Race Results
Valentino Rossi rode a perfect race to win Yamaha's home Grand Prix in Japan today, claiming the 2008 MotoGP World Championship title in the process.

In doing so the 29-year-old Italian became only the second rider in history to recapture the title after two years, the other being Giacomo Agostini, whose all-time victory record Rossi surpassed at the last race in Indianapolis.

This is Rossi's third title with Yamaha, his sixth in the premier class and eighth in total in a career spanning 12 years.  He is the only rider in MotoGP history to win the championship on motorcycles of four different engine sizes.

His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finished a fighting fourth and today's results also secured the triple crown of Rider, Manufacturer and Team titles for Yamaha and the Fiat Yamaha Team.

Rossi slipped some places at the start and was in fifth first time around.  He soon found his rhythm however as his Bridgestone tires warmed up and he passed Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden on the next lap before settling in behind Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, the three contesting the next four laps within a few tenths of a second of one another.

On lap six both Rossi and Stoner got by Pedrosa and from then on the Italian was on his championship rival's tail, determined to find a way to pass him and win the race despite the title being his with a podium finish.

With ten laps to go Rossi did just that and it was then a straight run to the finish as he pulled away from Stoner, crossing the line 1.943 seconds and 92 championship points ahead to seal a very special title after two barren years.

Rossi has won eight races this season and, with three remaining, he is still in with a chance of matching the 11 he won in his second season with Yamaha in 2005.  Today's win was his 70th in the premier class, his 96th in total and his 148th career podium.

Valentino Rossi - Position:1st, Time:43'09.599:  "It's a great victory and a great achievement; I think it's at the same level as the first title in 2004 with Yamaha, maybe even better! 

This championship has been very long and hard and all of the team and all of Yamaha have worked very well, never giving up for one moment.  We have been able to put a great bike onto the track in all conditions and at all circuits, and this has allowed me to ride like this and to win so many races.  I am very happy!

The race was a great battle and I had to ride at 100%, like I have through all through the season! Pedrosa and Stoner today were very strong and it was fun to fight with them like this, I am happy that it was a good race for the fans.

It was a fantastic feeling to take the title with a win, like I did in 2001 and 2004.  I think this is the hardest I have ever had to work to win a world championship and I have to say a huge thank you to Yamaha, my mechanics, the team and everyone involved for working this hard alongside me.

Of course I also have to say a special thank you to Bridgestone, they have done a great job with the tires all season and the decision to be with them has been a big part of our success this season.

We have lost for two years and I don't think I was the favorite this season, but we have shown that we are a great team and that we never give up.  I am so happy that I have now won three titles with Yamaha because this is how many I won with my last team and I want Yamaha to have the same merit - I am a Yamaha rider and I feel different with Yamaha than with anyone else before - I hope we will have more together!  Now I have to get used to being World Champion again!"

I think it’s difficult to say, but maybe this is even better than the first championship with Yamaha in 2004.  In 2004 I arrived after three championships in a row; the change was very big and no one expected me to win then, not even us to be honest!  But this year is great too because I didn’t start as the number one favorite after losing for two years.  The taste of this is something special.

In 2006 I lost because of bad luck; I still won the most races and was the fastest on track for most of the time, but in 2007 Stoner was a lot faster than us and so we got to the end with a big of disadvantage.  Winning this championship was very difficult but also very, very important.

The decision to change to Bridgestone tires, which I took together with Jeremy, my team and all the Yamaha crew, was very important, as were the changes to the bike because the first 800cc M1 last year was not competitive enough.

We spoke a lot during last season and I remember a strange meeting in Valencia last year, me with a broken hand, speaking with Furusawa about 2008.  From then we started to work on the improvements for this season.  It’s also been important to have the right people in the right place and this year everything has been correct.  It’s been step-by-step.

I think I have made a lot of good decisions this year and we have been competitive from the start.  Qatar was the worst race of the season but I knew our potential was good so, although we were a bit worried at that point, we weren’t desperate because we knew if we fixed a few problems we could try to win.

I grew up a lot in the last two years, because at the end of 2005 I had a great career and I had won all the important targets so far.  125, 250 and then five titles in a row in MotoGP with two different bikes – I felt unbeatable.  But in 2006 and 2007 I learnt to lose and this has been very important.  I came out much stronger and my level of concentration and effort to win this championship has been higher than ever before.

This season has had some different periods.  At the beginning of the year we had some important results when Bridgestone wasn’t the strongest: Jerez, Portugal and others, and in that period we took a big advantage from Stoner.  After Barcelona Casey started to ride like a demon and dominated three races in a row, and then we went to Laguna which was the turning point of the season. Laguna was a real battle and from then on we have flown.

