250cc: Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Mapfre Aspar Team Aprilia. Marco Simoncelli of Italy finished third to clinch 2008 250cc World Championship.

125cc: Gabor Talmacsi, Hungary, Bancaja Aspar Team Aprilia. American Stevie Bonsey placed 24th due to engine failure and is 14th in series points.

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NEXT RACE

Grand Prix of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, Oct. 26. Round 18 of 18.