Image Credit: Yamaha Racing

In a dramatic rain-soaked race at the Malaysian Grand Prix from Sepang today, Valentino Rossi stepped up to the podium as the third place winner of the race, and his ninth World Championship crown.

That makes the fourth such title the young Italian has garnered while racing for Team Yamaha.

The rain was in the forecast, but not a drop fell during the three practice sessions leading up to the championship. Without getting a feel for the wet racetrack, that meant that any falling precipitation would make it anyone’s race. Then it happened, a torrential downpour that began about a half hour prior to the race and then delayed the championship by another three-quarters of an hour.

(Spoiler Alert: The following gives a description of the race from start-to-finish, If you are in the US and will be watching the race on the Speed Channel later this evening, you may not want to read any further. It’s a race worth watching first-hand.)

The Race

Although Rossi took off well from the start line, he went wide on turn one and fell into eighth place. Soon after he also gave up to more more places (including one to his team mate, Jorge Lorenzo), resulting in completion of lap one in tenth place.

Together, Lorenzo and Rossi demonstrated their extraordinary riding skills as they overtook one racer after another until finally arriving in fourth and fifth places during the seventh lap. Rossi took this as his break away point and charged forth, resulting in nerve racking slide that placed him about one second ahead of Lorenzo.

Rossi then set his sights on third place racer Andrea Dovizioso. Rossi’s pace was steady and strong, but catching up to Dovizioso came to an end when Dovizioso slid out, leaving Rossi to claim the third place.

Although it looked like Rossi was considering a shot at second place racer Dani Pedrosa, he decided to maintain his position and coast to a safe and guaranteed championship win.

Final positions on the podium were Casey Stoner in first place, Dani Pedrosa in second, and Valentino Rossi. Rossi’s team mate Lorenzo came in fourth after riding one of the most impressive races of his career. The 22-year old is sure to take second place in the overall Championship if he gets just one more point in the final round to be held in two week’s at Valencia.

Valentino Rossi has once again proved that he is the force to be reckoned with in MotoGP. On the podium Rossi was quoted as follows:

It’s great to be World Champion again, I am very proud to have done this nine times in my career. I want to thank everyone in my team, Furusawa-san, Davide Brivio, Lin Jarvis, Jeremy…everybody! This season has been very hard and Lorenzo especially has pushed me to new limits, but I think it’s been a great duel for everyone to watch. Today was unbelievable, when the rain came it was scary for everyone because all the work we’d done was then useless and we were riding ‘blind’ with the setting. I made a mistake at the first corner and then I was a long way back, so I think I did a great race to finish third! I was going to try to pass Dovizioso when he fell and then for a few laps I thought I would try to get Pedrosa but with wet tyres on a drying track it was a bit risky by then and so I decided to be safe. It’s a fantastic feeling to take this title with Yamaha again and I also must thank Bridgestone, who have done a great job with the tyres all year. My celebration was because in Italy we say an old chicken makes good soup but can no longer lay eggs! I am like the old chicken – 30 years now – but I have made another egg! That’s nine!

Valentino Rossi started the 2008 MotoGP World Championship as one of the best riders the sport has know then with 9 wins, 16 podiums (both breaking records) and his eighth crown, his sixth in the category with a new conquering YZR-M1, he established himself as the greatest ever MotoGP racer.

The Fiat Yamaha team and the charismatic Italian burst back to prominence after two dry seasons, and with epic performances such as his frantic duel with Casey Stoner at Laguna Seca and a masterful outing in the rain and hurricane condition at Indianapolis Rossi surged back to the very forefront of public consciousness.

Valentino Rossi was born in Urbino, Italy on February 16, 1979. A proud day indeed for not only the people in his hometown, but to Italians and fans the world over.

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by Paul McGregor