MotoGP – The Malaysian Grand Prix MotoGP turn based –

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The Malaysian MotoGP Grand Prix turn based

MotoGP - The Malaysian Grand Prix MotoGP turn based -

While Bridgestone is confirmed as the sole manufacturer for the next three years, the three strong men of the championship continue to fight with two races remaining. Behind Rossi, Stoner and Pedrosa, the 2009 field is set up… Round by round.

Penultimate race of the season, the Malaysian Grand Prix is ​​generally one of the most contested and trying for drivers. The many winter tests that take place there in winter allow the aces of the premier category to approach this last overseas performance with a maximum of data and hindsight … and therefore to attack the tests and the ball leading race !

Zoom on…

Kawa’s refusal to enter a third motorcycle with Jorge Martinez. "We came to a situation where Kawasaki wants a Japanese rider, Shinya Nakano", deplores the emblematic team manager of Talmacsi in 125 and Bautista in 250."Although I consider Nakano to be an exceptional driver, because of our Spanish sponsors we need a driver from our country … This is the main obstacle. It’s a shame, because we were really excited and wanted to carry out this MotoGP project for 2009. We’ve been trying to integrate MotoGP for two years and in the end it’s still not possible.". A shame in view of the starving grid of the premier category…

However, the weather is playing the spoilsport from the first practice sessions, preventing the teams from bringing out the data which has been repeatedly checked and validated … Behind the scenes, the 2009 season is already on everyone’s lips: negotiations and bidding continue to ignite the edges of the track … and the imagination of the press, particularly Italian and Spanish !

The site can however confirm to its readers the absence of a third Kawasaki next year, to the chagrin of the ex-champion Jorge Aspar Martinez (see box opposite), but also the arrival at Ducati Pramac of the pilot 250cc Mika Kallio and 2007 Superstock 1000 champion Niccolo Canepa. Both riders will have at their disposal a Ducati GP9 "Sat" with the brand new carbon chassis, which Canepa has developed in private tests for the brand..

Indifferent to this giant format chess game, Valentino Rossi approaches the first practice sessions with a knife between his teeth. And if the Italian is finally dispossessed of the pole on Friday afternoon by the returning Colin Edwards, the warning to Stoner and Pedrosa is clear: certainly, with eight victories currently, the No. 46 will no longer be able to match his record. eleven wins in one season (2002 and 2005), but there is still room to break his record of 367 points scored (2005), a performance currently shared with Casey Stoner (2007)…

Dominating despite rapidly changing track conditions during qualifying, the Yamaha official will finally have to start behind the Applique Pedrosa, author of an incredible pole – his first in Bridgestone – in the very last minutes of the session! The two drivers precede the very fit Jorge Lorenzo – author of five consecutive first rows! -, ex-HRC pilot Nicky Hayden, American Colin Edwards, future HRC pilot Andrea Dovizioso, ex-world champion Casey Stoner, the indestructible Loris Capirossi and the one that French fans would like to see achieve race, Randy de Puniet.

The race !

Departure : With overwhelming heat and overwhelming humidity, "Asimo" Pedrosa sprang from the grid like a devil from his box and appeared in the lead from the first straight of the Malaysian track! Valentino Rossi manages to contain the Ducati of a very responsive Casey Stoner, but the Italian widens at the entrance and Andrea Dovizioso immediately takes advantage of it to infiltrate !

The n ° 46 tries to respond to the next change of angle – aware that Dani Pedrosa will quickly seek to widen the gap – but Dovizioso fights and resists the eight-time world champion superbly! The two transalpines are ahead of Hayden, Stoner, Nakano – author of a great start -, Capirossi, Lorenzo and Edwards. Randy de Puniet points far in the standings, following a rather missed start.

The three leading men are held in a pocket handkerchief, while Lorenzo gets rid of Loris Capirossi and Shinya Nakano seems to stumble on Stoner’s Ducati. Rossi tries an attack on Dovizioso at the end of the first straight line: the Italian comes back hard to the rope, the leg out, but he cannot keep his trajectory and the n ° 4 easily passes him back out of the curve !

2nd round : Dani Pedrosa passes the timing cell at the head of the race, while Valentino Rossi takes advantage of the higher power of his M1 to tax Dovizioso’s RCV 212 "Sat" on the line! Nicky Hayden is solid fourth, ahead of a Casey Stoner battling an unleashed Nakano: the Japanese managed to pass the Australian at the start of the curve, but the Ducati rider regains his good thanks to the extension of his GP9 in the line right…

Jorge Lorenzo is seventh ahead of Loris Capirossi, Colin Edwards, Chris Vermeulen, John Hopkins, James Toseland, Randy de Puniet, Anthony West, Tony Elias, Marco Melandri, Nobuastu Aoki and Alex de Angelis.

