Rossi wins again in Malaysia

Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi took his ninth win of the season with a comfortable victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.

The Italian moved into second place on lap two following an unsuccessful attempt on lap one, and quickly moved onto the tail of leader Dani Pedrosa. Rossi then sat on Pedrosa's tail before taking the lead on lap 11 with a late-braking move around the back of the circuit, easing away to victory ahead of the Spaniard.

The battle behind them for third position was close throughout the race, Andrea Dovizioso in third ahead of Nicky Hayden, Casey Stoner and Shinya Nakano on lap two.

As the laps wound down Stoner struggled to keep up, Nakano eventually taking fifth from him on lap 16, quickly catching the duo ahead.

At the start of lap 18, Hayden took third from Dovizioso at turn one, only for Dovizioso to take it straight back on the exit, Hayden then taking the place back again at turn two.

But Dovizioso took the place back again just a couple of corners later, and although Hayden stayed right on his tail, the American couldn't make a pass, the young Italian taking his first MotoGP podium finish.

Hayden finished just behind Dovizioso in fourth, Nakano in fifth and Stoner in sixth. Loris Capirossi and Colin Edwards put in good performances to be within a few seconds of Stoner at the finish in seventh and eight positions.

Jorge Lorenzo, who caught the group battling for third and was in with a chance of a podium finish, fell at turn one on lap twelve. He remounted but pulled into the pits to retire at the end of the lap.

Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 43:06.007 2. Dani Pedrosa Honda (B) + 4.008 3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 8.536 4. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 8.858 5. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 10.583 6. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) + 13.640 7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) + 15.936 8. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 18.802 9. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 23.174 10. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 25.516 11. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) + 27.609 12. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) + 41.399 13. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 45.617 14. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) + 49.003 15. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 59.139 16. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) +1:03.328 17. Nobuatsu Aoki Suzuki (B) +1:48.363 Not classified: Rider Bike Laps Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 12 James Toseland Yamaha (M) 2

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