The show after the race was one of my friends pretending to be a ‘notary’, signing and certificating the eighth championship ‘deed’.  It was very exciting to be planning the championship t-shirt and celebration once again with my friends and fan club and the one we came up with is funny I think, it says ‘I’m sorry for the delay!’

I am very content at Yamaha and this is why I signed for two more years.  I had some good offers at other factories, but I already changed bike once and proved everything I wanted to and so there is no need to do that again.  Also I am no longer 20 years old and I need a good atmosphere in my team in order to keep me focused and happy, and I have this at Yamaha.  The atmosphere in our team, from the Japanese all the way down to the garage is fantastic and this is what makes me want to stay.

I think 2009 will be even more difficult than this year.  Now I am the world champion again and I have demonstrated that I am still very fast; I think I rode the best of my career this year apart from the mistake in Assen, but next year is another story, it depends on how the winter is and how Stoner, Pedrosa and also Lorenzo are next year, as well as the other riders because there are many fast people in this championship.  I think it will be a great championship and I’m looking forward to it, but first I want to finish this year and try to win the final three races!

As I said, there are many strong riders but of course I hope that in the future nobody will win like Valentino Rossi!  Maybe my brother Luca will be as strong as me…I wanted to take him on my bike on the celebration lap, but they did not allow it.  Maybe I will wait for him to be a MotoGP rider before quitting, then I will beat him in the first year, and then I will stop riding!

When you are 20 or 22 yrs old, you live everything in a different way.  It’s different… In 2000, maybe, I could have won on my debut, but I underestimated myself!  In 2001 it was the last chance for me to win in 500, so I gave it my best and did that.  In 2001 it was the year of the battle with Biaggi, in 2002 it was the year when everybody said that I won because of my bike, then 2003 was the year of Gibernau, it was hard until the end.  They were fantastic years but with Yamaha it is different.  I enjoy it more.

During 2003 I started thinking about Yamaha.  Of course I was scared about the new challenge, it was a big question mark.  This year, when I tested the new bike and the new tires, I understood that I could win.  In 2004, however, when I tested the new bike I understood we had to work a lot.  Sincerely, the feeling of winning in Welkom in 2004 was the strongest emotion of my career; more so than in Laguna Seca this year.  The 2005 the M1 was very fast and that one and the 2008 one are the best Yamaha bikes ever.

I think Stoner next year will be back stronger again, so maybe he is the hardest rival I have ever had, more than Gibernau and all the others I fought against in the past.  Last year I was sorry that after so many successful years, some people thought Valentino was finished and Casey was the new Valentino.  As I said, until I stop riding a bike, my objective will always be to win. I like this life and I always try to do my best in it.”

Statistics on Valentino Rossi's Career
In becoming only the second rider ever to win the MotoGP World Championship following a two-year gap, Valentino Rossi has cemented his place amongst the legends of motorcycle racing.  A return to the form that won him five consecutive premier-class titles between 2001 and 2005 has seen the Italian reinstated at the very pinnacle of the sport, with a host of career milestones reached along the way.

Here is a full list of Rossi’s historic MotoGP achievements in 2008:

• Rossi has joined Giacomo Agostini as one of only two riders to have taken six or more premier-class World Championships.

• Rossi is only the second rider to regain the premier-class title after a two year gap – the other rider to do this was also Agostini.

• This is Rossi’s eighth world title across all classes. Only Agostini with 15, Angel Nieto, with 13, Mike Hailwood and Carlos Ubbiali, with nine each, have won more.

• Rossi is the first rider to win the premier-class title on four different types of motorcycle: 500cc 4-cylinder two-stroke, 990cc 5-cylinder four-stroke, Yamaha 990cc 4-cylinder four-stroke and a Yamaha 800cc 4-cylinder four-stroke.

• It is eleven years since Rossi’s first World Championship success in the 125cc class in 1997. The only rider with a longer period between his first and last titles is Angel Nieto, who won the 50cc crown in 1969 and the 125cc equivalent in 1984.

• With his 69th career MotoGP win at Indianapolis, Rossi broke Giacomo Agostini’s record for the most premier-class victories; a record that has stood since the legendary Italian’s final victory at the West German Grand Prix in 1976.

• With 37 wins, Rossi has had more success with Yamaha than any other factory in his career
  

• Rossi is also Yamaha’s most successful rider, having scored 13 more premier-class wins for the factory than Kenny Roberts.

• With three races to go he is the only rider to have scored points in every round of the 2008 season.

• Rossi’s sequence of five straight race wins since Laguna Seca is his longest run of wins since 2005, when he also scored five successive victories.

Other facts about Rossi’s career.

• In 1997 Rossi became the second youngest ever 125cc World Champion after scoring 321 points and eleven wins.

• Two years later, he became the youngest ever 250cc World Champion with nine wins.

• In 2001 Rossi joined Phil Read as one of only two riders ever to win the 125cc, 250cc and 500cc titles.

