MotoGP 2009

[gotorx7]

Rossi Reaches 100 Wins

NETHERLANDS 27th June 2009 -Valentino Rossi wrote another chapter in his extraordinary career in Holland today, becoming only the second rider in history to reach 100 Grand Prix wins.
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13 years after his very first victory in 125cc, the Italian took the hat-trick of pole position, fastest lap and race win with a perfect display in front of a huge Assen crowd to pass the century mark. It was his 40th win since joining Yamaha in 2004, meaning that over half of his premier-class wins have come with the Japanese factory.
His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finished a strong second and had a milestone of his own to celebrate as it was the fiftieth podium of his career. Like Rossi, The Mallorcan has now finished on the podium in all but one round this season. Yamaha Tech 3 riders Colin Edwards and James Toseland made it four Yamahas in the top six after finishing fourth and sixth respectively.
The eight-time World Champion got a strong start from pole and was second at the end of the first lap, passing Casey Stoner soon after to take a lead which he never relinquished. With his M1 and Bridgestone tyres working perfectly throughout, his race pace was even better than he had shown in practice and he gradually stretched his lead from Lorenzo in the latter stages of the race to seal his historic victory. The 30-year-old Italian and his fan-club joined forces on the slow-down lap to unroll a 25-metre banner which pictured every one of his 100 wins, spanning a career which began when he was 17 years old.

Lorenzo had a poor start and lost several positions in the early melee, leaving him to fight his way back to the front in the early laps. It took him until lap five to come through to second but by then Rossi had opened up a gap of nearly 1.5 seconds. The 22-year-old looked to be closing on his team-mate a little at mid race distance but in the latter stages he began to lose a bit of confidence in the front and was happy enough to settle for second and an important 20 points.

With Stoner finishing third today the championship standings remain tight at the top - Rossi leads on 131 points, Lorenzo is second on 126 and Stoner is hard on his heels with 122. The MotoGP paddock now heads directly to California and Laguna Seca for round eight in a week's time.
Rider Quotes - Podium

Valentino Rossi: "This is a very emotional moment and for sure I will remember this 100th victory for the rest of my life. When I reached 70, 100 seemed a long way away but here I am and it has been great, great fun getting here. It is down to so many people, like Jeremy and my guys who have been with me for ten years and all of the team who always give 100% and always give me the best bike possible. Especially however I have to thank the friends who have been with me my whole life and my father Graziano, who won here in Assen 30 years ago when I was a baby, and my mother Stefania, because they have always supported me. It's great to reach this moment here at Assen because it's the 'Cathedral' of motorcycle racing and the most historic track we go to. Today was a perfect race - I got a great start and my bike was incredible which meant that my pace was very strong. In fact I think it was better for everyone's hearts not to have another last-lap battle like in Barcelona! I had a good advantage from Lorenzo in some parts of the track and it was a great ride for me. Now I have 100 wins and I'm only the second rider to arrive at this number, but Agostini still has 22 more and for me he is still the greatest. 100 is a great result but the atmosphere in our team is wonderful and the motivation is still as high as ever - we want to win a few more races together yet!"
Jorge Lorenzo: "First of all I have to say congratulations to Valentino because this is an incredible thing to achieve and this day belongs to him. Unfortunately I didn't get a good start today and I had to take a few risks to pass people and come back to the front. Once I did I tried to go after Valentino but in some places I just wasn't as fast as him; he was riding 36.5s every time and I didn't really have quite enough confidence to push that hard today because the bike didn't feel perfect. As the race went on I started to feel the front tyre 'close' a bit and I decided that it was safer to come home in second! Another podium is a great result; it's my fiftieth and we continue to be very strong this season so I am happy. I am only five points from the lead and we are in a good position going to Laguna, which I am very excited about."
Casey Stoner: "I've been feeling fine all week but started to feel run down again on Friday and I've just got worse as the weekend has gone on. I've taken every kind of supplement and vitamin tablet you can think of but nothing seems to have worked, so it is obviously something we need to have looked at closer because I can't keep going like this and it is costing us points. Thankfully I had a fantastic bike underneath me again today and I owe the team for that. A big thank also to Dott. Macchiagodena and our physiotherapist Freddie (Dente), who took good care of me both in Catalunya and here. Unfortunately we don't have much time to get fit for Laguna but we'll see what we can do."
Race Results:
Pos.|Rider|Manu.|Nat.|Total Time
1|Valentino Rossi|Yamaha|ITA|42'14.611
2|Jorge Lorenzo|Yamaha|ESP|0'05.368
3|Casey Stoner|Ducati|AUS|0'23.113
4|Colin Edwards|Yamaha|USA|0'29.114
5|Chris Vermeulen|Suzuki|AUS|0'33.605
6|James Toseland|Yamaha|GBR|0'39.347
7|Randy De Puniet|Honda|FRA|0'39.543
8|Toni Elias|Honda|ESP|0'39.774
9|Nicky Hayden|Ducati|USA|0'39.823
10|Loris Capirossi|Suzuki|ITA|0'40.673
11|Alex De Angelis|Honda|SMR|0'46.010
12|Marco Melandri|Kawasaki|ITA|0'57.777
13|Sete Gibernau|Ducati|ESP|1'05.366
14|Niccolo Canepa|Ducati|ITA|1'09.897
15|Yuki Takahashi|Honda|JPN|1'09.930

