ROSSI TAKES SECOND SUCCESSIVE MOTOGP TITLE FOR YAMAHA
Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi clinched the
MotoGP World Championship for the fifth successive season
after taking second place in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang
today. Rossi became only the third rider in history to win
the premier-class title on five occasions, emulating the achievements
of Mick Doohan and Giacomo Agostini and adding to his championships
in the 125cc and 250cc classes. Now a seven-time World Champion,
Rossi marked the achievement by wearing a t-shirt bearing
the famous number 7 worn by the legendary Barry Sheene and
launched into a riotous celebration with his fan club, dressed
as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to commemorate the occasion.
The Italian secured the championship with four races to spare
thanks largely to the swift action of his mechanics, who resolved
a series of tyre and set-up problems during this morning’s
warm-up session and allowed him to charge from seventh on
the grid to a sensational second place behind eventual winner
Loris Capirossi (Ducati). Rossi’s Gauloises Yamaha team-mate
Colin Edwards finished in tenth place after struggling with
front set-up problems all weekend.
VALENTINO ROSSI (2nd - + 1.999)
“I am very happy because I gave more than 100% in the
race today. We have been in trouble all weekend and this morning
I wasn’t sure if I would finish on the podium. But I
got a good start and rode a clever race whilst other riders
seemed nervous and made mistakes. Little by little I moved
to the front and I felt comfortable with the bike. I passed
Hayden and then swapped positions with Capirossi a couple
of times. In the last seven laps he changed gear and I couldn’t
go with him. Anyway, I am World Champion for the seventh time,
which is incredible! Last year was a bit of a surprise but
this time everybody was out to beat me. I want to thank all
my mechanics, Jerry, the engineers… everybody who works
for Yamaha!”
COLIN EDWARDS (10th – +22.275)
“We made the same mistake as we did in the first round
at Jerez, but in reverse. This morning we went to a different
construction front tyre and we fixed the problem we had but
then the balance of the bike wasn’t right and we didn’t
have time to sort it out. The rear was sitting way too low
and started to go quite early in the race. From then on it
was a case of survival. At least we know where we went wrong
and I’m really looking forward to Qatar because I had
a great race there. I want to say congratulations to Valentino
because he’s done an awesome job this year.”
JEREMY BURGESS – ROSSI’S CREW CHIEF
“Obviously the situation in Motegi meant that the celebrations
were put off for a week but now we can celebrate. It has been
a difficult weekend for all the teams, including ourselves,
but we made a few changes in the warm-up and managed to give
Valentino a bike that we knew could run for the podium. The
season started with exactly the bike that we wanted and Yamaha
has done everything we asked for. To win nine out of thirteen
races is an excellent achievement by everybody and we have
a great package. Good rider, good bike, good team… what
more could you ask for?”
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