Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

1. Valentino ROSSI, Honda, 43:41.457

2. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, -2.042 seconds

3. Max BIAGGI, Honda, -7.644

4. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, -13.733

5. Carlos CHECA, Yamaha, -13.789

6. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, -20.567

7. Tohru UKAWA, Honda, -23.449

8. Shinya NAKANO, Yamaha, -26.740

9. Troy BAYLISS, Ducati, -32.149

10. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, -40.556

11. Marco MELANDRI, Yamaha, -43.863

12. Noriyuki HAGA, Aprilia, -44.613

13. Colin EDWARDS, Aprilia, -54.667

14. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, -62.687

15. Alex BARROS, Yamaha, -63.006, crashed, restarted

16. Andrew PITT, Kawasaki, -66.128

17. Jeremy McWILLIAMS, Proton, -70.916

18. Nobuatsu AOKI, Proton, -71.344

19. Garry McCOY, Kawasaki, -77.205

20. Akira RYO, Suzuki, -101.315

21. Ryuichi KIYONARI, Honda, -109.094


DNF
David DE GEA, Harris WCM, -3 laps

Chris BURNS, Harris WCM, -9 laps


DNS
Olivier JACQUE, Yamaha



MotoGP World Championship Points
(With two races remaining in 2003 MotoGP series)

1. Valentino ROSSI, 307 points

2. Sete GIBERNAU, 244

3. Max BIAGGI, 215

5. Loris CAPIROSSI, 141

6. Troy BAYLISS, 119

7. Nicky HAYDEN, 114

8. Tohru UKAWA, 112

9. Carlos CHECA, 104

10. Shinya NAKANO, 92



And now, some team press releases, posted in order of receipt, starting with a press release issued by Harris WCM:

MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX

Race Day
Sunday 12th October 2003

DAVID DE GEA: DNF
“Peter Clifford saw my bike smoking and called me in a few laps from the end of the race. I guess he thought it was too dangerous for me to continue when he saw the smoke. So now, I look forward to Australia and to a good finish there.”

CHRIS BURNS: DNF
“Yet another disappointing day for me, after such a promising two qualifying days. I high-sided this morning in warm-up but felt fine to race.

“After a few good laps at the beginning of the race, I got called into the pit for a 10-second penalty for a jump-start; I must of just creped forward a bit.

“Up to pulling into pit lane, I had a good first few laps however it all went wrong when I re-joined the race. I felt the clutch slipping on the re-start and the next 6 ­ 7 laps I was getting slower and slower. So I pulled into the garage and hope that the problem with the clutch is fixed by the Australian GP.”


PETER CLIFFORD ­ (Team Manager)
“I think Chris is saving up all his good luck so he can win in Valencia because otherwise these things that keep happening to him don¹t make any sense.

“As for David, I was watching out on the track and I could see a puff of smoke coming from the right hand side of his bike as he shut off going into the corners. It was nothing too desperate but there is every reason to be cautious with such things, so I went back to the pits and asked the guys to pull him in.”


More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang
Race Day
Sunday, October 12 2003

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM 6th & 9th IN DEBUT SEPANG GP

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss scored sixth- and ninth-places finishes in today’s Marlboro Malaysian Grand Prix. This was the squad’s first competitive outing at this demanding track, and the past three days have taught team engineers lessons that will be vital as the outfit looks towards the 2004 season.

“We got a lot out of this weekend,” said Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo. “Although we did test here last winter, that was nine months ago, so plenty has changed since then and this was our first race here anyway. We learned plenty and confirmed what we knew already, that we need to work to improve our set-up for slippery tracks like this. Both guys rode good races today, they did the best with what they had and we go to Phillip Island in positive mood.”

Today’s race – run in humid, cloudy conditions – was won by Valentino Rossi (Honda), who secured the 2003 MotoGP riders’ title in the process. Ducati still holds second place in the constructors’ World Championship.

CAPIROSSI SIXTH IN LEARNING RACE
Loris Capirossi came home in sixth place at Sepang this afternoon, reinforcing his fourth position in the MotoGP World Championship. The Ducati Marlboro Team rider made a great start from the second row to race into second place at the first turn. But the first few laps weren’t kind to the Italian who slipped back a little before upping his pace and enjoying and entertaining tussle with Nicky Hayden (Honda) and Carlos Checa (Yamaha).