[yelloS2Rx7]

Rossi's a weapon thats for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!
but CMON THE KID, cant wait for MAZDA Leguna Seca
especailly after the slug fest of last year between Stoner and Rossi, one of the best bike races you will ever see!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO STONER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gotorx7]

Pedrosa Storms To Victory

USA 5th July 2009 - Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa stormed to a flag-to-flag victory in the U.S. Grand Prix before a sun-drenched crowd of nearly of over 46,000 on the challenging Laguna Seca circuit within sight of the Pacific Ocean in Monterey, California.
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Starting fourth on the grid, the Spaniard jetted into the lead over the turn one crest and into the turn two left hand hairpin. Then he was gone. Pedrosa set one fast lap after another to pull away to what seemed a certain victory. But on the final lap Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) made a robust challenge to Pedrosa, closing onto his rear tire in the final turn. Pedrosa, however, was resolute, and used the power of the Honda RC212V to cross the line with a gap of .344s. Rossi was second and his teammate Jorge Lorenzo was third.

The victory, Pedrosa’s seventh in MotoGP and 30th career, was his first since the Catalunya Grand Prix on June 8, 2008. He was also able to solidify fourth in the championship after eight of 17 rounds.

What made the victory especially sweet, was that it showed he’d reverted to the form that can take him to victory after a very difficult set of races. Pedrosa injured his right hip in a crash in Mugello and for the following two races he couldn’t ride as he wanted. Today he was under no physical restrictions and showed what a powerful package he and the Honda RC212V can be.

Attrition took its toll on the field as they tried to complete 32 laps of the demanding 3.61k track. Only 12 made it to the finish, but four of the top eleven were Honda-mounted. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Toni Elias finished a season best sixth and within .4 secs. of fifth placed Nicky Hayden (Ducati), who he chased to the checkered flag.

Randy De Puniet (LCR Honda) finished ninth, two spots in front of Alex De Angelis on the second San Carlo Honda Gresini machine. De Puniet had difficulty with traffic in the early laps before breaking clear. His fastest lap was the 18th of 32, by which time he was securely in ninth. De Angelis also found the early part of the race more difficult than the latter part. His fast lap was also on the 18th. And though he pressured Marco Melandri (Kawasaki), he couldn’t find a way past and was frustrated to miss out on a top ten finish by under a second.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) was among the unlucky. The Italian was in a secure fifth place and on the tail of the lead quartet when his front end slid away in the left hand turn five on the seventh lap. Earlier he’d had problems with engine braking after inadvertently hitting his clutch lever on one of the plastic stanchions separating the pit lane exit from the track. But he took full responsibility for the crash, which happened after repeated warnings.

