MotoGP 2008 champion, Valentino Rossi, takes his ninth victory of the season today at the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang and finished with more than four seconds over runner-up and pole sitter Dani Pedrosa.The Fiat Yamaha driver had a good start and rapidly took second place moving closer and closer to leader Pedrosa (Honda) until he overtook the Spaniard on lap 11. The battle behind them for third position was close throughout the race as Andrea Dovizioso (Honda), Nicky Hayden(Honda), Casey Stoner (Ducati) and Shinya Nakano (Honda) tried to get the better out of each other. But as the race progressed, Casey Stoner struggled to keep up and Nakano took fifth.At the end, Hayden finished just behind Dovizioso in fourth, Nakano in fifth and Stoner in sixth. 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. Race results: Pos Rider Bike Time1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 43:06.0072. Dani Pedrosa Honda (B) + 4.0083. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 8.5364. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 8.8585. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 10.5836. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) + 13.6407. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) + 15.9368. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 18.8029. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 23.17410. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 25.51611. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) + 27.60912. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) + 41.39913. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 45.61714. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) + 49.00315. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 59.13916. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) +1:03.32817. Nobuatsu Aoki Suzuki (B) +1:48.363 Not classified: Rider Bike Laps Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 12 James Toseland Yamaha (M) 2
MotoGP: A ninth win for Valentino Rossi