“I made a great start, lost some time, then pushed hard to recover that time,” said Capirossi after what is the most gruelling race of the season. “We knew we didn’t have the set-up 100 per cent here but the race was better than Motegi. This track is very slippery in the heat, so I was sliding around a lot. We don’t lack power, just traction because we didn’t have perfect settings for this circuit. But this is our first year, a learning year, and we’re learning plenty. Finally, my congratulations to Valentino for winning the championship, he rode a great season.”

BAYLISS RUNS OUT OF TRACTION
Ducati Marlboro Team rider Troy Bayliss rode to ninth place in his Sepang debut today, running a good pace during the early stages but slipping back as he lost traction in the later laps. At half distance he had been looking good for a seventh-place finish.

“It was actually quite a good race, I was feeling okay,” said Bayliss, who had started from the third row of the grid. “But even when things were good the bike was lacking something, then the set-up we used wrecked the rear tyre. From two-thirds distance, even before, the rear was coming around as I rolled into turns and I was losing the rear on the gas. I was just sitting on the bike and not going anywhere. But we’ll learn from this, I’ll be having a long debrief with my guys this evening.”


More, from a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

Malaysian Grand Prix
Sunday, 12 October 2003
Sepang, Malaysia

ROSSI CLINCHES MOTOGP TITLE; CHECA PERSISTS TO FINISH FIFTH

Honda rider Valentino Rossi today claimed his third consecutive MotoGP World Championship title after a dominating performance at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The flamboyant Italian was in a confident position for the title, as it would only have taken a second place finish behind a win from his main championship rival Sete Gibernau (Honda) to clinch the number one plate. Yet Rossi steamed past the competition including Gibernau to cross the line 2.042 seconds ahead of the Spaniard. Rossi finished today’s race with a 63-point lead over Gibernau, with just two rounds of the championship remaining.

Having qualified second behind pole-sitter Rossi for today’s 21-lap race, Fortuna Yamaha Team rider Carlos Checa produced a solid start and entered turn one in third place. He trailed Gibernau and Ducati rider Loris Capirossi on the opening lap before fending off a challenge from the champion elect Rossi. Checa maintained his focus and made a string of fast and consistent laps but eventually relinquished second to the determined Rossi. Undeterred, the soon to be 31-year-old Checa continued to chase race leaders Gibernau and Rossi, before coming under the attack of Honda riders Max Biaggi and Nicky Hayden. Checa finished a respectable fifth and retains his eighth place in the championship standings.

“I had a reasonable start but immediately noticed I had much less grip than I have had all weekend,” said Checa. “I’m not sure why but we think it was probably because of the rain earlier today and the change in track temperature. I didn’t have enough traction with the rear, or enough front feeling. It became more and more noticeable during the race. I managed to hold out in fourth position as long as possible, but then Hayden overtook me right at the end. There was also a bit of chatter when I was braking hard, especially towards the end of the race. We don’t yet know exactly what the problem was but it’s a shame as we’ve had one of our most positive weekends of the season. Thanks anyway to my crew, who have worked so hard in these three days.”

Fellow Fortuna Yamaha Team rider Marco Melandri was not so fortunate after suffering from a lack of grip for the duration of the race. In addition to a poor qualifying result and a difficult start to the race, the 250cc World Champion concluded the 14th round of the season with a disappointing 11th place.

“Today was just a continuation of the problems I’ve been having all weekend,” said the despondent Melandri. “I never really found any grip and today I had a few engine problems. It was a constant battle for eleventh place with Haga on the Aprilia, who overtook me on the straight on almost every lap. In the end I managed to keep in front of him. Anyway I’m not happy with eleventh place, especially after a fifth place in Motegi last weekend. We have to look ahead to Phillip Island and make sure that this grip issue is resolved for there.”

Davide Brivio, team director, commented, “I think we have showed some good progress this weekend, with Carlos able to qualify and race up front. The changes in track conditions since yesterday stopped him from achieving his qualifying pace, and he suffered from a lack of traction but he held out until the end. Anyway the bike is generally more competitive now and with just two more races to go I think Carlos can aim for a podium finish. Marco couldn’t find any grip, the same problem he had in Rio, and we’re still trying to work out why. This weekend has been incredibly tough on the team so well done to everyone for their perseverance.”



More, from a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2003
ROUND 14 – MARLBORO MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX
12TH OCTOBER 2003 – MOTOGP RACE RESULT

PITT RIDES TOUGH FOR FUCHS KAWASAKI IN ANNIVERSARY RACE

Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team rider, Andrew Pitt, completed his first year of MotoGP competition aboard the Ninja ZX-RR with a hard fought sixteenth place in a humid and energy-sapping Malaysian Grand Prix today.