3rd round : Dani Pedrosa sees the "Rossi threat" swooping down on him: six tenths behind the Spanish jockey, the n ° 46 has already fallen to three tenths in one lap! Andrea Dovizioso sells his third place dearly to a Nicky Hayden struggling with an irregular Stoner. Shinya Nakano is in ambush just behind the Ducati at No.1, but the Japanese cannot pass the Australian under braking and the acceleration of the GP8 leaves no chance for the Gresini rider !

After his disastrous qualifying session, Nakano’s replacement in the Gresini team, Toni Elias, was hit by a pit lane for stealing the start … Far ahead, Valentino Rossi easily came back in contact with Pedrosa and the Italian is already showing his wheel to the Spanish! Amazement in the Tech 3 team: following his failed start, James Toseland rushed to come back up and here is the Englishman on the mat, forced to retire…

4th and 5th rounds : Dani Pedrosa still contains Valentino Rossi, while he spins faster on a lap: would the Italian catch his breath after his nice comeback? For his part, Colin Edwards achieved a very good interior on Loris Capirossi in the first pif paf of the circuit. Randy de Puniet is glued to John Hopkins ZX-RR, while Sylvain Guintoli sails into the depths of the rankings…

The HRC panelists indicate to Pedrosa the proximity of Rossi, who does not seem decided to want to pass the Spanish: well wedged in the exhausts of the official RCV212, the Doctor seems to take the time to give his patient a good look! Andrea Dovisiozo sees Nicky Hayden return who plays yoyo with the threatening 2007 world champion Casey Stoner…

Randy de Puniet finally gets rid of John Hopkins: here is the French 11th, behind the Australian Chris Vermeulen! Dovizioso is now 2.3 seconds behind Pedrosa and Rossi: the JIR Scot team rider is now reattached by Hayden, Stoner and Nakano.

6th round : Valentino Rossi is really playing cat and mouse with Dani Pedrosa, seeming to wait for a turning point in the race to decide to overtake: would the No.46 be wary of tire wear, theoretically equal between the young Honda rider and him ? Further behind, Stoner continues to alternate between fast laps and others much less, somewhat embarrassing Nakano who enters corners much faster. The two men gauge each other under the interested eyes of Jorge Lorenzo, at a distance from Colin Edwards and Loris Capirossi.

7th and 8th laps : The leading order does not change, despite the first attacks – everything slips! – Hayden on Dovizioso and Nakano on Stoner! Jorge Lorenzo seems to be driving carefully and is in seventh position without giving the impression of being able to quickly recover … The Mallorcan precedes Edwards, Capirossi, Vermeulen, De Puniet, Hopkins, West, De Angelis, Guintoli – which gradually goes back to the right wrist strength! – and Marco Melandri.

Nicky Hayden tries to pass Dovizioso braking each straight line, but the American puts too much strain on his bike and is unable to keep a good trajectory to attack the Italian. Never mind: the long slips under braking of the "Kentucky Kid" make the happiness of a Malay public come en masse !

Highly motivated, Randy de Puniet had a very good exterior on Chris Vermeulen and managed to position himself correctly to keep his position after the following left: superb maneuver by the French driver !

9th and 10th laps : Dani Pedrosa still leads this penultimate performance of the Continental Circus for the 2008 season, but it seems obvious that his pursuer – Valentino Rossi – is able to pass it. However, overtaking the official HRC is one thing, but containing him until the end of the race is a whole other concern….

The two riders precede Andrea Dovizioso on his satellite bike, Nicky Hayden, Casey Stoner, Shinya Nakano, Jorge Lorenzo, Colin Edwards, Loris Capirossi and Randy de Puniet. Under the vivas of the Malaysian public, Valentino Rossi launched an attack on his Spanish rival: the M1 appeared under braking before a pif paf, climbed inside the RCV 212 and managed to take the rope early enough to prevent any response from his rival! Splendid !

Dani Pedrosa seeks to immediately stick in the exhaust of Rossi’s Yamaha, but the Doctor immediately widens the gap.

11th and 12th rounds : While he was on the first row at the start, Jorge Lorenzo will leave Malaysia with zero points on the clock: the Mallorcan pilot loses the front of his M1 in a straight line at medium speed and if he manages to get up, a concern about his throttle grip finally forced him to give up…

His illustrious teammate widens the gap on Dani Pedrosa: in a few loops, the n ° 46 has already taken 1.130 seconds of margin on the Honda of his rival. On a different pace than their opponents, the two riders are more than six seconds ahead of Dovizioso who does not deserve and contains the factory bikes of Hayden, Stoner and Nakano !

13th and 14th laps : Valentino Rossi leads the race head and shoulders ahead of Pedrosa, Dovizioso, Hayden, Stoner, Nakano, Edwards, Capirossi, De Puniet and Vermeulen. Sylvain Guintoli is 14th.

