2007 MotoGP - Sepang, Malaysia

Sepang Race Circuit.  Photo Courtesy Kawasaki Racing

Race Results
Casey Stoner and his Ducati continued the domination of this year's MotoGP Championship with another solid win today in Malaysia.  Marco Melandri and Dani Pedrosa, who shared the first row of the starting grid, also shared the podium with a second and third place finish.

Meanwhile, Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino rounded off a difficult weekend but finished with a relatively strong ride in today's Malaysian Grand Prix, bringing his Yamaha M1 home in fifth position from ninth on the grid.  His team-mate Colin Edwards, who started from 13th, finished 11th.

The usual hot and steamy Sepang conditions ensured that the 21-lap race would be a test of stamina for all 20 riders on the grid and, after being hampered by grip issues throughout practice, the Yamaha pair were not expecting an easy race.  However some last-minute alterations worked wonders and Rossi especially was able to lap consistently at the same pace as the leaders throughout, recording the second fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap.

The Italian dropped two places at the start but quickly found his rhythm and pegged back Nicky Hayden, marking the start of a spirited ride which saw him pass four riders in as many laps. Soon finding himself in fifth with a gap of more than three seconds to Randy de Puniet, Rossi put his head down and kept pushing, trying to close the gap to the Frenchman.

Despite steadily gaining ground on him to the flag, it was not quite enough and he had to settle for fifth. Edwards too made up some places early on and looked to have ninth place secure with two laps to go.  However Hayden, who had earlier dropped behind Edwards when running off the track, passed him in the closing stages and Texan was relegated to tenth place.

Rossi now lies 24 points clear of Pedrosa in the championship standings, meaning he has to take just a single point during the final race to secure second place, whilst Edwards' six-point haul sees him hold on to eighth position.  The final Grand Prix of the season takes place in Valencia, Spain, in a fortnight's time.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 5thTime: +4.733:  "Of course I'm disappointed with fifth place, but I am very happy with my race today.  It's a pity because we had great potential this afternoon and, if we had been able to start from the front row, I think we could have fought for the victory."

"We made some modifications today and luckily everything worked much better during the race than it had during practice.  We were fast this afternoon, we had a great rhythm but unfortunately we really lost the race yesterday in qualifying!  I took some time to find my rhythm at the start of the race but once I did I realized I had a great pace and that my bike and tires were working very well."

"I tried to catch de Puniet but, even though I was a tiny bit faster than him, the difference was only one or two tenths and so it wasn't enough to be able to make up three seconds.  My Michelin tire worked very well to the end today so this is encouraging for Valencia, where we will be trying one more time to win before the end of the season.

Kawasaki Team Report
Randy de Puniet gave his team something to celebrate today when he kept his fourth place start and rode to a spectacular fourth position in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.  However, in an unfortunate turn of events, Anthony West, who started in fifth place, made an error on the starting grid that cost him a potential MotoGP career-best result.

Frenchman de Puniet shot off from fourth on the line as the race began, showing brilliant progress in an area which has vexed him in the past, and clinched third place from Marco Melandri in turn one.  A leading group of Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, de Puniet and Melandri quickly formed, with the Kawasaki number 14 pilot maintaining third until the Italian overtook him on lap five.

But he never let up throughout the race and, whilst riding his 800cc Ninja ZX-RR to the maximum, held his position, eventually landing himself 13 championship points and taking 11th position in the current standings.

A delighted de Puniet came home to an uproarious reception from his crew after a weekend which has seen him relentlessly topping the timesheets and consistently displaying both talent and courage on the 4.55km circuit.  Bike, rider and Bridgestones shone for the entire, 21-lap race.

Fortune did not smile, however, on Anthony West.  Upon lining up for the start, the 26-year-old Australian placed himself on a 250cc grid position, marked on the track adjacent to the MotoGP spot.  This was officially flagged as a jump start and he was given a ride-through penalty, which he fulfilled at the end of lap five, surrendering a very-promising fifth place in the process.