• Rossi’s debut victory for Yamaha at the opening race of 2004 in South Africa made him the first rider in history to take back-to-back wins for different manufacturers.

• After winning the MotoGP World Championship three times with Honda, Rossi took his fourth premier-class title with Yamaha in 2004 and became the only rider other than Eddie Lawson to win consecutive premier-class titles for different manufacturers.

• Valentino Rossi - Career
  Nationality: Italian
  Born: 16th February 1979 in Urbino, Italy
  World Championships: 8 (6 x MotoGP/500cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 125cc)
  GP victories: 96 (70 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
  GP podiums: 148 (112 x MotoGP/500cc, 21 x 250cc, 15 x 125cc)
  GP Pole Positions: 51 (41 x MotoGP/500cc, 5 x 250cc, 5 x 125cc)
  First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
  First GP win: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)
  GP starts: 207 (146 x MotoGP/50cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
  

2008 MotoGP Japan - Motegi - Race Results Sep 28, 2008

Circuit Length: 4801. Temp: 20. Crowd: 50,000. Weather: Dry

Race 1 - 24 Laps

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time

1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 43'9.599

2 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 0'1.943

3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'4.866

4 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 0'6.165

5 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'24.593

6 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 0'25.683

7 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'25.918

8 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 0'26.003

9 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0'26.219

10 John Hopkins Kawasaki USA 0'37.131

11 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'37.574

12 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 0'38.020

13 Marco Melandri Ducati ITA 0'39.768

14 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 0'45.846

15 Anthony West Kawasaki AUS 0'55.748

Rider Standings as of September 28, 2008

1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 312

2. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 220

3. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 209

4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 169

5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 136

6. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 118

7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 117

8. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 115

9. Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 96

10. Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 95

11. James Toseland Yamaha GBR 90

12. Toni Elias Ducati ESP 86

13. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 58

14. Alex De Angelis Honda SMR 55

15. Marco Melandri Ducati ITA 51

Team Standings as of September 28, 2008

1. FIAT Yamaha Team 481

2. Repsol Honda Team 324

3. Ducati Marlboro Team 271

4. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 215

5. Tech3 Yamaha 208

6. Honda Gresini 150

7. Team Alice 144

8. JIR Scot Team 136

9. Kawasaki Racing Team 89

10. Honda LCR 47

Manufacturer Standings as of September 28, 2008

1. Yamaha 341

2. Ducati 261

3. Honda 259

4. Suzuki 159

5. Kawasaki 77

Qualifying
Jorge Lorenzo was on superb form at Motegi today, taking an impressive pole position on his first visit to Japan as a Yamaha rider.

The 21-year-old will head the field for his Factory's home race tomorrow whilst his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi, who will be bidding to seal his eighth World Championship crown, will start from fourth.

Lorenzo struggled in the dry yesterday afternoon but some overnight set-up changes to his M1 reaped rich rewards today and the Spaniard was in very different shape from this morning, finishing the early session in second.

This afternoon saw him sustain an even higher level of performance, improving with three out of four of his Michelin qualifying tires and holding off Casey Stoner, Nicky Hayden and Rossi to hang on to pole position.

With his challengers already back in the pits he had pole in the bag for his final run but was nonetheless able to improve once again, setting a best lap of 1'45.543 and bettering the previous pole record by 0.181 seconds.

Lorenzo began his MotoGP career this season with three straight poles, culminating in a win from the third one in Portugal.  He has started from third at the last two races and finished in the same position for both, meaning he has been on the podium each time he has started on the front row this season. He will be looking to keep this record intact when the lights go out at 1400 local time tomorrow.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1st; Time: 1'54.543; Laps: 27:  "I'm so happy for this pole position because this is how I started my season and it shows that we are returning to how we were.  It's the first pole since Portugal, when I won, and we have had a hard time since then until the last two podiums so this is a great satisfaction for me.

I was able to ride so fast all day today, a big improvement from yesterday, and my Michelin tires worked so well all day so thank you to them.  My team have done a great job to set the bike up and this is a fantastic qualifying for us. It's not the race so now we have to wait for tomorrow, but we're starting in the best place so I am looking forward to having a great race."

Rossi on Second Row
Valentino Rossi will contest his first 'match point' of the 2008 championship from the head of the second row tomorrow, having qualified fourth at Motegi today.

After the changeable weather of yesterday, today was bright and sunny and Rossi was in good shape this morning and finished the session third.  This afternoon he signaled his intentions with twenty minutes to go by going to the top of the time sheets with his first Bridgestone qualifying tire, although he was displaced soon after by Stoner, who was then replaced by Lorenzo in turn.

Despite improving with his next two tires Rossi was unable to make a dent in his team-mate's time and he than ran into traffic on his last run, meaning he was unable to improve a final time and was edged off the front row by Nicky Hayden at the end.