Only a late race charge by Brazilian Alex Barros, who had crashed at turn two on lap one, pushed Pitt out of fifteenth place and what would have been a deserving World Championship point.

On his GP debut with Kawasaki a year ago at this race Pitt finished 19th and, today, demonstrated his dramatic improvement by lowering his race time for 21 laps by a massive 62 seconds, almost three seconds per lap.

Meanwhile, Garry McCoy finished 19th as he struggled with late race rear-end grip levels on a hot Sepang track, which had been washed clean by heavy morning rain. McCoy had made a strong start from the fourth row and despite going wide to miss the fallen Barros he pushed forward to be 15th on lap eight. He was quickly followed by Pitt in 16th place.

But as grip faded McCoy could not respond in the second half of the race to challenges from Pitt, a hard riding Jeremy McWilliams and the surging Barros.
Both Pitt and McCoy now head to Phillip Island for their home race, the Australian Grand Prix.

Garry McCoy – 19th
“I got a good run off the line and down into turn one, but then in turn two Barros was down and I had to go wide to miss him. For eight or ten laps everything felt fine and I got up to fifteenth, although it was hard work racing McWilliams as he pulled some strange moves; we nearly hit a couple of times especially late in the race when he chopped across in front of me. I pushed as hard as I could and the bike had plenty of power, but by the end I was backing in under braking big time as the rear grip went away. It was bloody hot; hopefully it will be bit cooler at Phillip Island next week and that should help us.”

Andrew Pitt – 16th
“That was hard work in the heat. I don’t wish Alex Barros any harm but I guess if he’d have stayed down I might a got a point, but that’s racing; we’ll just keep pushing for better results. I thought I may have struggled for grip, but the tyres stayed consistent today, especially the front. After about five laps the rear dropped off a little but I was able to stay on the pace when McWilliams was challenging, after he’d almost hit Garry when I was following them! It’s a good feeling to get through my first year of GP racing, I’ve learnt a lot and made a big step forward; now to Phillip Island and my home race!”

Harald Eckl – Team Manager
“I was expecting the race to be tough on tyres for our guys, but in the end Dunlop did a good job. Andrew rode very consistently and it was a pity that Barros got past him very late in the race for a championship point. Since he started in his first Grand Prix race a year ago Andrew has made an excellent improvement. Garry rode strongly after a good performance in qualifying, but it seems his rear grip went away more than Andrew’s. This ends our first 12 months of racing the Ninja ZX-RR; we can now see some light at the end of the tunnel and look forward to making a big step forward for 2004.”



More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:

MORE POINTS FOR ROBERTS AT SEPANG

Team Suzuki Press Office
Sunday, October 12, 2003.

Team Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts Jr. finished 14th in today’s Malaysian GP, holding his own in a fierce battle in the closing laps with Alex Barros. Roberts ran his fastest times of the afternoon in the last laps, to finish three tenths ahead of the Brazilian rider.

But the 2000 World Champion was disappointed not to have the chance to fight for better places after qualifying in the top ten at the track where he has twice before won the GP on a Suzuki. A vexing technical problem with the engine’s advanced technology meant his guns were spiked from the start. Today’s victory went to Valentino Rossi, who tied up his third successive championship in the process.

Temporary team-mate Akira Ryo, switched from a wild card entry to replace Suzuki full-time rider John Hopkins, finished 20th, losing ground in the second half of the race as he suffered the penalty of choosing too soft a tyre compound. The Tokyo rider is full-time factory MotoGP tester. Last weekend’s Pacific GP was his first race of 2003; this was his last race. Ryo was again riding an experimental development version of the Suzuki GSV-R V4 MotoGP racer, testing ideas and equipment to push the project forward.

Hopkins was absent from the track after he was controversially disqualified, after a first-corner incident in the last race at Motegi. The Anglo-American rider’s Number 21 bike remained park silent in the pit.

Today’s race was run in slightly cooler weather than two baking days of practice, with air temperature at 30 degrees and the track temperature 41 degrees. But conditions were still typically punishing around 21 laps of the 5.548km Sepang circuit south of the capital Kuala Lumpur. Humidity peaked at 63 percent.

Next weekend the Suzuki team joins the MotoGP rivals in very different cool conditions at Phillip Island for the Australian GP, the third in a trio of gruelling back-to-back flyaway races before the season closes at Valencia in Spain two weeks later.

