MotoGP – Sepang – Bridgestone Report

Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) dominated the Malaysian Grand Prix, held on the Sepang track, using hard compound wet tires on both the front and rear like all the riders. Due to a violent storm before the start of the Grand Prix, the race started late and the track remained wet for the entire duration of the race. The Malaysian Grand Prix was the only one this season to be held entirely in wet conditions. After starting in fourth position on the starting grid, Stoner took command of the race on the first lap, maintaining the lead until the checkered flag and taking his fourth victory of the season and the twentieth of his career on Bridgestone tyres. Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) and teammate Jorge Lorenzo set a particularly fast race pace, demonstrating the consistency and durability of the Bridgestone wet tires in very slippery track conditions. Stoner preceded the Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa, second, and Valentino Rossi, third at the finish line, who thus earned the title of World Champion with one race to spare.

Hiroshi Yasukawa – Head of Bridgestone Corporation: “I would like to congratulate Casey for the well-deserved victory on the Sepang track in particularly difficult conditions and with Valentino Rossi and the Fiat Yamaha team for today's third place and for the conquest of the ninth world title, second in a row obtained with Bridgestone tyres. The competition has been particularly close this season and I am very pleased with the support we have provided to all the teams and drivers as official tire suppliers. I am convinced that we will see many more exciting races, both in Valencia in the last round of this season, and in the next two seasons where we will once again be the sole supplier of tires for all the teams.”

Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Development Manager: “It was the first race of the season held in wet conditions over the entire race distance and even with the rain the temperature remained high. For this reason we decided to use hard compound wet tyres. I can say that they were particular conditions because normally when it rains the temperatures are lower. After the torrential rain that fell before the start, the track was very wet and would not dry quickly despite the heat, so we decided to use wet tires capable of guaranteeing good durability. From the early stages Casey showed a very high race pace despite the difficult track conditions.”

Casey Stoner – Team – Winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix: “We have never tested in the wet on this track and even in the case of torrential rain the track has always dried quickly. When I got the lead on the first lap I started pushing hard. I didn't expect to get such a big advantage and, despite the particularly slippery track, the tire conditions were better than I would have expected. I couldn't have asked for a better return to competition than this with two wins.”

Valentino Rossi – Fiat Yamaha Team – 2009 World Champion: “This weekend I was very fast in the dry but right before the start it started raining heavily and we took to the track without a wet set-up. The ninth World Championship, the seventh in MotoGP, represents a great achievement for me. I want to thank all the guys at Yamaha, the whole team, Peter [Rossi's Bridgestone engineer], my friends and everyone who helped me achieve this result. Now we can relax – the ninth title is great!”

First ten classified in the race and type of compound chosen for the front and rear wet tyres:

Wet tire compounds available:

Anterior: hard
Posterior: hard

Rear: hard1st Casey Stoner (Ducati Team) 47m24.834s hard, hard
2nd Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) 47m39.500s +14.666s hard, hard
3rd Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha Team) 47m44.219s +19.385s hard, hard
4th Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha Team) 47m50.684s +25.850s hard, hard
5th Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 48m03.539s +38.705s hard, hard
6th Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 48m05.895s +41.061s hard, hard
7th Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 48m13.389s +48.555s hard, hard
8th Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing Team) 48m20.391s +55.557s hard, hard
9th Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 48m25.137s +60.303s hard, hard
10th Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) 48m25.274s +60.440s hard, hard

Weather: rain.
Temperatures: air 27°C – 28°C; runway 34°C – 38°