These PR missives just in:

STONER SPLASHES TO VICTORY AT SODDEN SEPANG, HAYDEN A FANTASTIC FIFTH

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner took his second victory in succession today with a display of absolute dominance in torrential conditions at Sepang, where his team-mate Nicky Hayden picked up a fantastic fifth place. A heavy tropical downpour just moments before the riders were due to take to the track for the penultimate round of the season saw the race delayed by 36 minutes, but once the lights went out Stoner proved once again that he is a master of any condition. After taking the lead on the first lap the Australian opened up an advantage of almost four seconds by the end of the second circulation - increasing it lap by lap to over 17 seconds at one point as he stormed to his fourth victory of the season, becoming the first rider ever to win at Sepang from the second row of the grid.
Nicky Hayden also produced an excellent demonstration of wet weather riding as he guided his Desmosedici GP9 to fifth place from seventh on the grid. The American was involved in a series of breathtaking battles throughout the 22-lap affair, passing Loris Capirossi and Toni Elias with his trademark style and determination and fighting to hold off title contenders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Third place for the Italian eventually sealed the championship with one round remaining at Valencia in two weeks' time, when Stoner and Hayden will look to be amongst the frontrunners once again.

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team)  (1st)

"I didn't get a brilliant start but I was happy to be in fourth as we came out of turn two and by the end of the first lap I was clear by a second. I have to be honest, I didn't expect to be so far ahead so early in the race but when I looked up and saw 3 seconds on my pit board I decided to step the pace up even more and try an escape. I kept pulling out a second a lap and then eventually decided to back it off and not take any risks. This is another fantastic day for us and I want to thank everybody in the team for their effort. We've struggled with the bike in the wet this season but everybody has worked so well and the difference today was clear to see. We're really strong now and I can only see us getting stronger from here, which is great news for next season. I want to congratulate Valentino because to win nine World Championships is an incredible achievement. I'm sure that if we continue to work like this ourselves we can put up a much stronger challenge next time."

NICKY HAYDEN - (Ducati Marlboro Team)  (5th)

"We'll take a top five, that'll work for us. I was quite excited when it started to rain because I've been on the pace with this bike in the wet this year and I felt I could do something special. Unfortunately I struggled a lot on the brakes in the beginning and a lot of guys came past. From there I had a lot of fun passing and fighting with people, trying to close down the gap to the lead group, but I was just missing a little bit to really go with Rossi and Lorenzo and try to fight for the podium. When Vermeulen came I knew he was a rain specialist so I pushed hard to make sure he didn't see a crack in the door and think he could push it open. I've been fourth here five times so I'm only one spot off my mark! After Phillip Island it seems every time we try to get something going we have huge bad luck but I'm thankful I have a team who keep working and never give up - we're trying to build something here together and we're making progress. Even this weekend we were consistently up near the top. I have to say congratulations to Casey and Valentino. It wasn't a terrible day for us either but now we go to Valencia and try to build on it again."

Livio Suppo - MotoGP Project Director

"That was a really wonderful and unique day, for the way the conditions changed so quickly and the way our team reacted to it, and for the positive result for both of our riders. Casey produced something extraordinary, dominating from the first to the final lap, whilst Nicky battled hard from the start and brought home an important fifth place that shows how well we have worked both at the track and back at the factory throughout the year. It is a season that saw Casey make a great start before going through some difficulties and then coming back in style, whilst Nicky had a tough start himself but he has made constant progress and he is finishing it in a positive way that we hope carries through to next year."

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HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Results Sepang
Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang
Race day, Sunday October 25 2009

Crowd: 59,206
Weather: Hot and humid
Ambient temperature: 27 degrees
Track temperature: 22 degrees

FOURTH PODIUM IN A ROW FOR PEDROSA

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) scored his first ever
podium in a wet MotoGP race with a second place
finish before nearly 60,000 fans in the rain-lashed Malaysian Grand Prix.

Tropical, torrential rains hit the Sepang Circuit
half an hour before the scheduled start of the
penultimate weekend of the MotoGP World
Championship, which, up to that point, had been
held in mostly sunny, humid conditions. Race
direction moved the start to 3:35 p.m., though
the riders had only their traditional sighting
and warm-up laps to acclimatise themselves to the wet surface.

From third on the front row, Pedrosa got his
usual lightning start before being passed on the
first lap by Casey Stoner (Ducati). Stoner then
sped away to the victory, his second in a row.