KENNY ROBERTS Jr. – 14th Position
We had some problems that are really not worth talking about. It would just sound the same as all year. Basically I was prohibited from racing round in the 2:06s and 2:05s like I wanted to, so our situation is the same as it’s been. We have to improve so greatly at this point it’s difficult for me to comprehend what we have to do. Comparing my bike with Ryo’s experimental bike, there’s not a big difference. It seems that’s the case whatever we do. We need a whole new package. We have to improve a lot.

AKIRA RYO – 20th Position
We made a very big mistake with tyre choice. We went to too soft a compound, but our chassis was set up for a harder tyre. The first five laps went well. I was comfortable and running at a good pace, in the 2:06 bracket. After that, I was riding Rossi-style – sliding sideways everywhere, but at a much slower pace. We did learn something to help development. I discovered what is the weakest point in the bike’s chassis performance. This was only my second race all year, so we lack experience of the Michelin tyres and of MotoGP racing. Perhaps next year will be better for me.

GARRY TAYLOR – Team Manager
Kenny did his best under difficult circumstances with niggling technical problems, and we can be happy that he scored some points. He did his fastest laps at the end of the race when he was battling with Barros, which showed the tyres were still good. That’s a tribute to Michelin. Akira had an unfortunate day, his lack of experience let to a less than perfect tyre choise.



More, from a press release issued by Pramac Honda:

Sepang – (Malaysia)
Round 14- 10/11/12 October 2003
Sunday – Race

Tamada tenth at Sepang

The Pramac Honda Team’s Japanese rider ended the 14th and ante-penultimate race of the championship in tenth place. The warm-up session in the morning should have been an opportunity to work out the final choice of tyres, but the track was wet – whereas during the race it was dry.

So the warm-up could not be used to make the final decisions, and a good compromise was sought for the race. With a tarmac temperature of 12 degrees centigrade less than yesterday, the team technicians and the rider opted for medium-hard tyres at both front and rear. But the rear tyre proved to be too soft for the race conditions today and Makoto Tamada was not able to make an incisive attack in the middle of the race and at the end.

The race: starting from third place on the first row, Tamada was not quick off the mark and ended the first and second laps in 11th and 12th place. He then made two fine passes and got up to 10th but from that moment on was no longer able to move up towards the group out in front. His problem was that he did not have the traction he needed in the parts of the circuit where he could have attacked. The opportunity to settle the score and confirm Tamada in the top positions of a race could come in the next race at Phillip Island, a circuit where Bridgestone did very well last year and where Makoto raced in a series of winter tests and built up a good feeling for the Australian track.

MAKOTO TAMADA (PRAMAC HONDA TEAM): 10th – 44:22.013

“The first few metres after the start were OK, when you let the clutch go and shoot off. But in the middle of the straight I no longer had the traction I needed and then ended up in the confusion at the first corner. I lost ground and tried to move back up but, after overtaking Haga and Melandri, when I was tenth, I realised there wasn’t much more I could put into it. I didn’t have grip and the bike was difficult to handle round the corners. The tyre we chose proved to be too soft and it wore out very quickly. It was a pity we didn’t have time to work things out better this morning as it was raining, but now the only thing I can do is to concentrate on Phillip Island. I do know it a bit and I want to do better there than I did today.”



More, from a press release issued by Proton Team KR:

PROTON RIDERS FINISH LINE ASTERN AT SEPANG

Round 14: Malaysian GP, Sepang
Race: Sunday, October 12, 2003

Jeremy McWilliams: 17th
Nobuatsu Aoki: 18th

Team Proton KR riders Jeremy McWilliams and Nobuatsu Aoki finished one place higher than their qualifying positions in today’s Malaysian GP, home race for the Proton KR V5’s major sponsors.

Both riders overcame various problems with the still-developing new 990cc V5 MotoGP racer, designed and built in England as the only fully independent machine on the grids. Overall, however, the general reliability of the eight-race-old machines was impressive in the punishingly hot conditions at the 5.548km Sepang circuit, south of the capital of Kuala Lumpur. Although today was overcast, humidity was 63 percent, and the temperature still 30 degrees.

McWilliams started strongly in 16th position, challenging for the top 15 and more points for the radical racer. However he ran into gearshifting problems that meant all his concentration was required just to maintain progress, and it was impossible to think about racing other riders as well. But for that, he felt confident of giving the Proton KRV5 some home-race points.

