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 Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 43:06.007
2. Dani Pedrosa Honda (B) + 4.008
3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 8.536
4. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 8.858
5. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 10.583
6. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) + 13.640
7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) + 15.936
8. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 18.802
9. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 23.174
10. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 25.516
11. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) + 27.609
12. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) + 41.399
13. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 45.617
14. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) + 49.003
15. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 59.139
16. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) +1:03.328
17. Nobuatsu Aoki Suzuki (B) +1:48.363

Not classified:

Rider Bike Laps
Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 12
James Toseland Yamaha (M) 2