Rossi Podiums at Phillip Island, Closes on MotoGP Championship

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Press Release Issued By Yamaha Racing (October 19, 2009)

Fiat Yamaha ace Valentino Rossi finished a strong second in the Australian Grand Prix, chasing home Casey Stoner to finish safely on the podium on Sunday, Oct. 18 – and move another step closer to claiming his ninth world championship. While Rossi enjoyed his incredible 10th successive podium at Phillip Island, teammate and title challenger Jorge Lorenzo's race unfortunately ended in the gravel trap at turn one, when a mistake at the start resulted in contact with Nicky Hayden and a subsequent DNF. Rossi now has a 38-point lead over Lorenzo with two races left, while Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards finished a strong fifth and rides sixth in points. Rossi’s first chance to clinch this year’s MotoGP title comes at Sepang, Malaysia next Sunday, Oct. 25.

Rossi started the Phillip Island race from the front row and finished the first lap in third behind Dani Pedrosa and Stoner. On lap two both Stoner and Rossi passed their Spanish rival and then quickly began to pull away, opening up a sizable gap over the chasing pack. Darkening skies overhead then caused a rush in pit lane as the mechanics switched spare bikes over to wet settings, but the threat of rain eventually subsided and Rossi and Stoner appeared set to engage in a head-to-head battle. At times Rossi came within striking distance and made a couple of moves during mid-race, but with Lorenzo out he knew that he must capitalize and “The Doctor” eventually played it safe to come home a comfortable two seconds behind Stoner and gain 20 essential points in the process.

“This was one of the most fun and definitely one of the most important second places of my career!” Rossi said after the finish. “We were on the limit for the whole race and there were some amazing slides – it was ‘old-style' racing. Of course I wanted to win but I had to use my head a bit and once I'd seen that Lorenzo was out, I knew that if I made a mistake it would be a big disaster! We leave with 20 important points and now the championship lead is big and we can try to finish it in Malaysia, where we will have the first ‘match point.’" Added Lorenzo, “The title was a long shot anyway and now I just want to look forward to the final two races.” We’re with you guys!

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