Aoki had similar problems, for different technical reasons. He dropped to 19th in the early part of the race, but was able to regain one place to finish just half-a-second behind McWilliams, the five-cylinder pair thrilling the Malaysian crowd as they howled past the chequered flag in front of the grandstands.

Next weekend, the Australian GP ends a gruelling trio of back-to-back “flyaway” races, with the season finishing two weeks later in Valencia in Spain. Last year, the Proton pair qualified on the front row of the grid at the Australian Phillip Island circuit, with McWilliams on pole position; and both finished in the top ten in the race.


JEREMY McWILLIAMS
I think we made that race more difficult for ourselves than it needed to be. My quick-shifter mechanism failed on the second lap. But for that, I’m confident I could have got a couple of points. It’s almost impossible to shift gears with this bike without the quickshifter, there is so much spinning mass to slow down that it makes it very difficult. I was losing a second on every straight, missing gears and getting neutrals. It was very frustrating. The rear tyre also lost grip – it was spinning the rear 50 km/h faster than the front. We chose too soft a compound.


NOBUATSU AOKI
Another tough race! I had a gearshifting problem … maybe gearbox or clutch, I don’t know. Anyway, it was really hard to make downshifts – where I was going down the gearbox to second I would end up in third. It meant I really had to pay a lot of attention to gearshifting. That was all through the race. The Bridgestones also seemed to lack some side grip, and I was going sideways everywhere. I was struggling with those things. It meant I couldn’t race … just ride the bike.


KENNY ROBERTS – Team Owner
We’re another 100 metres down the road. These three races are useless for us. We’re developing the bikes, but there’s no time to do anything. Even if we can make new parts, it’s hard to get them to the track. We had new exhaust pipes here, but the brackets had a design fault and they broke, so we couldn’t use them for the race. We’re not racing. We’re testing, so just finishing is a big plus.



More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang
Raceday Sunday October 12

Track temperature: 41 degrees C
Humidity: 63%
Ambient temperature: 30 degrees C, cloudy

ROSSI TAKES PREMIER CLASS TITLE NUMBER THREE WITH WIN

Rain changed everything here in steamy Sepang when a heavy early morning fall altered track conditions on raceday – but it couldn’t change the destiny of Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda RC211V) who won in style. In front of a 30,000 crowd he won his seventh MotoGP race of the season, his third premier class title and his fifth title in all classes. Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) was second and Max Biaggi (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) third.

The 24-year-old Rossi is now elevated to the top five all-time Grand Prix winners with his tally of 57 wins: 12 in 125, 14 in 250 and now 31 in the big class. He currently stands head and shoulders above the competition and Honda’s remarkable RC211V has now won 13 of the 14 races held so far in 2003.

This was not an easy win, few are in the white heat of MotoGP competition, but it was still a dominant performance by any standards. Rossi had already pulverised the opposition with his qualifying performance (a stunning 2m 02.480 second lap) and he was in no mood to let the title slip from his grasp with three rounds to go. He badly wanted to wrap it up here – and it showed.

Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) got the holeshot and the Spanish title challenger gave it his all from the lights to try and get away from Rossi while the Italian was lodged in fourth place on the opening lap. But on lap two Rossi was on the move and he dealt first with Loris Capirossi (Ducati) for third and then Carlos Checa (Yamaha) for second.

By lap six he was right up with Gibernau and although he had posted the fastest lap of the race at 2m 03.822 seconds on lap three in his bid to keep Gibernau within range, he could clearly afford to sit back and plan his attack. He put his plan into action on lap eight when he slipped past on the brakes into a medium-speed left-hander.

That was it for Gibernau’s persistent title challenge. Although he gamely kept the Italian in sight, Rossi worked his advantage without taking any unnecessary risks and when Gibernau sailed wide at turn one Rossi opened up the gap. By mid-race distance Rossi was 1.2 seconds ahead and by the end of the race he had just over a two second cushion.

There was plenty of action behind the leading trio of Rossi, Gibernau and Biaggi. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) fought hard for fourth, taking Carlos Checa (Yamaha) on the penultimate lap and the American rookie has impressed in his first season of MotoGP.

Rossi was understandably delighted. “This is like a dream, this fifth title,” he said. “It was a very hard race – just like all season, but very good fun. Sete put me under a lot of pressure and I had to work hard. I think we won overall because of our consistency and we fought hard for every win. I want to thank Honda for the constant development of the bike that’s made this possible.”

