From a press release issued by Dorna Sports:

Rossi takes title for Yamaha at Phillip Island

Valentino Rossi became the first rider to win the MotoGP World Championship on a Yamaha since Wayne Rainey in 1992 with his eighth victory of the season at the Cinzano Australian Grand Prix. Rossi completed an amazing first year with the Japanese factory after a controversial switch from their great rivals Honda with an exciting victory over Sete Gibernau, his only remaining title challenger, which went right to the final corner.

Rossi becomes only the second rider in history to win the championship with different manufacturers in consecutive seasons behind Eddie Lawson and has broken Lawson and Rainey’s joint record of seven wins in a season for Yamaha.

“This is a fantastic day for us, we didn’t expect this,” said Rossi, who adds to three previous MotoGP titles as well as the 125cc and 250cc crowns. “It was a hard battle, Sete was very fast today but in the end I won. From the very beginning we have worked hard to put the Yamaha M1 at the top and we have achieved it today. I would like to say thanks to everybody at Yamaha for all their hard work.”

Rossi’s joy came at the end of a hard-fought race which saw Loris Capirossi take the holeshot before an aggressive move from Gibernau gave him the lead on the first lap. Rossi was passed by Troy Bayliss for third place and had to work hard to recover ground on the Ducati pair, overtaking them both in one stunning move on the first lap. Gibernau made his break at the front but, with Rossi now on course for the title second place, needed another rider to join in at the front.

Alex Barros provided brief hope, passing Capirossi for third place as Bayliss lost touch and charging towards the pair at the front. However, the Brazilian struggled with rear grip problems in the second half of the race and couldn’t maintain his pace, eventually dropping back to fifth behind Capirossi and Colin Edwards.

Gibernau had no choice but to try and force Rossi into a mistake and rode bravely to the end, conceding first place on lap nineteen but staying in touch and recovering the lead five laps from the end. The Spaniard held on until the final lap but Rossi was determined to celebrate his title in style, recovering superiority two corners from the end and clinching victory by 0.097 seconds.

Whilst Capirossi completed the podium and Edwards came through to snatch fourth from Barros at the line, Nicky Hayden came out on top of Honda colleagues Max Biaggi and Makoto Tamada in an intense skirmish for sixth and Troy Bayliss scored ninth in his last MotoGP appearance at his home track for Ducati.

Dani Pedrosa also celebrated World Championship success today, clinching the 250cc title with fourth place. Pedrosa broke both of his ankles in a practice crash at this track exactly one year ago but completed an amazing recovery today, becoming the youngest ever 250cc World Champion in his first season in the class. Today’s race was won by Sebastián Porto, who sealed the runner-up spot in the championship with his fifth triumph of the season, ahead of Aprilia colleagues Alex de Angelis and Manuel Poggiali. Toni Elías took fifth place whilst British teenager Chaz Davies sealed his best ever Grand Prix finish in an impressive sixth.

Andrea Dovizioso confirmed his status as the number one rider in the 125cc class with victory just a week after being crowned World Champion in Malaysia. The Italian fought throughout the race with fellow teenagers Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner, who rode through injury after a heavy crash in the morning warm-up. Dovizioso made his break on the final lap to leave Lorenzo and Stoner to fight it out for second place, with Lorenzo edging it in a photo finish.


More, from a press release issued by d’Antin Ducati:

XAUS TAKES ROOKIE OF THE YEAR TITLE

The two d´Antin MotoGP riders both completed the Australian Grand Prix today, but once again they had differing luck, with Rubén Xaus in eleventh and Neil Hodgson in eighteenth, outside the points.

After today’s performance, Xaus rises to tenth, and is assured of the trophy awarded to the best rookie of the year.

RUBEN XAUS: ” I’m not at all happy with the race because I had to save myself from a very difficult situation when I was riding in the group and had to try not to knock anyone off, and I lost a bit of ground doing so. I fought back a bit, but the bike was very aggressive today and there was an area in which I was losing around a second. It’s a shame because I think that I could have finished the race in a better position. I was really keen to try and get amongst the top five here. The positive thing is that now I am tenth in the championship and I would love to finish in this position, but whatever happens I think I have shown that I deserve my place here for the next few years.”

NEIL HODGSON:”I still don’t know what happened, but the bike had an electrical problem and it was giving me trouble from the off. I couldn’t ride any quicker however hard I tried, but I wanted to finish the race and at least I managed to do that, even though I was outside the points. It has been a difficult weekend and overall a difficult season for me. Now we have a short rest and I hope to get to Valencia with my batteries fully recharged because I would love to finish the race on a high note.”

