2008 Trip to Malaysia

Sepang Race Day

SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Steven picked us up at 8:00 and drove us to SIC. When we got there, the stands were nearly empty so we chose a spot opposite Casey Stoner's garage and the big screen TV. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The Repsol Honda 'team' preparing for morning warmup. They have a wall (visible in the background) down the middle of the garage so that neither rider can see the other's information. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY At this hour of the day, the bottom stands are empty. The day is becoming very hot and we move three times seeking somewhere with some air flow but without smokers. The temperature eventually reaches 42°. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Marco Melandri about to leave for morning warmup.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The first thing the riders do during warmup is a practice start. The red light reflecting in Rossi's helmet is from his bike's rev-limiter. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Then they return to the pits and get their spare bike. Presumably the practice start and immediate return is to finalise the programming of the launch control software. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Jenni couldn't resist taking a photo of this lady who found her knitting more interesting than MotoGP. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY We can see right into Casey's garage and there he is, sitting at the back of the garage while his crew work on the bike.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY There was an obvious Aussie presence at the track. This is just below the big screen so there's no escaping it. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The first race of the day was the 125's that got under way at 11:00. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Notice that the bottom stand is still empty. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Gabor Telmacsi, a Hungarian, won the race.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Jerry Burgess looks quite relaxed as he waits for the main event to start. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The 250 race gets under way. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Usually 250 races are close but this one was a progression with the final placings decided at about half race distance. Bike 58 is Marco Simoncelli and if he did well in this race, he would become world 250cc champion. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The bottom stands are starting to fill. Marco is second coming out of turn 1.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Marco comes third, good enough to take the 2008 250cc World Championship. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY One of his crew helps him to fit his winner's T Shirt. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Then he rides off leaving his helmet behind. Race organisers fined him $1000 for this atrocious act. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Totally forgotten, and long after Marco had ridden off, the Malaysian rider finishes the race to very loud cheers.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Rossi goes over to parc fermé to wait for Marco to arrive. Look at how fit Rossi is. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Marco arrives to be crowned the 2008 champion. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY His crew wear funny wigs to emulate Marco's distinctive hair style. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Finally, another rider with some personality.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Rossi gives his fellow Italian a big hug. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Marco accepts his third place trophy. Spaniard Alvaro Bautista won the race. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY An attractive kiddie walks to the starting line to shade one of the San Carlo Honda MotoGP riders. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY As do others for the Alicé Ducati team.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Rossi rides out to take his place on the grid. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY As does Casey Stoner. Casey and Valentino were the class acts of 2008. They were vastly superior to the rest of the field. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Casey's wife Adriana walks to the starting grid. She's amazingly lean and fit and she probably works out with Casey. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The bikes assemble on the starting grid at the end of their sighting lap. They now have 15 minutes to wait in 42° heat before race time.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The helicopter used for aerial shots of the race flew very close to us. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY One minute to go and the grid clears. Adriana walks back to the pits carrying Casey's cap. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Now we have a warm-up lap before the grid reassembles. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The red lights go out and the race is under way. Pole sitter Dani Pedrosa gets his usual fast start and is already creating a gap back to Rossi.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Front row starter Jorgé Lorenzo (48) is dropping back while impressive rookie Andrea Dovizioso is starting to make up ground. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The back stands are now nearly full. Pedrosa is a clear leader while Dovizioso is going up the inside of Rossi to take second. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY At the end of the first lap, Pedrosa, Dovizioso and Rossi already have a significant lead over the rest of the field. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Rossi can't shake off Pedrosa down the 1 km main straight, where they reach speeds of 305 kmh, but Rossi now has the favoured outside line.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Rossi passes Dovizioso under brakes into turn one and sets off after Pedrosa. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Lorenzo crashed at turn 1 on lap 12 and returned to the pits. By now Rossi had tired of playing with Pedrosa and had taken the lead. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Rossi won by four seconds over Pedrosa and pulled a wheelie almost the length of the straight. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Rossi's front wheel is just starting to touch down again. Note how full the bottom stand is now. The crowd on race day was 37,500 which isn't too bad.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Final results were Rossi (46) first, Pedrosa (2) second, Dovizioso (4) third. Stoner (1) came a very creditable sixth considering he was riding with a broken scaphoid bone in his wrist and with the air temperature an excessive 42°. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Rossi rides back in for his ninth (and final) victory of the season. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY His crew congratulate him. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The major excitement in this race came from the strong possibility that it might rain during the race. The white flags came out with six laps to go but fortunately the rain stayed away long enough for the race to finish.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Rossi tips some cold water on Jerry Burgess' head. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY A drenched Burgess and a parched Rossi head towards the podium. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Valentino appreciates the importance of marketing his products (himself & MotoGP) and always finds time to smile and wave to his fans. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Rossi acknowledges the cheers from another group of fans.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Rossi congratulates Dovizioso for his first podium. This was a commendable achievement as Dovizioso was riding a seriously under-powered non-factory Honda and this was his first year in MotoGP. He beat seven factory bikes to earn this podium. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY This was Rossi's ninth visit to the top step of the podium during 2008. Casey Stoner had six wins for the season and, between them, the pair accounted for 15 of the 18 races. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Jerry Burgess accepts the prize for Yamaha, the winning manufacturer. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The Italian national anthem is played for the second time today.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The champagne-spraying ceremony; slightly archaic to my mind. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY I was there. Hated the heat, the race was boring as bat-poo, but I had a wonderful time. Seeing a legend like Rossi at the peak of his powers is the greatest of privileges. Casey Stoner is the real thing and looks like being the next Rossi - although he'll need to work on his image a bit more. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY The going home crowd. There's a lot of Rossi stuff being worn. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Part of the motorcycle parking; cost RM2 or about $0.80.
SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY What surprised us was the number of large bikes here like the white ST1300 in the foreground; surprising because the cities are full of scooters. A lot of the bikes had come from Singapore and we even saw bikes from Thailand. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY As we left the circuit to meet Steven, we could see that it was raining at the airport. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY With the roads being this good, the traffic wasn't too bad. When Steven picked us up we kept moving although at low speed. After about 10 minutes, there were so many freeways and major roads going in so many directions, we had no more traffic. On the map, the road in this picture is shown as a minor road. SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER 2008 - RACE DAY Just for fun, we return to our hotel via the "Smart Tunnel". This road serves both as a roadway during normal weather and as a water tunnel during heavy flooding. Naturally, it's an either-or situation. Next: Merdeka Square - Birthplace of Malaysian Independence
Merdeka SquareNext: Merdeka Square Sepang Qualifying PutrajayaPrevious: Sepang Qualifying Putrajaya
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