Valentino Rossi successfully defended his MotoGP
World Championship title with a second-placed
finish in the Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle
Grand Prix on Sunday. Rossi clinched the title
for Yamaha with four races to spare after a
daring battle for victory with Loris Capirossi.
Rossi started from seventh on the grid but
swiftly arrived at the front and took the
challenge to Capirossi until the final seven
laps, when the Ducati rider launched an
unstoppable charge to the chequered flag.
Before returning to the parc fermé
ahead of the traditional podium
ceremony, Rossi stopped for a new
trademark antic with the members of
his fan-club: he fitted a
commemorative t-shirt and helmet
sporting the number 7 corresponding
to number of his World Championship
crowns, and was greeted by Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs, each one
representing a title.
The Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix
was actually won by Ducati’s Loris
Capirossi took his second victory in
seven days, ahead of Valentino
Rossi, who secured his fifth
consecutive title in the premier
class, the seventh in his GP career.
Starting from pole position,
Capirossi rode a brilliant race
fending off the challenge of Rossi,
who produced a strong comeback from
seventh on grid to move up to 2nd by
lap 8. The Gauloises Yamaha briefly
took the lead by the mid-point of
the race, but Capirossi regained the
lead with 8 laps to go. The late
stages of the race saw Capirossi
building up a comfortable advantage
while Rossi was threatened by the
blazing late charge from the other
Ducati Marlboro rider, Carlos Checa.
The Spaniard pushed hard in the last
lap but couldn’t attempt a move, and
eventually finished just 0.077s
adrift from Rossi. Repsol Honda’s
Nicky Hayden took fourth after a
strong start, ahead of factory
colleagues Marco Melandri and Max
Biaggi. Kenny Roberts was seventh on
the Suzuki GSV-R, followed by Alex
Barros and John Hopkins, while Colin
Edwards completed the top ten
riders.
After finishing second and clinching his fifth
successive MotoGP title, his second for Yamaha,
Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi
spoke about his title victory: “I am very happy
with this championship. I know I gave more than
100% today, and we had a lot of problems this
weekend. This morning I wasn’t sure if I could
fight for the podium! After the start I stayed
calm as some riders made some mistakes, and I
was able wait for things to clear. Step-by-step
and metre-by-metre I moved through the pack and
I used every second of the race.
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Valentino Rossi started from seventh on the grid in
Malaysia but swiftly arrived at the front and took
the challenge to Loris Capirossi until the final
seven laps, when the Ducati rider launched an
unstoppable charge to the chequered flag |
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Scuderia Ferrari-linked Valentino Rossi successfully
defended his MotoGP World Championship title with a
second-placed finish in the Malaysian Grand
Prix yesterday |
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"I got to third behind Nicky and I thought I could fight
because the bike was feeling okay and I knew that Nicky was
having some of the same problems as me. Eventually I passed
him and caught up to Loris and at some places I was faster,
some slower. I passed him but when he passed me back I knew
that he had been playing with me, like a cat with a mouse,
because in the last seven laps he changed gear and I
couldn’t stay with him, he was incredible! This morning in
the warm-up we made some changes and found a better set-up.
Michelin worked really hard to give us a competitive package
for the race and this showed, because it was a great
improvement compared to yesterday.
“I am World Champion for the seventh time and it’s a great
feeling. It’s been great to come back from the bad result at
Motegi last week and do so well; we had a good race today.
This title is not just down to me but to everybody involved;
Jeremy Burgess, all my mechanics, all the Yamaha engineers
and all the people on the management side, including Davide
Brivio. Today I put the number 7 on my T-shirt because this
is the number of my championships but also because it was
the number of Barry Sheene, who was a great hero of mine and
a truly great racer. The celebration with my fan club,
dressed as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was just a bit
of fun to celebrate the seven titles, and also because I
always liked the story as a child! Now I am going back to
Italy for a couple of days but we are also going to have a
little party here – I have my mother and some of my best
friends from Italy to help me celebrate!
“This year
Yamaha has worked so hard again to give me the bike I need.
At the start of the year we had some problems with the M1,
but then we found the right way forward and the bike started
to fly. The M1 has been great fun to race this year. Last
year was a surprise to win but this time everyone was ready
for me and I was the target. It has been a great achievement
to beat all my rivals this year, because they have been very
strong.
“I think for me
the race at Mugello was the biggest emotion of the season,
because it was in front of my home fans. Every year there is
a different story to the championship, and this year has
been a hard battle. The emotion to win a seventh world
championship is difficult to explain. The first is like a
dream, the second unbelievable; there are just no words to
describe the seventh! The feeling is different to when I won
the 125cc and 250cc titles, but just as good! Racing with
Yamaha gives me a great taste and a great motivation to win;
these last two championships have been two of the best.”
LUCA DI MONTEZEMOLO PUTS AN END TO ROSSI RUMOURS
Ferrari President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo put an end
to rumours regarding a move of MotoGP World Champion
Valentino Rossi to Maranello's F1 team, reported news agency
AGI this morning: "Enough of these rumours, Valentino
is one of the greats and I congratulate him as he is an
extraordinary champion. No one, like us, managed to win six
World Championships in a row, he has won seven, but not
consecutively. I've heard enough rumours, the choice is up
to him. He is a great champion and will know what to do: it
is up to him to decided if he wants to race in Formula 1 and
become a Formula 1 champion too".
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