Nicky Hayden is more pressing on Dovizioso, but his attacks start from too far and the American regularly finds himself out of line … Badly placed too, Colin Edwards pays a timid entry into the turn by losing his position to profit of Capirossi! Leading the way, Valentino Rossi continues to knock Pedrosa out by turning 0.8 seconds faster than his pursuer !

15th round : Six laps from the finish, the track marshals wave the white flags, indicating to the riders that they can return to the pits and change motorcycles and therefore, de facto, that the rain has appeared somewhere on the track. .. Rossi is therefore on the front line to discover a soggy turn or a change in trapping grip….

The sky was indeed very threatening, but once the lap was completed, the pilots noticed that only turn 8 was marked by a few drops of rain..

16th and 17th rounds : Valentino Rossi keeps his comfortable lead over Dani Pedrosa and the Doctor must certainly pray that the weather will hold! Behind, Dovizioso appears further and further away from the two leading men, but he still contains Hayden, then Nakano who has just passed Stoner. !

The world champion appears in slight difficulty: the Ducati n ° 1 has already lost several lengths and is under the threat of the former official driver of the brand: Loris Capirossi! Stoner’s future teammate Nicky Hayden passes Dovizioso under braking from the pit straight, but the American widens and the Honda passes again! Annoyed, the HRC official was the most keen on the change of angle and closed the door abruptly. Dovizioso does not let himself be told and immediately attacked from the inside in a right !

18th and 19th laps : Three laps from the finish, the weather seems to have stabilized and Valentino Rossi is more than four seconds ahead of Dani Pedrosa. Andrea Dovizioso seems to have definitely gained the upper hand over a Hayden who has not been unworthy, while Capirossi is suddenly more than a second behind Stoner.

A little further, Randy de Puniet seems to have tire problems and is quickly picked up by Chris Vermeulen. The n ° 7 even easily passes the French from the inside … Randy does not give up and tries to go back to the next right, but his rear wheel bites the vibrator and his RCV gives him a nice glide. !

Fortunately this time he manages to keep control of his machine, but he is now too far to try anything again and the obstinate John Hopkins is just behind … While Randy hangs on, Sylvain Guintoli passes De Angelis and point in 13th position.

Last round : Rossi starts the last lap with a good margin in advance, while Hayden has returned to contact with Dovizioso: will the American be able to dispossess the Italian of his first podium in MotoGP? Nakano is slightly off the hook, far ahead of Stoner who secures his place.

Valentino Rossi wheelies past the finish line in front of Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden, Shinya Nakano, Casey Stoner, Loris Capirossi, Colin Edwards, Chris Vermeulen, Randy de Puniet, John Hopkins, Anthony West, Sylvain Guintoli, Alex de Angelis, Toni Elias, Marco Melandri and Nobuastsu Aoki.

In the general classification, the new MotoGP world champion consolidates his solid lead: With 357 points, Valentino Rossi is only ten points off the record for points scored in one season, held tied with Casey Stoner (367). The Australian is now assured of a second place in the world rankings, having a 26-point lead over Pedrosa with just one race to go..

Jorge Lorenzo points to 182 points, 47 less than Pedrosa, which jeopardizes all his chances of getting on the final podium after Valencia. The Mallorcan precedes Andrea Dovizioso by 21 points, which leaves a – small – opportunity for the JIR Scot driver to tax his rival of the 250 on the wire! As for Nicky Hayden, he is only 17 points behind his replacement in the HRC ahead of Colin Edwards, Chris Vermeulen, Shinya Nakano, Loris Capirossi, James Toseland, Toni Elias, Sylvain Guintoli and Randy de Puniet.

They are explained:

Valentino Rossi (1st) : "The temperatures were unbelievably high! We did a lot of work with the M1 here over the winter and we knew the bike was made for the kind of corners there are here. With the team, we have worked well this year so we started with very good set-ups. I had a good battle with Dani at the start and then spent ten laps on my own which, although the track is nice, takes a lot of work. I’m happy to get my ninth victory of the year. I love this number and will try to change it to a ten in Valencia !"

Dani Pedrosa (2nd) : "When I was in front I felt that Valentino was comfortably seated behind me … I knew he would push harder once in front, but I couldn’t go any faster. Valentino is always faster in the race than in practice, we still have to learn and attack more … This weekend was difficult at the beginning, but we progressed and we are finally second. It’s a very good result and we are satisfied with it".

Andrea Dovizioso (3rd) : "I am very happy to get my first podium. This year has been very difficult, we had a lot of problems. We worked a lot and we can really be happy with this result. It’s important for the team because next year I will be racing for the HRC! The race was difficult because of the weather. I tried to push 100% and stay ahead. I hadn’t seen Nicky’s trajectory so I had no idea at all when he was going to try to pass me"…

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR

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