LUIS D´ANTIN: “We are happy, because Rubén has taken the Rookie of the Year title and I think he has deserved it. Furthermore, he has moved up to tenth in the overall classification and I hope that he can defend that spot in Valencia. I also think we can move up a spot in the team’s championship and I’m sure we could so it if we get our riders in the right kind of shape there. Neil had problems today and he couldn’t manage the points, but I’d love both the riders to finish with a good result back in Spain.”


More, from a press release issued by John Hopkins’ publicist:

HOPKINS HAS OFF WEEKEND IN AUSTRALIA

PHILLIP ISLAND, Australia (Oct. 17, 2004) – Suzuki rider John Hopkins completed a sub-par race weekend Sunday with a 15th-place finish in the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

Hopkins battled all weekend with finding a solid set-up on his GSV-R. After some strong qualifying in recent rounds Hopkins was disappointed after only being able to muster a 17th-place in qualifying.

“It wasn’t a great weekend, there’s no question,” Hopkins said. “In qualifying I was pushing the front end. We chased the problem all weekend and never really caught up with it.”

Hopkins hoped for a better showing in the race, but except for a rousing battle with Aprilia’s Jeremy McWilliams he said his Australian GP as one he won’t look back on with fond memories.

“As I came to the starting grid I had a problem with the clutch,” Hopkins explained. “I had to keep the front brake on to keep from creeping and it hurt me late in the race. I don’t want to use that as an excuse though. It was just another issue I had to deal with on a very long weekend.”

Hopkins went on to say that the race itself turned out to be a fun one with McWilliams.

“Jeremy and I had a helluva battle,” he said. “We touched a few times and generally had a good time dicing with each other. If it hadn’t been a battle for 14th place it might have been a little more memorable, but that was the high point of my weekend.”

In the end McWilliams nipped Hopkins at the line. Hopkins said he now looks ahead to the finale in Valencia on Oct. 31.

“That race is going to be Garry Taylor’s final event as Suzuki’s team manager,” Hopkins said. “I’d like to give Garry a good sending off present and am going to do all I can to have a good final race.”


More, from a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

BOTH FUCHS KAWASAKI RIDERS IN THE POINTS

Fuchs Kawasaki riders, Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann, both finished in the points in today’s Australian Grand Prix, finishing 12th and 13th respectively in a hard fought race.

Nakano is now just three points out of a top ten finish in the MotoGP World Championship, his stated goal before the season started, and there is still one race remaining, the Valencia Grand Prix in two weeks time.

The race was run in sunny but cool conditions, with a track temperature of 30 degrees at the super-fast, 4.4 km Phillip Island circuit.

Despite his 12th place finish, Nakano recorded a race time that was 57 seconds faster than the best Ninja ZX-RR race time at Phillip Island a year ago. This represents a dramatic step forward with Kawasaki’s MotoGP project, which only just celebrating its second anniversary.
Both riders were a little disappointed not to have the opportunity to capitalise on their strong qualifying performances.

Hofmann did not make a good start from eighth on the third row, his best ever qualifying position in MotoGP, and was 11th at the end of lap one, just ahead of Nakano.

The Ninja ZX-RR pair then raced furiously in a tight group including Ruben Xaus and Carlos Checa. But Nakano had difficulty pushing to his usual fast level due to a lack of rear traction.
After recovering from his poor start Hofmann raced hard, despite conceding some top speed to his rivals. He also raced with a slightly harder compound rear Bridgestone tyre than his Fuchs Kawasaki team-mate.

The penultimate round of the MotoGP World Championship was watched by 42,500 fans.

Shinya Nakano: 12th
“It was a very hard race for me. Right from the start I found it difficult to push hard and force the pace. Even after I passed Alex it was not possible to ride as fast as I would have liked. Then there was a great battle with Xaus and Checa and I was hoping to have an opportunity to overtake them late in the race, but towards the end my lap times dropped away. I was suffering with a lack of traction around the left-handers, always a problem at this track with so many fast corners.”

Alex Hofmann: 13th
“That was my toughest race this year. I made a poor start and lost places, but then I had good pace for four laps and was fighting in the group for the top ten. But I was losing 40 to 50 metres with speed on the straight each lap, and this was not helped by the wind. In the second half of the race I was having a problem with rear end traction, the chassis balance felt fine, but I raced a slightly harder tyre compound than Shinya.”

