Racetrack Insider - News and Views of the Motorsports Industry from Insiders Drew Patey and Buddy Judy

Rossi MotoGP 2009 World Champion

Valentino Rossi claimed his seventh MotoGP title and his ninth World Championship of his career by fighting back to take third place at a very wet Malaysian Grand Prix. The race was delayed for over a half hour due to heavy rain which made the teams change tires. Casey Stoner won the race with Dani Pedrosa finishing in second while Rossi had to come back from 10th to finish third. Series standout Jorge Lorenzo was demoted to the back of the field when he had to change to his spare bike and failed to get out of the pit lane in time to join the grid. He finished in fourth. Nicky Hayden came to the finish line in fifth ahead of Chris Vermeulen, who started in 14th.