Finishing on the podium will be enough for the Italian to secure his eighth world championship tomorrow, although he can also take the title from further down the order depending on where Casey Stoner finishes.  Tomorrow's 24-lap race gets underway at 1400 local time.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 4th; Time: 1'46.060; Laps: 26:  "Honestly I'm a bit disappointed because the front row was our target today, but anyway fourth isn't too bad! 

Unfortunately we spent a bit too much time with the race tires and started our qualifying sequence a few minutes late, this meant that I was maybe one or two minutes late going out with my last tire and I got a bit caught up with traffic when de Angelis fell.

Anyway, our race pace is quite good so I am confident that we can be in the fight, although we will have to get a good start.  We have one or two small problems that we need to work on so we will use the warm-up to check a few things and I think we can improve a little bit more.  I am not thinking about the championship right now, I will just aim for the podium and see what happens."

Edwards and Toseland Ready for Motegi Battle
Tech 3 Yamaha duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland claimed top ten grid positions for tomorrow's 24-lap Japanese MotoGP race at the Twin Ring Motegi.

Edwards claimed his best qualifying position since his home race in Laguna Seca as he finished an exciting session with the seventh quickest time. Having spent most of the day trying to improve rear traction on race tires, Edwards was immediately in the groove on his first Michelin qualifying tire.

He jumped to the top of the timesheets with a lap of 1.47.082 with 23 minutes remaining and showed impressive progress throughout.  By the end he was only 0.046s off claiming a superb second row start with a best time of 1.46.496.

Toseland will start from 10th position as the British rider worked tirelessly on fine-tuning his race set-up to suit harder compound tires, with conditions much hotter than yesterday's mixed weather.  Toseland steadily improved his pace and he's confident he can fight his way into contention for a top six finish in Yamaha's home race.

Colin Edwards 7th 1.46.496 - 24 laps:  "I felt like I threw everything at it today but I couldn't get close to Jorge's time.  That was pretty impressive and he did an awesome job.  The weird thing is that our qualifier doesn't usually spin at all but for some reason today that's all mine did.

Michelin have had a great qualifier all year but today it felt more like a soft race tire, which is very strange and I don't know if it is down to the tire or the set-up.  Looking at Jorge and how he seemed to make it work, I guess it was our set-up.  On race tires it is the same.  Everything I have got it is spinning but there is no variation.

I've got three tires I could race and they all feel the same.  Normally that would tell you there is a set-up issue.  We had spinning problems yesterday and we played around with rear springs and some other suggestions we thought might work, but none of it really seemed to make any difference.  We just haven't found anything yet.

Looking at my race pace, I don't really have a low 47 in my package at the moment and it looks like that's what we are going to need.  It would have been good to be on the second row because history has shown that the first corner here can be pretty tough. 

It is also not the easiest place to overtake on.  There are a lot of hard braking zones but you've got lots of momentum going into the corner, so you've got to be really confident to dive underneath somebody.  This is a big race for Yamaha tomorrow and hopefully I can play a big part in it."

James Toseland 10th 1.46.863 - 23 laps:  "I paid for my lack of time and experience on this track really.  To be in the top ten is not too bad but when you believe you can do a lot better it is frustrating. 

With four qualifiers you need half the session to use them and that just leaves you ten to fifteen laps on race tires to find a good set-up.  We got the bike a bit better and got into the 48s but we really need to be doing high 47s to be challenging for the top six.

I'm pretty happy with my progress but with that rain session yesterday it has held me back a little bit.  We made a step forward with the set-up yesterday but there is more we need to do.  The temperature was a lot hotter today and the softer tire that was looking good, we can't use. 

Now it is warmer we need to run the harder tire and we need a lot more weight on the rear to make it work.  The setting that we had was fine for the softer tire but with the harder one it wasn't putting enough load on the rear tire. 

On the qualifiers I got into the 46s and I'm only three-tenths off Colin and he has been here many times on the same bike.  I could have done with being on that third row so it will be a bit difficult but we'll try and keep out of trouble early on.  You need a good start because there is not much distance between the start and the first corner.

There is a top six finish out there if we can improve the setting and I'll be giving it my all as usual with this being such an important race for everybody at Yamaha."

2008 MotoGP Japan - Motegi Qualifying - September 27, 2008

Circuit Length: 4801. Temp: 25. Weather: Sunny

1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 1'45.543

2 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'45.831

3 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'45.971

4 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'46.060

5 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'46.303

6 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 1'46.450

7 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'46.496

8 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 1'46.554

9 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 1'46.616

10 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 1'46.863

11 John Hopkins Kawasaki USA 1'46.888

12 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1'46.904

13 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 1'46.907

14 Toni Elias Ducati ESP 1'46.958

15 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati FRA 1'47.400