Earlier, Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) had crashed out on the fourth lap. It was his first race crash in his third MotoGP race, and on his first visit to Laguna Seca.
Rider Quotes - Podium
Dani Pedrosa: “This is a fantastic win for us and it’s a great feeling after such a long time without a victory. The start to the season has been really difficult and actually it’s been tough since Sachsenring last year because I’ve had a lot of injuries and I haven’t been able to ride at 100 per cent for a long time, or train properly. But my team and Honda never gave up and I’d like to thank everyone who’s been working really hard to help me get back to this position. I’d also like to thank the doctors who have treated me because there have been quite a few of them! I got a good start, I was able to get into a good rhythm straight away and my pace was a little better than in practice. Perhaps my only mistake here was to slow down too much on the last lap because I didn’t realize how close Valentino was. Anyway, it was a great race, a great day and it’s a great feeling. Now I just want to focus on each race and get the best results possible. There’s a long way to go in the championship but there’s also a big gap to the leaders so I’m just going to take it one race at a time.”
Valentino Rossi: "The first half of the race was quite difficult because we weren't at 100% today. I didn't expect Dani to be so fast but he was very strong and there wasn't much I could do to go with him! The last ten laps were very exciting because Lorenzo was pushing me so hard that I had to really make another step and then Dani slowed down and suddenly he was right in front of me! I thought there was a chance to pass on the final corner but unfortunately I was just too far off and it was too much of a risk. Second is good today because we were not in perfect shape here, we missed something in the setting and this is always a hard track anyway, so we have to be happy with these twenty points. We have extended the championship lead so it's a good result for us and we have shown that we are still strong this year even when things are not perfect. This consistency is the most important thing for the championship. Now I am happy that we have some time to rest because these have been a hard two weeks and the next two races are very important because we are all so close!"
Jorge Lorenzo: "I always try to do my best and I think that is what I have done today, considering my physical condition. I am really proud and I think that this was one of my best races. My foot was okay but I had a lot of pain in my right shoulder, which meant I wasn't strong in my right hand and I had to over-compensate with my left; I am really tired now! I want to thank the Clinica Mobile because they made it possible for me to finish the race. After a while I started to forget about the pain a bit and I just wanted to do my best and I knew that it was possible to pass Valentino. Unfortunately I hit some bumps when I braked deep and my rear tyre moved a lot and I was lucky not to crash - maybe without this mistake, if I had been able to pass him, it would have been possible to win but anyway third is good in the circumstances and we have taken good points. Now we have some time to recover; I am fit and strong so I hope that by Sachsenring I will be back to my best."
Race Results:
Pos|Rider|Manu.|Nat.|Total Time
1|Daniel Pedrosa|Honda|ESP|44'01.580
2|Valentino Rossi|Yamaha|ITA|0'00.344
3|Jorge Lorenzo|Yamaha|ESP|0'01.926
4|Casey Stoner|Ducati|AUS|0'12.432
5|Nicky Hayden|Ducati|USA|0'21.663
6|Toni Elias|Honda|ESP|0'22.041
7|Colin Edwards|Yamaha|USA|0'30.201
8|Chris Vermeulen|Suzuki|AUS|0'32.857
9|Randy De Puniet|Honda|FRA|0'40.325
10|Marco Melandri|Kawasaki|ITA|0'48.028
11|Alex De Angelis|Honda|SMR|0'48.810
12|Niccolo Canepa|Ducati|ITA|1'18.531

[gotorx7]

Dovizioso Takes First MotoGP Victory

DONINGTON 26th July 2009 - Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) scored a double success for Honda in the British Grand Prix. It was a fitting achievement for the Japanese manufacturer which made its World Championship debut in Britain 50 years ago this summer.
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Dovizioso won in treacherous conditions, with drizzle falling on and off throughout the 30 laps. The former 125 World Champion, who has previously ridden Hondas to 250 and 125 successes at Donington Park, exhibited enormous courage and inch-perfect riding to take a 1.3 second victory from Colin Edwards (Yamaha). His maiden MotoGP win was Repsol Honda’s second success in three races, following the US GP win of Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) earlier this month.

Honda satellite team riders Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) and Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) completed a great day for Honda in third and fourth, making it three RC212Vs in the top four. De Puniet’s third-place result, just two tenths of a second behind Edwards, was his first podium with Honda.