Pedrosa slotted into second with teammate Andrea
Dovizioso third, the duo leaving the rest of the
field in the mist. They circulated as a pair
until the 15th lap when Dovizioso lost the rear
end and crashed from third place. Fortunately,
the Italian was unhurt, but he wasn't able to continue.

Then Pedrosa began to come under pressure from
Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), but the Spaniard upped
his pace and held Rossi off to not only finish
second, but score his fourth podium in a row and tenth of the season.

Rossi finished third and clinched the MotoGP World Championship.

Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) made it
three Hondas in a row for the first six laps, and
though he would fall back to finish seventh, the
Spaniard was pleased with how the day finished.
Now he heads to Valencia in the middle of the a
six-rider battle for seventh in the championship,
but with the added advantage of home field advantage.

Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) never
felt comfortable in the rain. There were rear
traction issues that caused him to concentrate on
finishing the race, rather than moving up the
order. Going into the final race of the season,
De Angelis is tied with his teammate in their battle to take seventh overall.

With very little wet weather MotoGP experience to
draw on, Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) found it
difficult adapting to the conditions. Still, he
scored two points with a 14th place finish.

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) crashed on the second
lap while holding fifth position. De Puniet had
gotten off to a lightning start and was well
placed before the unfortunate high-side ended his race prematurely.

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ROSSI TAKES NINTH CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE WITH BRILLIANT PODIUM AFTER DRAMATIC MALAYSIAN GP

The indomitable and irrepressible Valentino Rossi took his ninth World Championship crown in Malaysia today, riding to third place in a dramatic rain-hit race at Sepang. It was the Italian's seventh title in the premier class, his fourth for Yamaha - more than he has won with any other manufacturer - and his 163rd career podium. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was forced to start from the back of the grid after a sighting lap problem but he recovered brilliantly and rode a superb race to chase Rossi home in fourth place.

After three dry practice sessions the heavens opened thirty minutes before the race started and a torrential downpour ensued. The race was delayed forty-five minutes, by which time the rain had abated to a steady drizzle, but with no wet track time during practice the race had become something of a lottery. Rossi seemed to get away well but at turn one he ran wide and exited in eighth position. He then surrendered two more places, including one to his charging team-mate, and finished the first lap in tenth. For the next few laps he tailed Lorenzo as the Spaniard charged his way through the field, the pair putting on a scintillating display of overtaking in the wet until they arrived in fourth and fifth on the seventh lap. Rossi now set his sights on a podium and passed Lorenzo, surviving a huge slide in the process, before quickly pulling a gap of a second on his team-mate. He slowly began to close the gap to Andrea Dovizioso in third and looked like he would soon be within striking distance when his fellow Italian slid out, leaving Rossi in the final podium spot. He didn't give up there however and started to reel in Dani Pedrosa, who was second, but with the track by then almost dry and the championship in the bag he decided in the final few laps to take the safe option and came home behind the Spaniard, with Casey Stoner the clear winner out in front.

Lorenzo's troubles began when a problem with his race bike meant he had to switch to his spare at the last minute, meaning he left the pit lane a little late. He planned to do two sighting laps, as Rossi had, to get a better feel for the wet track but by the time he came through for the second one the pit lane had closed, meaning he then had to start from the back of the grid. The 22-year-old surged through the field at the start however and rode one of the races of his life to pass twelve riders and come home fourth behind Rossi. Lorenzo will clinch second place in the championship by taking just one point at the final round in Valencia, in two week's time.

Valentino Rossi

Position: 3rd Time: +19.385

"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!"

Jorge Lorenzo

Position: 4th Time: +25.850

"I want to start by giving my congratulations to Valentino and all his team. He is the champion. As for the race, today was a difficult day. We improved in the warm-up and I was hoping to have a good race, but when it started to rain we had problems to turn on the bike. We had planned to ride two laps, but I didn't have enough time and the pit-lane was closed. Then had to begin from last position, but I did one of my best ever starts! The first corner was incredible, but as time went on I began to have some grip problems, like during the whole weekend. However it was a great race for me in difficult circumstances and we finished fourth, not so bad. It's been a great season and I could never have expected to be fighting with Valentino like this so early in my career. Now I just need one point in Valencia and I will have my goal of being the vice-champion."

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Edwards and Toseland collect points in Sepang

Colin Edwards remains firmly in the hunt for a top five world championship finish in 2009 after a tough Malaysian MotoGP race this afternoon.

