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Casey Stoner was the race victor at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix on Sunday, but it was Valentino Rossi whose achievement of third place laid the foundation for the story of the weekend.
Stoner’s second successive win was impressive enough, as was his astounding 14.666s margin of victory, 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. MotoGP
The remarkable 30-year-old Italian needed to finish fourth or better in the penultimate round of the championship to seal his second straight title and duly delivered in wet conditions in the 21-lap race.
Rossi, who started from pole position, made a superb start to take the lead, but a rare mistake on the first lap saw him slip back to 10th before he worked his way back through the field.
Ducati star Stoner took command of the race to complete a convincing victory which consolidates his third place in the championship standings behind the Yamaha pair of Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo of Spain, who took fourth place. CNN International
“With one round to go, I have clinched the world title. I thank all the people who helped me achieve this achievement. We did some great fight,” he said.
“Today’s race went a bit like how the season has gone because we were so fast on the dry tyres, 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.
MotoGP: Malaysian Grand Prix - Race Results
“It’s a great achievement, and for me it’s the ninth championship, the seventh in MotoGP,” he said. Factfile: Valentino Rossi
Rossi paid special tribute to his Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. The 22-year-old Spaniard finished the race fourth but had been the only rider still in contention for the world title.
“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,” he added. AFP
Stoner was glad to pull off another win for Ducati after missing three earlier races because of illness.
“I had a good start at the first turn and I do not expect to pull a gap after that. I can’t ask for more after how the season went. It’s nice to come back and get a result like this,” said Stoner, the only rider to win in all classes at Sepang. USA Today