Dovizioso led for two laps early on, the slippery conditions claiming Toni Elias (San Carlo Gresini Honda) and Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) by one-third distance. When Lorenzo crashed out of the lead on lap nine, series leader Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) took over, chased by Dovizioso. The two Italians were inches apart as they felt their way in the risky conditions, their lap times slowing down and speeding up as rain showers hit various parts of the circuit. On lap 20 Rossi slid off at the Foggy Esses, handing an eight second lead to Dovizioso. But the last third of the race was anything but easy for the new leader. The intermittent rainfall caused the left side of his tyres to cool down too much, leaving him with very little grip at certain points of the track. And all the while de Puniet and Edwards were inching closer. Dovi kept his head and just enough of a lead to prevent the pair getting close enough to launch an attack. Today’s result, which followed three no-scores for Dovi, moves him to sixth in the World Championship.

Of course, de Puniet and Edwards were suffering the exact same problems as Dovizioso. The Frenchman and the American swapped positions several times in the closing laps, Edwards finally taking second place into the final turn. Nevertheless, de Puniet was delighted to give the Monaco-based LCR Honda team (run by former GP winner Lucio Cecchinello) its first MotoGP podium.

De Angelis was delighted to equal his best MotoGP result with a storming ride to fourth place, the same as he managed in last year’s Italian and German Grands Prix. Tenth at the end of the first lap, the San Marino rider moved steadily forward, taking fourth place from Pedrosa on lap 23. For a while it looked like he might make the podium, but like everyone he was struggling to ride the knife edge between going fast and going too fast.

Pedrosa ran with the leaders during the early stages of the race but the Spaniard’s tyres cooled down too much, leaving him without the grip he needed to maintain his pace. At one point he considered entering the pits to change to his second bike equipped with rain tyres (as did several rivals) but decided that would cost him too much time. At the end of the race he had netted seven valuable points, while two of his title rivals (Lorenzo and Rossi) crashed and Casey Stoner (Ducati) gambled on starting the race with rain tyres, finishing 14th.
Rider Quotes - Podium
Andrea Dovizioso: “It’s a fantastic feeling to win my first MotoGP race because this is the top series in the world with the best riders and so to win is a fantastic emotion. I’m very pleased with my performance today as the conditions were so difficult. It was like three different races – riding hard at the start when it was nearly dry, following Valentino as it got wetter, and then judging the pace once I was in front. I rode well in every section and managed the very tricky situation, so it’s really satisfying. This is also important for my confidence after the last three races. In the first three laps I took a lot of risks to maintain my position with the leaders because the tyres need two or three laps to get up to temperature. Once I was following Valentino it was quite easy because it’s not so difficult to follow someone in these conditions since the leader has to judge where it’s wet and where it’s dry. But when he fell it was clear from his crash that the tyres were very cold and this was scary because now I had to set the pace. Colin and Randy closed the gap quickly in the last five laps and at this point I was being careful and wasn’t pushing to the limit, but in the final two laps I pushed as hard as I could and they weren’t able to get close enough to try and pass. I’m so happy with this win, and we’ll use it to move forward. The important thing is to fight with the best riders in normal dry conditions, so me and the team will work really hard to repeat this victory in the dry.”
Colin Edwards: "That was a pretty intense 48 minutes but at the start there was no way I thought I was going to be on the podium. I'm not sure what happened at the start but I just had guys coming by everywhere. I was using a front tyre I'd not used all weekend and it took me a while to get a feel for it. Once I got some momentum going and I started to understand how the front tyre was feeling I started pushing my way through. But with about seven or eight laps to go I started having some big moments because it was hard to know where it was raining and where it wasn't. And all the time you're trying to figure out where there's grip and where there isn't. It was easy to mistake and the left side of the rear tyre was pretty cold and that just helped make it even more mentally draining because you need to concentrate so hard. I could see I was catching Randy really quick and we got into a good battle. He was faster than me in some parts and I was better in others but luckily I passed him on the last lap and made it stick. By that time though Andrea was too far ahead to think about pushing on for that first win, but second is a great way to finish at Donington. I've got to say a big thanks to my guys at Tech 3 because they always give me great support. Yamaha and Bridgestone too were just awesome today, so I'm really happy."

