ROSSI TAKES SECOND SUCCESSIVE MOTOGP TITLE FOR YAMAHA
25 September 2005 - Yamaha Racing

Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi clinched the MotoGP World Championship for the fifth successive season after taking second place in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang today.

Rossi became only the third rider in history to win the premier-class title on five occasions, emulating the achievements of Mick Doohan and Giacomo Agostini and adding to his championships in the 125cc and 250cc classes. Now a seven-time World Champion, Rossi marked the achievement by wearing a t-shirt bearing the famous number 7 worn by the legendary Barry Sheene and launching into a riotous celebration with his fan club, dressed as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to commemorate the occasion.

The Italian secured the championship with four races to spare thanks largely to the swift action of his mechanics, who resolved a series of tyre and set-up problems during this morning''s warm-up session and allowed him to charge from seventh on the grid to a sensational second place behind eventual winner Loris Capirossi (Ducati). Rossi''s Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards finished in tenth place after struggling with front set-up problems all weekend.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 2nd
''I am very happy because I gave more than 100% in the race today. We have been in trouble all weekend and this morning I wasn''t sure if I would finish on the podium. But I got a good start and rode a clever race whilst other riders seemed nervous and made mistakes. Little by little I moved to the front and I felt comfortable with the bike. I passed Hayden and then swapped positions with Capirossi a couple of times, but in the last seven laps he changed gear and I couldn''t go with him. Anyway, I am World Champion for the seventh time, which is incredible! Last year was a bit of a surprise but this time everybody was out to beat me. I want to thank all my mechanics, Jerry, the engineers. everybody who works for Yamaha!''

Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team), 10th
''We made the same mistake as we did in the first round at Jerez, but in reverse. This morning we went to a different construction front tyre and we fixed the problem we had, but then the balance of the bike wasn''t right and we didn''t have time to sort it out. The rear was sitting way too low and started to go quite early in the race. From then on it was a case of survival. At least we know where we went wrong and I''m really looking forward to Qatar because I had a great race there. I want to say congratulations to Valentino because he''s done an awesome job this year.''

Jeremy Burgess - Rossi''s Crew Chief
''Obviously the situation in Motegi meant that the celebrations were put off for a week but now we can celebrate. It has been a difficult weekend for all the teams, including ourselves, but we made a few changes in the warm-up and managed to give Valentino a bike that we knew could run for the podium. The season started with exactly the bike that we wanted and Yamaha has done everything we asked for. To win nine out of thirteen races is an excellent achievement by everybody and we have a great package. Good rider, good bike, good team. what more could you ask for?''

Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 11th
''It was a very tough race. We had problems with the front end, which did not let me ride comfortably as I did not have the grip I wanted. It''s a bit strange, as we did not have any problems for the first two days. Now we''ll have to work hard to find a solution in the next few days. Despite everything we have worked well this weekend and must keep heading in this direction.''

Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team), 15th ''I did not feel too good yesterday and did not sleep well at all. I had a bad start today and it took a while to find my rhythm. There are still four races left at circuits that I like and I hope to get some good results and enjoy myself. If I don''t feel confident on the bike then it makes it difficult for me, but I will keep on fighting.''

Race classification MotoGP
Round: 13 - Malaysian MotoGP
Circuit: Sepang
Circuit Length: 5548
Lap Record: 2'' 2.993 (Nicky Hayden, 2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 2'' 1.731 (Loris Capirossi, 2005)

Race: 21 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA 43'' 27.523
2 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA +1.999
3 C. Checa Ducati ESP +2.069
4 N. Hayden Honda USA +9.227
5 M. Melandri Honda ITA +15.886
6 M. Biaggi Honda ITA +16.826
7 K. Roberts Suzuki USA +17.249
8 A. Barros Honda BRA +18.221
9 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA +20.125
10 C. Edwards Yamaha USA +22.275
11 T. Elias Yamaha ESP +29.856
12 M. Tamada Honda JPN +51.672
13 R. Rolfo Ducati ITA +1'' 5.365
14 S. Byrne Honda GBR +1'' 19.106
15 R. Xaus Yamaha ESP +1'' 19.356
16 F. Battaini Blata WCM ITA +1'' 55.882

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 N. Hayden Honda USA 2'' 2.993


Championship standings MotoGP

Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 281
2 Max Biaggi Honda ITA 159
3 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 142
4 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 139
5 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 137
6 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 134
7 Alex Barros Honda BRA 122
8 Sete Gibernau Honda ESP 115
9 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 88
10 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 69
11 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 68
12 Kenny Roberts Suzuki USA 58
13 Troy Bayliss Honda AUS 54
14 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 53
15 Toni Elias Yamaha ESP 43
16 Ruben Xaus Yamaha ESP 43


Manufacturers standings MotoGP

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Yamaha 295
2 Honda 251
3 Ducati 152
4 Kawasaki 97
5 Suzuki 85
6 Blata WCM 10
7 Proton KR 1
8 Moriwaki 1


Team standings MotoGP
Pos. Team Points
1 Gauloises Yamaha Team 420
2 Repsol Honda Team 293
3 Team Movistar Honda MotoGP 252
4 Ducati Marlboro Team 230
5 Honda Camel 178
6 Kawasaki Racing Team 116
7 Team Suzuki MotoGP 111
8 Fortuna Yamaha Team 90
9 Konica Minolta Honda 80
10 D''Antin MotoGP 18
11 Blata WCM 10
12 Team Roberts KR 1

Race classification GP250
Round: 12 - Malaysian GP250
Circuit: Sepang
Circuit Length: 5548
Lap Record: 2'' 8.015 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2004)
Fastest Lap Ever: 2'' 6.940 (Sebastian Porto, 2004)

Race: 20 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 C. Stoner Aprilia AUS 43'' 23.138
2 A. de Angelis Aprilia SMR +3.133
3 S. Porto Aprilia ARG +4.111
4 R. de Puniet Aprilia FRA +7.569
5 H. Aoyama Honda JPN +10.109
6 H. Barbera Honda ESP +26.123
7 Y. Takahashi Honda JPN +27.301
8 R. Locatelli Aprilia ITA +28.006
9 S. Guintoli Aprilia FRA +59.478
10 T. Sekiguchi Aprilia JPN +59.579
11 D. Heidolf Honda GER +1'' 1.437
12 C. Davies Aprilia GBR +1'' 4.004
13 M. Giansanti Aprilia ITA +1'' 4.803
14 S. Jenkner Aprilia GER +1'' 12.500
15 M. Cardenas Aprilia +1'' 21.073

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 C. Stoner Aprilia AUS 2'' 8.853

Championship standings GP250

Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 226
2 Casey Stoner Aprilia AUS 188
3 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 144
4 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 134
5 Alex de Angelis Aprilia SMR 129
6 Randy de Puniet Aprilia FRA 121
7 Sebastian Porto Aprilia ARG 121
8 Jorge Lorenzo Honda ESP 98
9 Hector Barbera Honda ESP 77
10 Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia FRA 62
11 Yuki Takahashi Honda JPN 60
12 Simone Corsi Aprilia ITA 59
13 Alex Debon Honda ESP 46
14 Roberto Locatelli Aprilia ITA 39
15 Anthony West KTM AUS 30

Manufacturers standings GP250

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Honda 259
2 Aprilia 253
3 KTM 30

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