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Post by BADGER on Oct 19, 2008 7:45:13 GMT
1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 43min 6.007 sec 2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (B) 43min 10.015 sec 3. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 43min 14.543 sec 4. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 43min 14.865 sec 5. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 43min 16.590 sec 6. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 43min 19.647 sec 7. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 43min 21.943 sec 8. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 43min 24.809 sec 9. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 43min 29.181 sec 10. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP (M) 43min 31.523 sec 11. John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 43min 33.616 sec 12. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 43min 47.406 sec 13. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alice Team (B) 43min 51.624 sec 14. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 43min 55.100 sec 15. Toni Elias SPA Alice Team (B) 44min 5.146 sec 16. Marco Melandri ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 44min 9.335 sec 17. Nobuatsu Aoki JPN Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 44min 54.370 sec
DNF: James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M)
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Post by BADGER on Oct 19, 2008 7:53:05 GMT
Valentino Rossi has taken his ninth win of the 2008 MotoGP season - and 150th grand prix podium - after a cool, calculating victory in Sunday's Malaysian GP at a scorching hot Sepang.
The Italian, who wrapped up the 2008 title two rounds previously in Japan, dropped from second to third at turn one, whilst pole sitter Dani Pedrosa blasted into an early lead.
Rossi put his Fiat Yamaha ahead of countryman Andrea Dovizioso to claim second by the start of lap two, and was soon locked onto Pedrosa's rear wheel. The pair circulated together for lap after lap as they pulled away from Dovizioso, who had a queue of riders backed up behind him.
Pedrosa is at his most dangerous when he is able to escape in the early laps but, having failed to do so, the Spaniard looked certain to fall victim to Rossi.
The only difficulty for Rossi was that his Fiat Yamaha couldn't match Pedrosa's Repsol Honda along the straights, even in the slipstream, forcing the Italian to plot a braking move.
That eventually came at the halfway mark of the 21 laps, and saw the eight time world champion dragging his inside foot on the asphalt as he successfully dived inside Pedrosa into a left hand hairpin.
The Italian's biggest threat thereafter was from the weather; with six laps to go white flags were waved, indicating that bike swaps were now permitted due to the threat of rain. That didn't materialise and Rossi cruised to a comfortable four-second victory over Pedrosa.
By contrast, the battle for the final podium position went right to the line.
Dovizioso, who had finished fourth three times during his rookie season prior to Sepang, mounted an admirable defence against Nicky Hayden - whose Repsol seat the Italian will take next year - for almost the entire race, with five other riders also in contention by the midway point.
That seven-way fight was reduced to six when Jorge Lorenzo, who got a bad start from the front, lost the front of his Michelin-shod factory M1 and fell from sixth position through turn one
With four laps to go, Hayden finally got in front of Dovizioso - the American diving inside into turn one, with Dovi retaliating immediately, only to be squeezed gently to the edge of the track by Hayden.
But Dovizioso wasn't finished and threw his JiR Team Scot machine inside Hayden into the next hard-braking zone. A small mistake by Hayden then allowed Dovizioso a little breathing room, and put Hayden briefly in danger of attack from Gresini's Shinya Nakano, but the 2006 world champion was back on the #4's rear wheel by the start of the last lap.
Dovizioso, impressive under braking throughout the race, held tight lines for the final lap and was rewarded with his first ever MotoGP podium - and the first podium this season for a satellite Honda rider - by 0.3sec from Hayden.
Nakano had overtaken Casey Stoner with six laps to go and the Ducati Marlboro star appeared to be suffering badly in the exhausting 42 degree heat, but hung on to sixth by three seconds ahead of Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi.
That sixth position means Stoner has now secured second in the 2008 world championship standings, the Australian holding a 26 point lead over Pedrosa heading into next weekend's Valencia season finale.