Randy de Puniet: “It’s like a dream for me and the team! It was a very stressful race and I was very nervous on the grid as the conditions were pretty bad. I took a good start on slick tyres and was very aggressive in the first laps. I got into sixth place but the gap on the front riders was too wide and I thought to keep my pace without taking any risks. Elias crashed in front of me and Pedrosa did not seem very confident on his machine. When he started to lose time I took my chance to pass him and we battled for several laps. I could overtake him because my machine was working well and I suddenly realised that I was holding third position. After Rossi’s crash I took second place and tried to remain focused because the surface was very slippery. Then Edwards came up quickly, giving me the chance to reduce the gap on Dovizioso, but it was too late and too dangerous, so I kept my position and we battled for the second place until the last corner. I am so happy for this result and want to thank everybody especially Lucio. We are sharing an amazing moment together!”
Race Results:
Pos.|Rider|Manu.|Nat.|Total Time
1|Andrea Dovizioso|Honda|ITA|48'26.267
2|Colin Edwards|Yamaha|USA|0'01.360
3|Randy De Puniet|Honda|FRA|0'01.600
4|Alex De Angelis|Honda|SMR|0'08.958
5|Valentino Rossi|Yamaha|ITA|0'21.622
6|James Toseland|Yamaha|GBR|0'22.465
7|Marco Melandri|Kawasaki|ITA|0'35.284
8|Niccolo Canepa|Ducati|ITA|0'03.769
9|Daniel Pedrosa|Honda|ESP|0'42.112
10|Mika Kallio|Ducati|FIN|0'45.845
11|Loris Capirossi|Suzuki|ITA|0'53.190
12|Gabor Talmacsi|Honda|HUN|1'12.315
13|Chris Vermeulen|Suzuki|AUS|1'20.398
14|Casey Stoner|Ducati|AUS|-1Laps
15|Nicky Hayden|Ducati|USA|-1Laps

[gotorx7]

MISANO 6th Sept 2009 - Valentino Rossi may have had a donkey on his helmet today but it was 'The Doctor' riding the bike once again, as the Italian hero bounced back from his Indianapolis mistake with an emphatic home victory at Misano.

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His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finished a strong second, making this the fifth one-two finish for the team this season.

After the boiling heat of the last two days the temperature today was brought right down by a strong wind, which meant track conditions were quite different to how they had been so far. Rossi, starting from pole, dropped to third at the start whilst Lorenzo narrowly escaped a pile up, which claimed three other riders. The Spaniard then got in front of the Italian for a few laps as Dani Pedrosa and Toni Elias battled it out for the lead, but on lap five all changed as Rossi moved into second, passing both his team-mate and Elias, and Lorenzo despatched Elias a few corners later to take third.

Rossi was flying by now and took the lead next time around, gradually opening out a gap as Lorenzo struggled to get by Pedrosa. It took the gutsy 22-year-old six laps to overtake his compatriot and by the time he was through Rossi was two seconds clear and Lorenzo had to settle for second and his tenth podium of the season. Rossi, who lives just 10 km from the track, eventually crossed the line 2.416 seconds ahead, taking his eleventh career win on Italian soil and his sixth of the season to a rapturous welcome from his passionate fans.

The gap from Rossi to Lorenzo is now 30 points, whilst Yamaha lead both the Teams and Manufacturers standings by large margins. There is now a four-week break to the next round, at Estoril in Portugal, with four races remaining in total.