Harald Eckl: Team Manager
“I expected better results here, but both riders did the best they could in the conditions today. The positive point is the performance increase over the race distance with the Ninja ZX-RR compared to this race last year — 57 seconds faster, showing that we are heading in the right direction. But we are still short of engine performance, and that is a crucial part of our development program. We still have something to race for in Valencia, with Shinya fighting for a top ten place in the final standings.”


More, from a press release issued by Camel Honda:

Max and Makoto finish penultimate race of 2004 in seventh and eighth

It was a hard fought yet difficult race for the two standard-bearers of the Camel Honda team, who finished the penultimate round of the 2004 MotoGP World Championships in 7th and 8th positions on Australian soil. The race was run at a high pace, and decided the destination of the MotoGP title one race early. Max and Makoto fought bravely throughout the 27 laps, alternately attacking and defending their positions, and rarely finding the sort of fluid rhythm which could help them progress even further.

Sito Pons – Camel Honda (Team Principal)
“We were hoping for a little more from this Australian race and it wasn’t one of our team’s better days. Despite the flat-out work we have done in the past days, Max never felt right on the bike and was unable to unleash his full potential. And battled to the end trying to pick up the front-runners. We’ll pick ourselves up and go to Valencia with confidence, it’s the final showcase of the season and we want to celebrate it with a victory.”

Max Biaggi – Camel Honda (Michelin tyres) – 7th – 41’38.666
“It was a difficult race, and I battled until the very end. The start wasn’t too bad, but in the first few laps I realised that today was a completely different story to Malaysia. It’s strange to think that just a week ago I was on the podium yet instead today I have had so many problems. The conditions were completely different though, and obviously we didn’t quite find the right set-up. After the start I lost a bit of ground because I wasn’t able to time my accelerating right and the bike had little traction. I fought hard, and tried to fend off my rivals’ attacks, but in the end the result was very unsatisfying. We hope that things can be different in Valencia.”

Giulio Bernardelle – Camel Honda – (Makoto Tamada’s Technical Director)
“We did much better than last year here, and Makoto was able to be up in the front group. This is one of the most difficult tracks for us, and it’s a sign that Bridgestone have done some fantastic work. It’s a shame for Makoto, who was unable to show off his enormous potential, and he couldn’t just make that extra step towards the leaders and towards the podium because he was constantly caught up in battles which prevented him from getting into a rhythm.”

Makoto Tamada – Camel Honda (Bridgestone tyres) – 8th – 41’38.784
“I couldn’t have done much better than I did today, I was not able to make the important overtaking manoeuvres when they needing doing. There was no problem with the bike or the tyres, just that it was extremely tough to overtake my rivals, and that was throughout the race. With a better start and having picked up a few more positions at the beginning I could have been further up, but it didn’t work out like that and I finished eighth.


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

PROTON TEAM KR CONSISTENT AGAIN IN AUSTRALIA

Round 15: Australian GP, Phillip Island
Race: Sunday, October 17, 2004

Nobuatsu Aoki: 19th
James Haydon: 20th

Proton Team KR riders Nobuatsu Aoki and James Haydon finished 19th and 20th in today’s Australian GP, improving on their qualifying positions, but failing to make the target of the top 15, and more championship points for the team.

Both riders lapped steadily over 27 laps of the picturesque 4.448km seaside circuit, running together earlier in the race until Haydon lost touch with his temporary team-mate … the English racer was riding in place of team regular Kurtis Roberts for a third successive race.

With nobody close ahead or close behind either rider, the job was to keep lap times consistent, and manage the inevitable deterioration of tyre grip at the 120.096 km race wore on. The main excitement for each came as they were overtaken by the two leaders in the early laps … championship rivals Sete Gibernau and Valentino Rossi, locked in fierce battle. The victor was Rossi, the Yamaha rider winning his eighth race of the season, and securing his fourth successive premier-class title in the process.

The penultimate round of the World Championship took place in fine, sunny conditions after unsettled weather on the preceding two days, watched by a crowd of more than 40,000 avid Australian fans.

There is one more race remaining – the Valencia GP on October 31. On the day after that race, Proton Team KR will test the V4 KTM engine in their state-of-the art chassis for a second time. Team regular Kurtis Roberts is expected to be back for that race. He has been out since suffering wrist and elbow injuries in August.