Optimistic of a top six challenge in the dry, two days of hard work and preparation in hot and humid conditions counted for nothing after a torrential downpour saturated the 5.548km circuit just 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the 21-lap race.

The deluge forced Race Direction to delay the start for 40 minutes but once underway, Edwards was mounting a determined challenge for a top ten in front of 59,206 fans when he encountered small front-end issues with the wet setting on his Monster Yamaha YZR-M1.

He climbed as high as 12th place on lap 13 but was unable to maintain his pace in much cooler conditions than normal for the Malaysian GP, the intervention of the rain dropping temperatures to 27 degrees.

Edwards ended the penultimate race of the campaign in 13th position, the American closing the gap on Andrea Dovizioso in fifth in the overall standings to just four points heading to the season's final race in Valencia on November 8.

British rider James Toseland ended a difficult weekend with 15th position to extend his impressive points-scoring run to seven successive races. The 28-year-old also ran into front-end grip problems but fought hard in tricky conditions to claim a single point, Toseland confident he can finish the season in style at Valencia next month.

Colin Edwards 13th - 148 po ints

"The weekend wasn't great to be honest. The bike wasn't fast in the dry for some reason and I just couldn't get going all weekend. We tried a different setting this morning and it felt better, but it certainly wasn't a miracle spark. But with the rain coming like it did it just made it a guessing game. I did two warm-up laps behind Valentino (Rossi) p to check the conditions and from that moment the front feeling wasn't great. Even then I was worried I wouldn't be able to get any weight on the front and that's exactly what happened. I could carry the lean angle I wanted but the front wouldn't load at all, so I couldn't get the bike turned. When it was properly wet I felt like I was upping my pace and closing in on the group for tenth, but then the tyres started heating up and I was sideways all of the time. In the final laps I was losing a lot of time. I'm going to Valencia still fighting for fifth in the championship wi th (Andrea) Dovizioso) crashing, but I don't like taking profit from the mistakes of other people. I just want to say congratulations to Yamaha and Valentino. He's done another amazing job and nine world titles is just a phenomenal achievement."

James Toseland 14th - 88-points

"I wasn't too sorry when I saw the rain to be honest because it had been a tough weekend in the dry. We went with the base wet setting but I had the same problem in the rain that I did in the dry. I just didn't have any grip on the rear and in the wet the problem was on corner entry to the apex. So my corner speed was just way too slow to make a decent lap time. I am not out there just riding around at the back. I was doing my absolute best and trying my hardest but it was impossible for me to go any faster with the feeling I had. It has been a tough weekend but I'll look to bounce back and finish stron gly in Valencia for my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3."

Herve Poncharal - Team Manager

"It has been a very disappointing weekend and easily the worst for us this season. We were struggling in the dry so I can't say I was unhappy to see the rain because I thought this would give us a chance of improving our results. Unfortunately our performance was even worse in the rain and we can't be happy. Now we have to understand why we struggled so much this weekend. The only good thing is that we go to Valencia with Colin still fighting for fifth in the championship and the whole team is motivated to finish the season on a positive note. Finally I'd like to pass on my congratulations to Valentino and Yamaha. They have done another incredible job this season. Valentino has proven once again what a formidable rider he is, and Yamaha has undoubtedly the most dominant bike in MotoGP

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Vermeulen splashes to sixth at a soaking Sepang

Rizla Suzuki racer Chris Vermeulen again showed his skills in wet conditions as he powered his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R through the field to take sixth place at a rain-soaked Sepang today.

Starting from 14th on the grid, Vermeulen got a clean start as he began the task of picking his way past the riders in front of him. He produced personal best laps consistently throughout the early part of the race, as he moved into the top 10 on lap eight. On lap 15 of 21, Vermeulen had made his way up to sixth and although he tried to chase down Nicky Hayden for fifth place, the now drying track worked against him and he just couldn't close the gap.

Loris Capirossi was left very disappointed with today's result after such a promising qualification yesterday. He started from the second row of the grid and after the first two corners was up into second place, but Capirossi just couldn't find the level of grip to maintain that advantage and was relegated down the field. He managed to find a rhythm and consistency in the second-half of the race and moved back into contention for a top-10 finish. Capirossi finally crossed the line in ninth position and was left to rue at what might have been if the weather had not intervened.

Today's start was delayed by 40 minutes after torrential rain fell over the 5,548m Malaysian circuit. When the race finally got underway Ducati's Casey Stoner took control and led from start to finish to win his second successive Grand Prix. Valentino Rossi finished third and secured enough points to take his second successive - and ninth in total - World Championship.