Rider Quotes - Podium

Valentino Rossi: "This is a great feeling! It's taken me some time to get used to Misano and view it as a 'home' race because Mugello is so special to me, but I can honestly say that winning here today, in front of everyone dressed in yellow and with 46s everywhere, is a great emotion and I want to thank everyone for making it so special. Today I had to go quite carefully with the full tank at the start and I took some time to get to the front but once I was there it was great and my bike felt fantastic. We didn't expect to be this competitive here but it's been a perfect weekend, so I have to say a huge thank you to the team for a brilliant job. Since Indianapolis, when I made that mistake, we have been so focused and concentrated and everyone deserves this result. I was the 'flying donkey' today! I am happy that we are going into a month without racing with these memories and this points lead, but as we saw in Indy everything can change quickly so we will be fully focused once again in Estoril when we come back."
Jorge Lorenzo: "I did what I had to do today and took as many points as I could, which is the most important thing when you're not perfect. Unfortunately we struggled a bit all weekend to find the right setting and so I thought it was better to take care and ensure the second place today. I took some time to get past Dani and Toni and then it was too far to Valentino. After I was nearly brought down on the second corner I wanted to make sure I got the points in order to keep the championship alive. We have some work to do but we will make sure we're back to our best in Estoril, where I have great memories from last year and my first win."
Dani Pedrosa: “A podium finish is a good result for us and I think it fulfilled our potential here this weekend. I made a good start and pushed to the maximum in the opening laps to stay ahead of the others. I was riding really hard and getting quicker every lap which allowed me to keep in front for quite a long time. First Valentino and then Jorge came past though, and they were able to brake harder and get through the corners a little better that me which meant I just couldn’t stay with them. I was actually quite lucky at the end because I ran out of fuel on the slowing down lap and had to hitch a ride back to the pits with Toni Elias. Third is OK here and there was no way I could follow the leader’s rhythm so I’m reasonably satisfied. I’ve moved into third in the championship, but with Casey not riding here it’s not an even situation so I’m not too concerned about that. This weekend I also re-signed with Honda and I’m happy about this. They know my potential very well and I know their potential too, and I’m sure we can work well together into the future.”
Race Results:
Pos|Rider|Manu.|Nat.|Total Time
1|Valentino Rossi|Yamaha|ITA|44'32.822
2|Jorge Lorenzo|Yamaha|ESP|0'02.416
3|Daniel Pedrosa|Honda|ESP|0'12.400
4|Andrea Dovizioso|Honda|ITA|0'26.330
5|Loris Capirossi|Suzuki|ITA|0'26.539
6|Toni Elias|Honda|ESP|0'28.286
7|Mika Kallio|Ducati|FIN|0'30.184
8|Marco Melandri|Kawasaki|ITA|0'31.757
9|Chris Vermeulen|Suzuki|AUS|0'31.909
10|James Toseland|Yamaha|GBR|0'38.347
11|Aleix Espargaro|Ducati|ESP|0'46.673
12|Randy De Puniet|Honda|FRA|0'52.041
13|Niccolo Canepa|Ducati|ITA|1'03.198
14|Gabor Talmacsi|Honda|HUN|1'22.347

[gotorx7]

Stoner Wins, Rossi takes Championship

MALAYSIA 25th Oct 2009 - 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.

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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.

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 tenth after a sluggish start from pole position. Lorenzo eventually finished in fourth position.

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.

Elsewhere, Aleix Espargaró impressed with an eleventh-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.

After Lorenzo took fourth spot he duly handed hearty congratulations to Rossi, with Hayden equalling 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 ten.

Rider Quotes - Podium

CASEY STONER: "I didn’t get a brilliant start but I was happy to be in fourth as we came out of turn two 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 3 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. This is another fantastic day for us and I want to thank everybody in the team for their effort. 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. I’m sure that if we continue to work like this ourselves we can put up a much stronger challenge next time.”

DANI PEDROSA: “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. Now we go to Valencia and we’ll be trying hard again there. It’s a track that I love and there will be a lot of fans too, so I’m looking forward to it.”

VALENTINO ROSSI: "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...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 tyres 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 tyres 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!"


