Lorenzo Wins First MotoGP Championship as Rossi Takes Malaysia Victory

Amidst sweltering temperatures and high humidity Valentino Rossi triumphed at Sepang, Malaysia, proving too strong for his rivals as he recovered from eleventh position during the opening lap to take his second win of the season. Fiat Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo’s third position was enough to finish the Drivers Championship early. “This is the maximum I can get and is a dream come true,” gushed the understandably delighted first-time champion. “It’s difficult to have words at this moment but today is the happiest day of my life! I started very well today but it was difficult to be very concentrated and when Dovi and Vale passed me and when the tyres started sliding more I thought today we have to finish and just get the best we could, but I am so happy and want to thank many many people. I have had a good bike, a good team and people who wanted the best for me.”

Andrea Dovizioso was always applying pressure for the lead, passing Rossi on a number of occasions, but ultimately the Italian had to settle for a well-deserved second place and his second successive podium. Tyre choices at Sepang were the most mixed of the season with riders using every available combination of fronts and rears. Rossi and Lorenzo used the softer front and the harder rear slicks and Dovizioso favoured the harder option both front and rear.

Hiroshi Yamada, manager of tyre supplier Bridgestone’s Motorsport Department, said: “What a fantastic race in what were incredibly tough conditions for the riders and for our tyres. Valentino rode extremely well to take the victory, as did Andrea to push him throughout, but of course I must congratulate Jorge for winning his first MotoGP premier class crown, and the Fiat Yamaha Team for again lifting the title. It is a special day because Jorge sealed this title at our 150th race. With seven wins and 13 podiums Jorge has been very strong and consistent all year and so is very deserving of this.”

Masao Azuma, chief field engineer said: “Race conditions today were tough as the temperature was high, but we can see from the riders’ race tyre choice that all our slick tyre specs performed well here. We saw that Valentino and Jorge could make the softer front tyre work well over race distance, whilst the performance of the harder choice that Andrea used was very similar. Alvaro [Bautista] was the highest placed rider to use the softer rear, finishing fifth overall with reasonable consistency until the end so I am happy with all our specs.”

Tohru Ubukata, manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department gave an overview of the conditions at Sepang and how the manufacturer dealt with them: “On Friday the circuit was very slippery as it normally is for the first session when we first arrive there, whether on the race weekend or during the pre-season tests. On Friday a lot of riders experienced some spinning, but this was because of the greasy surface. By Saturday the track conditions had improved and it was much easier for our tyres to work efficiently, and immediately the laptimes dropped by over one second. Finally, in the race Valentino was just 0.009seconds from the lap record, set on our tyres back in 2007 so I am quite happy with this.

“Firstly, it is important to note that the softer option front tyre we selected for Sepang is still our hard compound rubber, so it is not a soft option. We chose our softer options carefully based on the demands of the circuit, the speed and of course the heat and the tyre temperature generated. Our objective this year has always been to select two compound options front and rear that are both suitable for the race, giving riders a choice for Sunday. I am pleased that at Sepang tyre choices both front and rear were the most mixed of the season, which means that we have done a good job in developing and selecting the slick tyre options for this race.

“Four of the top five riders used the softer front in the race, and Álvaro in fifth also used the softer rear to good effect and with reasonable consistency so I am happy about this. From sixth to tenth, all riders used the harder front slick, and in actual fact the top six riders used four different tyre combinations which is a clear sign of how different bike and rider packages prefer different tyre compound options in the same conditions.”