Rizla Suzuki now heads back to Europe for the final round of the MotoGP season, the last race will be held at Valencia in Spain on Sunday 8th November where Capirossi and Vermeulen will be battling it out with four other riders to secure a respectable seventh place overall in this season's championship.

Chris Vermeulen:

"I got a good start, but in turn one there was a lot going on and I got pushed around a little bit, but I came out of it ok and was able to get my head down straight away. For the first four or five lap laps I really struggled to get a feeling in the tyres, especially on the left-hand-side, but once I got that working and in to a rhythm I felt quite good. The bike worked well up until the last few laps - when the track started to dry out - and then it was very difficult through the corners, but I'm sure it wasn't easy for anyone out there. I think we had the speed for a top five today and my guys did a great job with the motorbike to be able to give me something competitive today when we hadn't done any wet testing here at all."

Loris Capirossi:

"I don't really have a lot of things to say about today - I am just so disappointed! The team did such a good job this weekend and we thought we would have a good race this afternoon, especially after this morning's warm-up was good as well, but then for the race it rained really hard. The set-up of the bike for the wet was pretty good but I struggled a lot for the first 10-laps because I couldn't get any feeling from the left of the tyres. I dropped down to 13th and I then managed to overtake three or four riders and finish ninth. The result was not really good for this track and we weren't lucky with the conditions, but sometimes things happen like that!"

Paul Denning - Team Manager:

"The drastic change in conditions for this afternoon was a disappointment, especially for Loris considering the outright speed he had shown this weekend. Even so, Chris rode a really strong race and had the speed to challenge for fifth if we'd have qualified a bit better or had a better feeling earlier in the race. Loris is devastated by the result today, but he kept fighting right to the end. The season has not been what we'd hoped, but there is a very tight fight for seventh in the championship that both of our guys are in with a chance of and we'll be doing our best to get one of them there in two weeks' time in Valencia."

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CONTRASTING FORTUNES FOR ELIAS AND DE ANGELIS AT SOAKING SEPANG

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Toni Elias produced a display of control and concentration today as he took a valuable seventh place in the Malaysian Grand Prix, whilst a disappointing twelfth for his team-mate Alex de Angelis means the pair are now level on points in the championship with one round remaining.
Whilst De Angelis hopes' were raised by the apparition of a monsoon rainstorm just moments before the riders were due to take to the track for their sighting lap, causing the start to be delayed by 36 minutes, the reverse was true for Elias, who is not usually comfortable riding in the wet. However, their fortunes in the race were also juxtaposed as the San Marino rider - normally a wet weather specialist - struggled to keep the pace with the front group as the Spaniard took up the chase, lapping fourth over the opening six laps before losing ground to a handful of riders, including today's championship winner Valentino Rossi.
The pair are now ninth and tenth respectively in the rider standings with Chris Vermeulen eleventh, all three locked on 105 points, whilst Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi are just three points ahead of them in seventh and eighth - setting up what promises to be an exciting season finale at Valencia on 8th November.

Toni Elias (7th): "I saw the rain just before we were due to go out for the sighting lap and I thought ?madre mía, this isn't good for us!' As it turned out it was completely the opposite and with seventh place and some bad results for my rivals we have actually made up more ground in the championship than we might have hoped to if it was dry. I'm really pleased with the result but also with the performance because riding in the wet is not usually our strong point. I don't know if it was because the track temperature was higher here but I didn't struggle as much as I expected for grip. Unfortunately it wasn't quite enough to run with the top guys again but in general we have to be satisfied with this Grand Prix."

Alex De Angelis (12th): "I was so confident that I could have a strong race in the rain today but for whatever reason I never felt comfortable with the wet setting here and I couldn't get going. The rear was spinning up everywhere and it was all I could to hang on and bring it home in the points. It's a real shame because this could have been a good opportunity for us to make up more ground in the championship. It's a missed chance but at the same time my rivals didn't capitalise on it and we are still within three points of seventh place, which is my objective when we head for the final race at Valencia."

Fausto Gresini - Team Manager: "Toni made a great start and was able to run with the front guys over the opening laps. In the end seventh place is pretty satisfying, especially considering the conditions that the race took place in. we were hoping for a bit more from Alex, who unfortunately struggled to cope with the conditions and couldn't finish any higher than twelfth. Anyway, both of them are still very much in the hunt for seventh in the championship, which we will fight for at Valencia."

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