RACE RESULTS:

Pos.|Rider|Manu.|Nat.|Total Time
1|Casey Stoner|Ducati|AUS|47'24.834
2|Daniel Pedrosa|Honda|ESP|0'14.666
3|Valentino Rossi|Yamaha|ITA|0'19.385
4|Jorge Lorenzo|Yamaha|ESP|0'25.850
5|Nicky Hayden|Ducati|USA|0'38.705
6|Chris Vermeulen|Suzuki|AUS|0'41.061
7|Toni Elias|Honda|ESP|0'48.555
8|Marco Melandri|Kawasaki|ITA|0'55.557
9|Loris Capirossi|Suzuki|ITA|1'00.303
10|Mika Kallio|Ducati|FIN|1'00.440
11|Aleix Espargaro|Ducati|ESP|1'01.655
12|Alex De Angelis|Honda|SMR|1'01.847
13|Colin Edwards|Yamaha|USA|1'10.778
14|Gabor Talmacsi|Honda|HUN|1'15.851
15|James Toseland|Yamaha|GBR|1'50.672

[gotorx7]

Dani Pedrosa doubled his race-victory tally for the season in the final race of the year with a win at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit on Sunday, as Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo completed the podium. http://www.australiancardirectory.com.au/upl_images/A_MotoGP%20Final_1b.jpg
It was a victory on home soil for Dani Pedrosa at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, as the Repsol Honda man enjoyed a start-to-finish win in the final race of the 2009 season.
The drama started before the race had even commenced, as pole position holder Casey Stoner’s high-side crash on the warm-up lap meant he was unable to take his place on the grid. That allowed Pedrosa to lead the charge from his position on the front row, and after taking the first corner in the lead the Repsol Honda rider never relinquished it, sealing third spot in the overall standings in the process.
World Champion Valentino Rossi followed the Spaniard home in second place, finishing 2.630s behind Pedrosa as he ended his title-winning season with his 13th podium of the campaign.
The Italian’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who did well to hold onto his bike when a moment on the opening lap almost threw him off, was a further 0.283s behind as he took third, having already sealed second spot in the Championship by virtue of Stoner’s non-start.
The Australian ended the season in fourth place overall, with Colin Edwards’ fourth place in the race allowing him to snatch fifth in the 2009 standings from Andrea Dovizioso.
The top five on the day was completed by Stoner’s Ducati Marlboro team-mate Nicky Hayden, who held off the challenge of Toni Elías as the Spaniard came in sixth in his final race with the San Carlo Honda Gresini team.
Wildcard rider Ben Spies rode to an impressive seventh-placed finish, and in depriving Dovizioso of that spot – the Italian finished eighth – played a direct role in helping his future Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Edwards take fifth in the Championship.
There were also top-ten finishes for Rookie of the Year Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini).
RIDER QUOTES - PODIUM
Dani Pedrosa: “It’s really great to finish off the season with a win, especially here in front of my home fans. I was waiting on the grid with my visor up and I was looking to the side for Casey to arrive, but the marshal in front of me was walking to the side and I was thinking: ‘Where is he going!’ So I assumed something had happened to Casey on the warm-up lap. In the first few laps I had to be careful because you have to warm up the tyres here, especially on the right hand side. But once that was done, we maintained a good pace and kept focused. In the last laps, the wind was strong and it would have been easy to make a mistake, but I was able to control the gap to Valentino and take this win. I was thinking back to Laguna Seca where Valentino closed the gap a lot, and I also knew that Jorge was catching Valentino too, so I just kept pushing. I’m very happy for the team because we struggled quite a lot in practice here, and yet we were able to win in front of all the Spanish fans. I’d like to thank the fans too. To get third in the championship is not what I was expecting but it’s a nice surprise, even though Casey wasn’t in the race. This season has not been easy and tomorrow’s testing will be important so that we can start 2010 in the best possible shape. This gives us a good start towards that.”

Valentino Rossi: "I'm really happy about this result because it was fantastic to be able to ride well at Valencia and it's my best finish here since 2004. Of course it would have been better to win but I lost some time at the start battling with Elias and Lorenzo and by that time Pedrosa had gone and at this track it's almost impossible to make up a two second gap. It's not one of our best tracks but after the problems we had all weekend we can be very pleased, we made a great modification in warm-up so thanks to all my guys for this. We've ended the championship on the podium and it's been a great season, another world title and the triple crown for Yamaha, I am very proud. Thank you to Yamaha, all my team, Bridgestone and everyone else, now we will have a little party before we start work on the 2010 bike tomorrow!"