NOBUATSU AOKI
A steady race, as usual. I did as much as I could do, but we had another problem with the rear tyre vibrating later in the race, as happened last weekend at Sepang. This time there was a piece of rubber missing. After that struck, it was hard for me to manage my lap time, but I did my best to get the bike to the end of the race.

JAMES HAYDON
Not very good, really. I was struggling all the way with my rear tyre. There were two to choose from, and now I think the harder one, that Nobu used, would have been a better choice. As it was, the softer tyre I ran had a couple of marked drop-offs, after eight laps and again after about 18. I would have enjoyed racing more with Nobu, but I just couldn’t go as hard as he could. I must say a massive thank you to the team over the last three races. Thanks for the help – it’s been a lot of fun, so it’s a bit disappointing to end like this.

*KENNY ROBERTS: Team Principal
Both guys did what they could with our combination, and the crew got both bikes to the finish again. We know what our problems are, and what we need to do to fix them. It’s not something that was possible this season.


More, from a press release issued by Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha:

ROSSI TAKES WORLD TITLE WITH WIN NUMBER EIGHT IN AUSTRALIA

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha) secured the 2004 Riders’ Championship today at Phillip Island after winning an intense 27-lap battle with his main championship rival Sete Gibernau (Honda). The win gives Yamaha its first title in the premier class since 1992, and Rossi has now won more victories in one season than any Yamaha rider in history.

Rossi reduced Gibernau’s long-term lead from 1.195 seconds to almost nothing on the seventh lap of the 4.448km track. On lap 19 Rossi made a successful move up the inside at the first corner, but could not shake Gibernau immediately. Gibernau re-passed him on the first corner of lap 23.

Rossi, determined to be champion in true style, overtook again before Gibernau pushed to the front at Honda corner, as Rossi ran wide. The decisive move came when Rossi made a seemingly impossible and final pass on the inside going back into the entrance of Lukey Heights. He held on to take a magnificent victory, by 0.097seconds, and his fourth premier class title.

Aside from Rossi, in the 55-year history of Grand Prix racing only three riders, Giacomo Agostini, Mick Doohan and Mike Hailwood have won four or more consecutive premier class titles. Only six riders before Rossi have scaled the heights of taking four premier class titles throughout their entire careers.

Rossi’s team-mate Carlos Checa finished in tenth after his own tough battle around the challenging Phillip Island circuit. Checa, fighting his way past the middle order, was 11th on lap 13, involved in a personal duel with his fellow Catalan Ruben Xaus (Ducati) for most of the race. He was a clear tenth, having been boxed in on the first lap from a fifth row grid position.

The final round of the championship takes place at Valencia on October 31, with the present championship table featuring Rossi on 279 points, Gibernau on 244 and Max Biaggi (Honda) on 197.

VALENTINO ROSSI (1st, 41’25.819s)

“Today was a fantastic finish to a fantastic championship. This track is great and today there was a hard battle until the last lap. In some parts I was faster than Gibernau and some other places slower. I was sure of my feeling on the bike though. I made a bit of a bad start but wanted to stick with Sete. I managed to pass him early on in the race but he came back, and then at the end it became a great battle again. The last lap was a lot of fun for everybody watching it. I want to say thanks to everyone who has worked so hard, to Yamaha and all my team. It was fantastic, thank you. I think this year has been my best championship winning year.”

CARLOS CHECA (10th, 41’47.064s)

“The start was difficult because there were so many bikes in front, so I had to close the throttle, and then lost some places. This was a race I was never going to win. I knew that from the beginning as I was starting from the back. If I had had a better start I would have been able to stay with the second group. I had good fun sometimes with Xaus and that made it more interesting. Riding alone is not so exciting, especially in tenth position. I am looking forward to having a better race in Valencia.”

DAVIDE BRIVIO – TEAM DIRECTOR

“This is like a dream come true for us all. Like a movie with the best-ever storyline. If we wrote a script it could not have been better or more exciting. It was a hard job for all our engineers and Yamaha took a big risk supporting Valentino in this challenge. This was also a big motivation for everyone and our engineers were obviously just waiting for the opportunity to show what they can do.”

JEREMY BURGESS – VALENTINO ROSSI’S CREW CHIEF

“The target was the championship and we’ve got it. We made a decision after the warm up to change the bike and run a harder rear tyre. I think it was vindicated by the win. I think we always expect to win but you have to win enough races to win a championship. We approached it one race at a time and it has been a very good year.”