It was a heartbreaking turn of events for West, after he had clocked spectacular times throughout the weekend and qualified in a personal best fifth position on the grid.  He re-joined the race in 20th place but, in typical West fashion, other riders were overtaken and he finally finished 15th, miraculously maintaining his run of scoring points at every round since he began racing in MotoGP in June.

Qualifying
Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri share the first row of the grid for the penultimate round of the 2007 MotoGP Championship, while Randy de Puniet and Anthony West put in a great performance to take positions 4 and 5 for tomorrow's race.

Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards are faced with a difficult challenge; the team worked hard throughout the day to rectify the lack of grip from which both riders have been suffering, but they were unable to find a competitive package and the pair now face a daunting task for tomorrow's 21-lap race when they start from ninth and thirteenth positions.

The rain stayed away today and during this morning's session, with temperatures in the low 30s and conditions of the newly improved track becoming increasingly more consistent as more rubber was laid down, times improved all round.

Rossi and Edwards both made some positive steps forward and finished the session in seventh and thirteenth, confident of more improvements this afternoon.  However this was not to be and a lack of grip on race tires this afternoon kept the pair down in the lower orders, before they made their qualifying challenges in the last 15 minutes.

Rossi briefly held second after his first qualifying lap but several riders went faster and a small mistake with his second tire meant he was unable to improve again.  Ninth place puts him on the outside of the third row, whilst Edwards will start from the head of the fifth row after failing to find a comfortable rhythm with either of his qualifying tires.

Sepang Race Circuit, Malaysia

Circuit Name: Sepang Circuit Length: 5548 m Opened 1999 Lap Record: 2' 2.993 (Nicky Hayden, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 2' 0.605 (Valentino Rossi, 2006) Circuit Tel: +60 3 85262000

Valentino Rossi - Position: 9thTime: 2'02.466Laps: 22:  "This morning things were feeling better for us and we were a little bit more confident.  Unfortunately this afternoon, with the higher temperatures, our tires didn't work in the same way and we were much slower and sliding quite a lot."

"With the qualifying tire I was quite confident and they worked quite well, as they have all season, and I thought there was a chance for the front row."

"With the second one I thought we could improve again but I had a slide in the third section and lost some time, and so now we are on the third row.  I am quite disappointed because our race pace is not good at the moment and we needed to be on the front row to give us the best chance possible for tomorrow."

"It will be difficult to use the warm-up to our advantage because the conditions are different to those we will probably have during the race, but anyway we will do what we can and try to make the best from the situation."

Kawasaki Team Report
Today's qualifying practice at Sepang ended with Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet heading up the second row with his team mate, Anthony West right behind him on the grid for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix.

In the afternoon's nail-biting session, the Frenchman crashed out, rode his spare bike for much of the allocated hour, then rode home his hastily-repaired, primary Ninja ZX-RR to fourth place on the leader board in the very final moments.

He clocked his best qualifying time of 2'02.107 with a top speed of 296.5kmh, just behind Marco Melandri who snatched the last place on the front row in the closing seconds by the tiniest margin of 0.163 seconds.

De Puniet began the day with another scorching free practice, which saw him coming second on the results sheets with a time of 2'02.534, just 0.243 behind Casey Stoner.  Having notched up such consistently good lap times on race tyres throughout all sessions, de Puniet feels confident for tomorrow's 21-lap race.

It was an electrifying session, which resulted in West's best qualifying position yet in MotoGP. The 26-year-old Australian enjoyed provisional pole after putting in his best lap time of 2'02.202 on his first qualifying tire.  This was eventually stolen from him but he maintained a front row spot until the very last second, when Melandri and de Puniet pushed him back to fifth in an exciting climax.

But West is positive: he, like his team mate, has been having an excellent weekend at Sepang so far.  The final practice combined times clocked him as fifth fastest in the field of riders and a long run on race tires saw him show remarkable consistency, culminating in a best time of 2'02.627.

Watching tomorrow's race will be the President of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd, Mr. Tadaharu Ohashi, who is currently visiting Malaysia on business, and the President of Kawasaki's Consumer Products and Machinery Company, Mr. Shinichi Tamba.  De Puniet and West will be particularly keen to do well in front of the two men who have done so much in support of Kawasaki's MotoGP project this year.