Colin Edwards was the only Tech 3 Yamaha rider to reach the flag at Sepang, in eighth, after rookie team-mate James Toseland fell on lap 9. Behind Edwards, Chris Vermeulen was the second GSV-R home in ninth, with Randy de Puniet tenth for Honda LCR.
Kawasaki riders John Hopkins and Anthony West finished eleventh and twelfth, ahead of Alice's Sylvain Guintoli and Gresini's Alex de Angelis.
The second Alice Ducati of Toni Elias was forced to serve a jump start penalty, but still finished ahead of factory Ducati rider Marco Melandri to claim the final world championship point. Suzuki wild-card Nobuatsu Aoki was 17th and a distant last.
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Post by sparky on Oct 19, 2008 12:18:00 GMT
:mut: Rossi ...missed the race again catch up in the week though ..well done to all in that heat :explode:
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Post by brakeline on Oct 19, 2008 12:46:48 GMT
:mut: Rossi ...missed the race again catch up in the week though ..well done to all in that heat :explode: Never missed much, and a used tae look forward tae the racin. Who won the 250 race, anybody know
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Post by Young Burchy on Oct 19, 2008 16:38:06 GMT
Alvaro Bautista, I woke up an missed both the 125's and 250's , don't really give a stuff about the 800's tbh. Marco Simoncelli is the 250cc World Champ on the Gilera should get a haircut though .........oh and Snoppys seems to be late today
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Post by brakeline on Oct 19, 2008 23:00:20 GMT
Cheers YB, a slept in a missed it as well. Glad Simocelli won the championship tho. Pissed aff that a missed it tho. Better racin than the 800's.
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Post by kevrex on Oct 19, 2008 23:20:24 GMT
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Post by brakeline on Oct 20, 2008 9:56:46 GMT
How about bradley smith in the 125 race was 13th on the grid and within 1 lap was 5th and he finished 2nd well done bradley Damm, missed that race to, nice one Bradley
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Post by Burchy on Oct 20, 2008 16:04:03 GMT
Pleased I didn't get up early to watch that lot :sleep: bad enough keeping awake watching the replay
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Post by brakeline on Oct 20, 2008 22:38:29 GMT
Pleased I didn't get up early to watch that lot :sleep: bad enough keeping awake watching the replay wise decision, mibee next year will be better, then again mibee naw.
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Post by bikesnoopy on Oct 21, 2008 15:55:48 GMT
I thought the 125 race was a tad dull this time,the 250 was a good un & the 800s brilliant as always. Another masterful performance by the Doctor & young Casey showing once again that he can only ride fast when he has a clear track in front of him. As for Pedrosa,i think he's been hyped & hyped & prehaps isn't quite as good as everyone reckoned he was-time to pull his socks up. . . I thought Hayden rode well though-most entertaining. . . Prehaps you guys that dont like the bike racing should just stick to snooker on BBC2. . .
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Post by Burchy on Oct 21, 2008 18:41:20 GMT
Don't see how you can call that racing. It was just a high speed procession for 99% of the time
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Post by bikesnoopy on Oct 21, 2008 19:57:15 GMT
Yeah,towards the end maybe. . . so,about 10% of the time then . . . What else can you do though. . . ban Valentino to give the others a chance??? Is that the way forward? So,theres one good rider and a bunch of also-rans in MotoGP these days,but its still the only sport i love on TV,so i'll put up with that. . . ;D
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Post by brakeline on Oct 22, 2008 10:12:28 GMT
an here's me thinkin awe youse English loved cricket oan the telly :sleep:
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Post by Young Burchy on Oct 22, 2008 23:18:36 GMT
Cricket - I love it! Shame its not on terrestial now, bl***y SKY. I was gutted when C4 lost the summer test matches a few years back, C5 do quite a good highlights show, but its only 45 mins for a whole days sport. Brad came 2nd, awesome (sorry brakey), glad its Spain next though and back to proper times this weekend, none of this 3am rubbish! Plus Suzi's back
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