More, from a press release issued by Telefonica MoviStar Honda:

SETE GIBERNAU SECOND IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE SECOND TIME

Colin Edwards fourth at Phillip Island

The Australian GP has been today the scenery of an incredible battle between Sete Gibernau and Valentino Rossi. After a good weekend, the Spaniard started from the pole and led the race for the first part until he made himself overtake in order to study the Italian rider. Unfortunatly a problem at the gas throttle hasn’t allowed Sete Gibernau to do his race. The last lap has been decisive, an incredible duel that finished with Sete Gibernau second at only 0.097 from the leader Valentino Rossi. With this result, Sete Gibernau is World Vice Champion for the second time, always with Team Telefonica MoviStar Honda.

A good race also for Sete’s team mate Colin Edwards, who after taking the start from the second row, rode aggressively and finished fourth.

SETE GIBERNAU (2nd at 0.097)
“After two positive practice sessions, today the bike had a problem at the gas throttle and I struggled for the whole race around! this problem. I had to anticipate what was happening with the throttle so I couldn’t focus only on pushing hard to win the race. I started leading the race but then I let Valentino overtake me because I wanted to study him and see where I could gain some tenths. The last lap was an incredible battle between me and Valentino. I’m disappointed more because of this problem that didn’t allow me to race as I wanted. Anyway, races are like this. We showed once again to be very competitive and we have given an incredible show, as we have done all along the season.”

COLIN EDWARDS (4th at 10.817)
“The bike was feeling good and with my team we have done a fìgreat job. I had not a great start and I struggled a bit in the first laps because the rhythm was too slow. I recovered some positions and could pass Bayliss and Biaggi. At the last corner Barros made a mistake so I overtook him but I couldn’t catch Capirossi because the gap between us was t! oo much. All in all I’m happy with this result and it was a good race.”

FAUSTO GRESINI (Team manager)
“Here we were concentrated on winning the race and this was our target. Sete’s second position is a great result that crowns him – for the second time – World Vice Champion. My compliments to Sete, he has done a great season. Now we want to analyse the whole championship in order to improve for the next year. My compliments also to Colin Edwards, he has done a good race finishing forth.


More, from a press release issued by Honda:

GIBERNAU BATTLES HARD BUT TITLE GOES TO ROSSI
DANI PEDROSA TAKES THE 250cc WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE FOR MOVISTAR HONDA

The MotoGP race had all the drama now expected of the premier class events. It was a fierce, close race played out in front of 43,000 sun-splashed Aussies. And Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) won it with his title rival Sete Gibernau (Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC211V) second and Loris Capirossi (Ducati) third.

This race was a ‘must win’ for Gibernau and the Spanish title challenger did everything he could to snatch victory. But Rossi, who only had to finish second to clinch the World Championship, was better on the day and his win here now puts him beyond Gibernau’s reach – this year at least.

But there was consolation for Honda here in the form of the Constructors’ World Championship title. The ‘Big H’ now has an unassailable lead with one round to go after six RC211Vs finished in the top eight here. This is Honda’s 16th consecutive Constructors’ title.

Gibernau who started from pole, tore into turn one in third place after Capirossi got the holeshot. He spectacularly rode around the outside of Rossi into turn two, bravely boxing his rival in behind Capirossi as he then fired his machine past the Ducati rider to take command of the 27-lap race.

Gibernau then worked at his high-speed race rhythm to stretch his rivals to breaking point around the rollercoaster 4.4km of Phillip Island. He had pulled out a 0.55 second gap by lap six. But Rossi was determined not to let his rival break clear and by the next lap the gap was down to just 0.2 seconds.

Rossi seemed content to stay with Gibernau until lap 22 when he made his first real move to grab the lead – and succeeded. But on the next lap Gibernau stole it back and the scene was set for a proper grudge match in the closing laps.

The last lap will linger in the memory. With a World title at stake it was as intense as they come. Gibernau held the advantage into turn one and through the early stages of the final tour until Rossi pounced at the Southern Loop. Gibernau then spectacularly retook the lead at the Honda Hairpin. But Rossi then dived inside at Lukey Heights and held on to win.

Sete was as disconsolate as any rider who has given their all trying, and narrowly failing, to lift a premier class title. “I tried my best,” he said. “I congratulate Valentino and his team – they won this time, but I’ll be back again next year.”

There was action all the way down the field too. Colin Edwards (Telefonica MoviStar Honda RC211V) finished fourth after putting in his best qualifying work so far this season to start from fourth on the grid.

