|
Dani Pedrosa started the 2007 Malaysian GP from pole for the
third successive race. Alongside him on the front row was the
familiar site of the 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner and the
Gresini Honda pilot, Marco Melandri.
Randy dePuniet and Anthony West would be aiming to improve on the
previous best Kawasaki result at Sepang of eighth place, starting in
fourth and fifth. This was only the second time that Kawasaki has
had both riders in the top five places on the grid. Joining them on
the second row was American Nicky Hayden in sixth.
The race promised to be a close, tight and scrappy affair with the
first three rows of the grid being covered by just 0.589 seconds
after Saturday’s qualifying session.
The man starting at the back of the third row, was
Valentino Rossi who would be starting in his lowest grid position
since he qualified eleventh at the Dutch TT earlier in the year.
Away from the line and Stoner blasted his Ducati into the lead of
the race from Pedrosa and Randy DePuniet. Over the course of the
first lap Stoner looked strong but was not able to put any distance
over Pedrosa in second.
Anthony West started the race from the wrong grid position, a metre
to the right of where he was supposed to be and would incur a ride
through penalty; it was devastating news for the Kawasaki rider
after starting from his highest grid position to date.
Stoner, Pedrosa, DePuniet and Melandri began to break away from Ant
West in fifth as Rossi in sixth closed in on the Australian.
DePuniet in third was pushing very hard to keep in touch with the
leaders, having a huge moment at one stage, nearly resulting in a
high-side.
Melandri made a move past DePuniet for third and began to close the
slight gap that had opened up to Stoner and Pedrosa at the front.
West entered the pit lane for his ride through with 16 laps
remaining.
At the front Stoner still headed the field from Pedrosa, Melandri
and DePuniet with a further gap back to Rossi, Elias and Hayden.
Pedrosa had to take defensive lines into several corners as Melandri
heaped pressure on the diminutive Spaniard.
Stoner set the fastest lap of the race with 13 laps to run as he
attempted to up his pace and break Pedrosa behind him. Melandri made
a move on Pedrosa for second place on the same lap. The Bridgestone
shod Honda rider was looking strong as Pedrosa began to struggle
slightly on his Michelins.
Stoner continued to set fastest laps of the race but Melandri in
second was able to respond and set roughly the same lap times as the
World Champion really got his head down.
Randy DePuniet in fourth began to drop away from the leading trio
slightly as the pace really began to heat up.
Rossi in fifth continued to set personal best lap times but it was
not enough to close in on the leaders. Stoner’s lead had increased
to one and a half seconds with 10 laps remaining over Melandri,
Pedrosa and DePuniet with a further gap back to Rossi, Elias,
Hayden, Hopkins, Vermeulen and Edwards rounded out the top 10.
Suzuki riders Hopkins and Vermeulen were having a rare old scrap for
eighth place, not where they wanted to be, but they were being able
to provide some fantastic entertainment.
With 9 laps remaining Nicky Hayden, while scrapping with Toni Elias
for sixth, ran off the track at the final turn. Hayden had finished
fourth on each of his previous four visits to Sepang and started
this race from his lowest grid position since the German Grand Prix,
ultimately a difficult weekend for the Kentucky kid.
Meanwhile back at the front Stoner was comfortably able to maintain
his advantage over the Honda’s of Melandri and Pedrosa behind him,
keeping the distance at around one and a half seconds.
With six laps to run, after some quick laps from Melandri and
Pedrosa before him, Stoner set the fastest lap of the race, breaking
the existing lap record, set by his teammate Capirossi on the 990
Ducati the year before.
Pedrosa in third began to struggle more and more as the final laps
ticked away and DePuniet in fourth began to close in on the young
Spaniard. Stoner continued to look comfortable in the lead as
Melandri tried everything in second to close the gap to the
superlative Australian.
Pedrosa replied to the increase in pace from DePuniet by setting his
personal best lap time with four laps to run. The Spaniard would be
desperate to hang onto his third place and the final podium
position.
While things were beginning to look settled late on in the race,
Melandri in second had ideas of unsettling things by closing the gap
to Stoner from one a half seconds to an even second with three laps
to run.
Stoner responded instantly however and pulled the lead back out to
1.6 seconds heading onto the penultimate lap to all but wrap up his
10th victory of the season.
Another supreme ride from Stoner saw the Australian hold a
comfortable gap over his rivals during the closing laps and fly to
yet another well deserved win, becoming the first rider to win at
Sepang in all three classes.
He was followed home by Marco Melandri. Before the race, Sepang was
one of only two circuits on the current GP calendar where Melandri
had not had a podium finish in any class of GP racing, Misano now
being the only track.
Pedrosa finished third, restoring some pride for Michelin followed
by DePuniet in fourth ahead of Valentino Rossi; the last time ‘The
Doctor’ didn’t finish on the podium at Sepang was his second-ever
race in the top class in 2000, when he crashed out on lap four.
Elias took a determined sixth place from the Suzuki teammates of
Vermeulen and Hopkins who scrapped for the entire race distance.
Hayden recovered from his off track excursion to finish ninth ahead
of Edwards who rounded out the top 10.
The GP paddock will now take a well earned week’s break after two
fly-away rounds and return to Europe in Valencia, Spain in two weeks
time for the final round of the season. An Australian in Troy
Bayliss won the Valencian GP last year, form suggests it could be
won by Australian again this year.
|
