Valentino Rossi secured the 2009 championship in Sepang Sunday afternoon.
Rossi (pictured above at Laguna Seca in July) needed to finish fourth or better to clinch the title, regardless of Jorge Lorenzo’s final position. He managed to place a close third to Dani Pedrosa’s second. Casey Stoner won by nearly 15 seconds. An unexpected torrential downpour just half an hour before the race threw every rider’s settings from the previous few days into the toilet. Rossi immediately went from pole position to tenth place after overshooting the first corner while Lorenzo shot back from last (he was sent there as a penalty for showing up to the line late) to battle with Rossi up through the pack. While the race didn’t play out as anticipated, the Rossi-Lorenzo battle made for a good show once again.
Huge respect to Jorge Lorenzo for making this year so interesting, he needs to score a single point in Valencia in two weeks to hang on to second.
Jorge Lorenzo, true to form, gave Rossi and Stoner a taste. He is so fast and consistent, it is amazing to see. However, in the end of qualifying he ended up here, twice:
Luckily for him, Stoner did something similar elsewhere on the track. Lorenzo is hurt and Stoner is still sick and maybe hurting from his off too.
