MotoGP: Rossi Wins the Malaysian Grand Prix but Lorenzo Steals the Show
Valentino Rossi emerged victorious in the Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, but the day belonged to his current team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo. Lorenzo needed at least a ninth place to ensure his first premier class title. He started the race from pole position,
while he won his championship with a third place finish. Andrea Dovizioso also improved on his qualifying position by getting a second place in the race.
The day belonged to Jorge Lorenzo who won his first ever premier class title in style. He stood third in the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix to ensure his championship, with three races remaining in the season. The Spaniard had an easy ride,
as he did not seem keen to challenge other riders around him. It was obvious that he was focusing on his championship rather than a race victory. Nevertheless, he finished in style, with his 13th podium of the season in fifteen races.
Lorenzo started the race from pole position, and he started well. He was leading the pack from the beginning as he emerged in front from the first corner. On the other hand, Valentino Rossi had a poor start of the race, as he dropped to an 11th
spot, from the second row of the grid. Casey Stoner, who won the previous two races, had a disappointing end to his race. He crashed down in the first lap and had to retire from the grand prix.
Nicky Hayden also lost his advantage, as it was Andrea Dovizioso who made sure that he did not lose sight of Lorenzo. In the meanwhile, Lorenzo’s main rival and teammate, Rossi started to gain some ground. By the third lap, Rossi was incredibly in fourth
place, with the leaders in his sight. Soon, Rossi got the third place and now he started to cover the distance between him and the leaders.
By the halfway mark, Rossi had already covered a lot of distance and he soon overtook both Lorenzo and Dovizioso. At this point, Lorenzo seemed contented with a third place, but both the Italians started fighting for a first spot. There were numerous exchanges
between both riders, but it was Rossi who emerged victorious in the end. It was Rossi’s only second victory of the season, since his victory in the opening grand prix at Qatar. Nevertheless, it was a great race by the Italian, who has had a very tough season
hampered with injury and fitness issues. It was due to this reason that Rossi declared this race to be the best race of his career.
Andrea Dovizioso also worked hard for his second place and he was happy after his performance. However, the happiest man on the circuit was Lorenzo who got his championship title with three more races still to go. Lorenzo had an incredible season and he
deserved this title from the beginning. His worst performances so far in the season were two fourth place finishes. Therefore, it was a high time for the young Spaniard, who had finally fulfilled his dream.
Apart from Casey Stoner, Loris Capirossi and Aleix Espargaro also crashed and did not finish the race. Also, Colin Edwards had some problems with his Tech 3 Yamaha machine which meant that his race was also short lived.
Ben Spies took the fourth spot, after starting from the fourth position. Alvaro Bautista took the fifth position, which was his best result of the season so far. The top ten was completed by Nicky Hayden, Hiroshi Aoyama, Marco Simoncelli, Marco Melandri
and Randy de Puniet.
With this race, Rossi has moved into third position from the fifth place. He passed both Dovizioso and Stoner and is now only one point clear of the Australian. Dovizioso is in fifth spot with a difference of only two points from Rossi. Although, the season
seems to be over, but the next races would be important as all the riders will be trying to impress their new teams for the next season.
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