“I got a bit boxed in at the start,” he said. “I was seventh on lap one and then got stuck behind Bayliss and Biaggi while I was trying to get on terms with the front guys. The on the final turn Barros made a mistake which let me through, but I couldn’t reach Capirossi for the podium.”

Alex Barros (Repsol Honda RC211V) finished fifth. “I’m just really disappointed,” he said. “I lost a bit of time trying to get past Capirossi at the start and then I tried to chase the leaders, but didn’t really have any grip. I tried to get past Capirossi for a podium on the final turn, but went into a big slide and Colin came past. It’s not where I want to be, I know I am better than this.”

His team-mate Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) was sixth. “You put yourself in a hole when you have to start from the fifth row,” he said. “I got a good start and made some pretty good passes on the first lap. It took me a while to get up with Biaggi and it was good fun racing the boys. It would have been a whole lot more fun racing for the lead though.”

Max Biaggi (Camel Honda RC211V) was seventh and said, “That was a difficult race. One week ago I was on the podium in Malaysia – and now today I’m in trouble. We never really got to grips with set-up here. I couldn’t put the power down properly, we were very short of grip. But I fought hard for the position and could do no more.”

Makoto Tamada (Camel Honda RC211V), riding on Bridgestone tyres, was unhappy with himself. “It was hard to do any better than this,” he said. “I just wasn’t as competitive as I wanted to be. It wasn’t really a bike or tyre problem, it was just hard to overtake people throughout the whole race. It was my mistakes that didn’t let me do better than eighth.”

Rossi now has 279 points, Gibernau 244 and Biaggi 197. With only 25 points available for a win at the final round in Valencia, the order of 1-2-3 finish here at round 15 cannot now change.

Sebastian Porto won the 250cc race to notch his fifth win of the season. Alex de Angelis was second and Manuel Poggiali was third (all Aprilia). But the big news is that Dani Pedrosa (Telefonica MoviStar Junior Team RS250RW) finished fourth – and that was enough to secure the 250cc World Championship title in his first season in the class.

Dani had crashed heavily in final qualifying yesterday, then he broke down in this morning’s warm-up session. It looked like events might conspire against him, but the 19-year-old kept his composure to finish in the points and become the youngest ever rider to win two World Championships in two different classes.

The ambitious Spanish star has also gone one step better than even the mercurial Valentino Rossi by winning the 250c title in his first year of competition after graduating from 125s.

It was not a great race though. Dani led into turn one and briefly held the lead until Porto swooped on him. Then it was de Angelis’ turn, then Dani’s again. The lead swapped four times on the opening lap – but that was as good as the action got.

The rest of the contest was a dreary procession with only the efforts of young British rider Chaz Davies (Aprilia) worthy of any mention. He finished sixth – his best ever result after qualifying tenth, his best ever qualifying performance.

“I’m really pleased with this,” said Dani. “It was tough out there and as the race went on, the wind got stronger and the risk of crashing grew. It was hard here with memories of my bad crash and then another bad crash here yesterday. My confidence wasn’t exactly at maximum. But everybody who works with me helped me through here so thanks to them all.”

Tony Elias (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) finished fifth and said, “What a difficult weekend for us. The team worked really hard last night, especially on the suspension. And we managed to improve, but not by enough. The result is okay considering the problems we’ve had here.”

Dani’s team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama (Telefonica MoviStar Junior Team RS250RW) was seventh. “This is a very special moment. Dani has had a wonderful season and I’m really happy for him. Only he knows how hard he’s worked to get here – he’s a phenomenon.”

With the World Championship now concluded in Dani’s favour, the table looks like this with one round to go: Pedrosa 292, Porto 256, Randy de Puniet (Aprilia), who crashed on lap five here, on 198. Dani is thus the Champ, and Porto has secured second in the standings.

Honda now has a one point lead over rival factory Aprilia in the Constructors’ Championship: 329 against 328 with one round to go.

The 125cc race was won in magnificent style by the newly-crowned World Champion Andrea Dovizioso (Team Scot Honda RS125R). Jorge Lorenzo (Derbi) was second and local hope Casey Stoner (KTM), who won last week in Malaysia, was third.

Dovzioso led the field into the fearsome downhill turn one from the start with Stoner and Lorenzo in immediate attendance. Roberto Locatelli (Aprilia) was fourth now having started from pole for the first time since Phillip Island in 2000, the year he won the 125cc World title.

The pattern for the race was set by the time lap two began. The leading trio c