MOTOGP Round 13 Malaysia

Valentino Rossi took victory in the Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix after a heart-stopping final few laps at the Sepang circuit that saw him and compatriot Loris Capirossi switch positions numerous times before the reigning World Champion eventually ran out the winner.

The race began with a surprise in the form of the appearance of Dani Pedrosa. The Repsol Honda rider was thought to be a non-starter after suffering a deep gash to his knee during a crash in practice. Pedrosa apparently only decided to race midway though the 250 race! It paid off as the Spaniard got the early jump to lead the field away, closely followed by Capirossi and Rossi. Behind the leaders, Pedrosa's team-mate and championship leader Nicky Hayden struggled to keep pace with the front three. At the front Rossi and Capirossi both made attempts to escape, but the pace of the pair was almost identical. As the dogfight entered the final lap, the Ducati led the Yamaha, but Rossi put in a storming last lap to pass Capirossi in the tight uphill left-hander, before pulling out another eight tenths to take the win. Capirossi brought his Ducati home in second, with Pedrosa a further three seconds behind in third.
Nicky Hayden held off mid-race challenges from Sete Gibernau and Casey Stoner to take 13 points in fourth, whilst Gibernau himself was fifth on his return from injury. In the final laps Stoner was overtaken by both John Hopkins and Kenny Roberts Jr. to finish eighth, whilst Marco Melandri and Colin Edwards rounded out the top ten.

MotoGP Results: 1. Rossi, 2. Capirossi, 3. Pedrosa, 4. Hayden, 5. Gibernau, 6. Hopkins, 7. Roberts, 8. Stoner.

250cc
Jorge Lorenzo extended his lead over Andrea Dovizioso in the 250cc World Championship to 12 points with victory in Malaysia, although his Italian rival kept up the pressure with a second place. Neither rider was first out of the blocks, with Roberto Locatelli taking the holeshot and controlling the race in the early stages before going off-track. Lorenzo's team-mate and poleman Hector Barbera saw his chances literally go up in flames on lap 2, when a highside from the Spaniard sent sparks along the track. Another contender, Hiroshi Aoyama, pulled up soon after with a mechanical problem. Anthony West finished 15th, lapped by the leading riders.

125cc
Alvaro Bautista took win number six of the season in a shortened 125cc Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, keeping alive the possibility of him raising the 125cc world title in Australia next weekend. Creating a gap on both occasions between himself and second placed Mika Kallio, he extended his lead over the KTM rider to 74 points. The race was cut to a 12 lap affair after a restart, when Mattia Pasini highsided on lap 2 and the unfortunate Andrea Iannone smashed into his prone bike in the middle of the track. Hector Faubel came in third after a back-and-forth battle with Julian Simon in the race's closing stages.