Gibernau was fulsome in his praise for the Champion. “We’ve tried to push Valentino the whole season,” he said. “We knew he was quick here and Max was a top man here too. Overall we knew we could win races and just tried to push. It’s been a great season and there are still two races to go, but congratulations to Vale, and to Max – Vale deserves this.”

Max too was generous and typically realistic. “I couldn’t close the gap with the first two,” he said. “The start was not brilliant for me and I had a lonely race. Rossi is a great rider and he’s had a top-level season. He’s having a ‘gold period’ as we say in Italy. And we’ll try to make sure that he has a less easy time in 2004.”

Nicky Hayden now lies sixth in the World Championship standings after his fourth place here. “That was great,” he said. “I got a good start and made up a few places. I wanted to go with Biaggi but got into a fight with Capirossi. Then I got past him and got past Checa and made the pass stick. When I tested here I really struggled – I’ve definitely learned a lot since then.”

Tohru Ukawa (Camel Pramac Pons RC211V) was seventh. “It was hard to match the pace of the leaders,” he said. “Once again I didn’t get a great start but I lost a few places, then got them back, but didn’t have enough time to catch Capirossi. The rear tyre was spinning-up and it’s a problem we’ve had all year, but there are only two races left to find a solution.”

For Makoto Tamada (Pramac Honda RC211V) who started on the front row, his tenth place was a disappointment. “I didn’t have grip and the bike was hard to handle in the turns. The tyre we chose proved to be too soft and it wore quickly. It was a pity we didn’t have time to work things out better this morning as it was raining.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V) struggled. The Japanese rookie qualified 21st and finished 21st. “I’m not happy with the whole weekend,” he said. “I couldn’t give my maximum in qualifying and I paid for it the race. Now I’ve got to Australia and try and make up for this.”

The Repsol Honda Team has now secured the Team title, but the all-important second-place finish in the World Championship is still up for grabs. Rossi is out of sight on 307 points, but with Gibernau on 244, Max is still in a position to make a fight of it on 215 – and he will.

HONDA TEAM QUOTES:

MotoGP:
Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda Team, Win: “This is like a dream the fifth title. It was a very hard race just like the whole season but also very good fun. Sete put me under much pressure and I have to work hard. I think we win over the season because we were more constant. We fight for the victory every race. We are always on the podium and we always take points and it’s possible to make the championship here. I say thank you to my team. We have a great group of people from all over the world. I thank Honda for the constant development of the bike that makes it possible to win. Tonight we make a party with the fan club!”

Sete Gibernau, Telefonica MoviStar Honda, 2nd: ” We have been fighting face to face for the world championship and the title went to Vale. My idea was to get a good start and get away but when Valentino passed me I couldn’t follow his pace. Second is good for me now. I will now concentrate hard for each of the last two races. Dani Pedrosa’s title did not come by accident, it is the results of a job well done and very well planned. I congratulate him on what must be a very special day for him.”

Fausto Gresini: Sete ran a very good race today without errors and at a very high rhythm. Once again he has shown he is in very good form and I congratulate him on his performance. We have to be conscious that we are racing against the World Champion.

Max Biaggi, Camel Pramac Pons, 3rd: The beginning of the race was complicated for me. I did not make a good start and it took me a couple of laps to get on the pace when, by that time, the leaders had gained enough of an advantage to escape and I could not make contact with them. It was quite a difficult race. I gave everything I had as always, but I must congratulate Rossi on winning the Championship. This season has been more difficult for Valentino than last season and I hope that next year will be even more difficult for him.”

Sito Pons: I am very happy because we have achieved another podium finish which reflects the competitiveness of both Max and the team. Max and Tohru both made poor starts, but they fought their way back through the field well.I hope that we manage to maintain the high level of performance shown in the last two races of the season. Finally I would like to congratulate Valentino Rossi and Honda on winning another World Championship.”

Nicky Hayden , Repsol Honda Team, 4th: “That was great. I got a pretty good start off the jump. Valentino didn’t make such a great start and I had to go round him I turn 1. I made up a few spots that was good. I wanted to go with Biaggi. I went with Capirossi and outbraked myself then he got me back – he was so fast. I then got him and made the pass stick. Then managed to catch Checa. He upped the pace a little and I eventually got him in the end. Pretty committed overtakin’! When I tested here I really struggled. The track didn’t suit my style. I’ve definitely learned a lot since then, especially about pickin’ the bike up when the tyres have gone away. Really pleased to have moved up another spot!”