Jorge Lorenzo: "I had some good fights at the start and I was feeling quite strong but then I made a big mistake in the slow corner and I was lucky not to crash, so Valentino got by. I was in a bit of pain and I took some time to recover,\ and by then the gap was a bit too big to catch him. Anyway I'm happy to get another podium in Spain and I am so proud to have finished second in the championship; I want to thank everyone, Yamaha, Bridgestone and all my team, because we have worked so hard and this is a great achievement in just our second season. Now I can't wait to start testing the new bike and I look forward to being even stronger next year."

RACE RESULTS:

<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="520"><tbody><tr class="greyBkgnd"> <td>Pos.</td> <td>Rider</td> <td>Manu.</td> <td>Nat.</td> <td style="text-align: right;">Total Time</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowDivder" valign="top">1</td> <td class="rowDivder">Daniel Pedrosa</td> <td class="rowDivder">Honda</td> <td class="rowDivder">ESP</td> <td class="rowDivder" align="right">46'47.553</td> </tr> <tr class="yamahaRider"> <td valign="top">2</td> <td>Valentino Rossi</td> <td>Yamaha</td> <td>ITA</td> <td align="right">0'02.630</td> </tr> <tr class="yamahaRider"> <td valign="top">3</td> <td>Jorge Lorenzo</td> <td>Yamaha</td> <td>ESP</td> <td align="right">0'02.913</td> </tr> <tr class="yamahaRider"> <td valign="top">4</td> <td>Colin Edwards</td> <td>Yamaha</td> <td>USA</td> <td align="right">0'32.515</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowDivder" valign="top">5</td> <td class="rowDivder">Nicky Hayden</td> <td class="rowDivder">Ducati</td> <td class="rowDivder">USA</td> <td class="rowDivder" align="right">0'34.585</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowDivder" valign="top">6</td> <td class="rowDivder">Toni Elias</td> <td class="rowDivder">Honda</td> <td class="rowDivder">ESP</td> <td class="rowDivder" align="right">0'34.888</td> </tr> <tr class="yamahaRider"> <td valign="top">7</td> <td>Ben Spies</td> <td>Yamaha</td> <td>USA</td> <td align="right">0'37.706</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowDivder" valign="top">8</td> <td class="rowDivder">Andrea Dovizioso</td> <td class="rowDivder">Honda</td> <td class="rowDivder">ITA</td> <td class="rowDivder" align="right">0'38.364</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowDivder" valign="top">9</td> <td class="rowDivder">Mika Kallio</td> <td class="rowDivder">Ducati</td> <td class="rowDivder">FIN</td> <td class="rowDivder" align="right">0'42.491</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowDivder" valign="top">10</td> <td class="rowDivder">Alex De Angelis</td> <td class="rowDivder">Honda</td> <td class="rowDivder">SMR</td> <td class="rowDivder" align="right">0'43.689</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowDivder" valign="top">11</td> <td class="rowDivder">Randy De Puniet</td> <td class="rowDivder">Honda</td> <td class="rowDivder">FRA</td> <td class="rowDivder" align="right">0'46.018</td> </tr> <tr class="yamahaRider"> <td valign="top">12</td> <td>James Toseland</td> <td>Yamaha</td> <td>GBR</td> <td align="right">0'50.226</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowDivder" valign="top">13</td> <td class="rowDivder">Aleix Espargaro</td> <td class="rowDivder">Ducati</td> <td class="rowDivder">ESP</td> <td class="rowDivder" align="right">0'57.168</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowDivder" valign="top">14</td> <td class="rowDivder">Loris Capirossi</td> <td class="rowDivder">Suzuki</td> <td class="rowDivder">ITA</td> <td class="rowDivder" align="right">1'06.877</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowDivder" valign="top">15</td> <td class="rowDivder">Chris Vermeulen</td> <td class="rowDivder">Suzuki</td> <td class="rowDivder">AUS</td> <td class="rowDivder" align="right">1'11.701</td></tr></tbody></table>