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Change in venue
PETALING JAYA: There will be a change in venue for the last two rounds of the Petronas Sprinta AAM Malaysian Cub Prix championships.
Kangar was to be the venue for Round 9 on Nov 3 but it will stage the final round on Nov 17 and 18. The penultimate round will now be held at the circuit in Sepang.
The race promoters, Safe Aim Mutual Sdn Bhd, said that they needed to make the changes because there was no suitable area in the heart of Kuala Lumpur to stage the races.
Their promotions director, Ron Hogg, said: 揟he Cub Prix is growing bigger and we are taking up a lot of space. On average, we usually occupy 10,600 sq m and it is not easy to get one in KL. There are also other things that we need to take into consideration. For example, we need to have an interesting track layout, we must not neglect the riders and public safety and also the convenience of the road users. |
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aku tetap sokong valentino rossi |
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Rossi抯 bid for 100th podium finish looks to be in jeopardy
FORMER world champion Valentino Rossi faces an uphill task of scoring a historic 100 podium finishes in Sepang after struggling in qualifying at Sepang Circuit yesterday.
Rossi and his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards continued to suffer from a lack of grip on their bikes.
 | Anywhere will do: US rider John Hopkins signing autograph on a fan抯 T-shirt yesterday.
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Despite the team working hard to rectify the problems, they were unable to put together a competitive package and Rossi will have to start from the third row of the grid after finishing ninth in qualifying (2:02.466).
Edwards, the former Superbike world champion, was 13th fastest yesterday in 2:03.040.
Rossi, who enjoyed a fierce reputation by virtue of having won the world title four times in the last six years, is not relishing the current situatio n.
He was also the winner in Sepang last year after prevailing in a memorable duel with Loris Capirossi of Ducati.
揟hings were getting better for us in the morning and we were a little bit confident, |
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Spanish sensation puts new champ Stoner in the shade
SPANISH sensation Dani Pedrosa snatched pole position for the third successive round at the end of a thrilling MotoGP qualifying session in the Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sepang Circuit yesterday.
Unlike Friday抯 wet and slippery practice session, the track stayed dry yesterday and the hot and humid conditions provided the stage for an exciting battle for pole between several riders, including the newly crowned world champion Casey Stoner of Australia.
 | Ride on: Spain抯 Dani Pedrosa cruising to pole position in the MotoGP race of the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sepang Circuit yesterday.
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Stoner was looking set to top the timesheets with seconds remaining on the clock after a final run of 2:01.918 on his Ducati bike.
But ultimately, it was the diminutive Spaniard who relegated Stoner to second spot with a sizzling effort of 2:01.877. Italian Marco Melandri was third fastest on a Honda with 2:01.944.
Frenchman Randy De Puniet, who topped the timesheets for Kawasaki after free practice on Friday, continued his fine run by chalking the fourth fastest time of 2:02.107.
His Kawasaki team-mate Anthony West also achieved his best qualifying finish by setting the fifth fastest time of 2:02.202.
But it was the 22-year-old Pedrosa who took the spotlight by securing his first-ever pole in Sepang, which has certainly put him in a perfect spot for a maiden win in the premier class.
Pedrosa won the 125cc and 250cc races in Sepang in 2003 and 2004 respectively and will certainly be gunning for a personal career milestone today.
The two-time 250cc world champion defied the odds to finish third in his debut MotoGP race in Sepang last year after sustaining a nasty knee injury in practice two days earlier.
Pedrosa, who has won just one race this year, is lying third in the overall standings on 201 points and trails Italian Valentino Rossi by 29 points.
揝tarting in front is good but the important thing is to push in the race tomorrow. We have to look for something more from the bike.
揥e did a lot of tests here in the winter period but the asphalt is different now. We have to see how it goes tomorrow morning (in warm-up), |
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Red Bull duo upstage Lorenzo in qualifying session
KTM Red Bull riders |
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Reply #285 puakaganas's post
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Nanti dia padam la. Hehehe. |
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Aussie creates history with MotoGP win
SEPANG: Newly-crowned MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner overcame dizziness to clinch his 10th win of the season in dominant fashion in the Malaysian Grand Prix here yesterday.
The 22-year-old, competing in only his second season in the premier class, started from second spot behind Dani Pedrosa but quickly passed the Spaniard going into the first corner.
The diminutive Australian started to build up a healthy lead on his red Ducati and eventually finished the 21-lap race in 43:04.405.
Italian Marco Melandri experienced the worse start a rider could face under the sweltering heat when his water connection was cut off but managed to rise above the adversity to take a well-deserved second place.
 | History maker: Casey Stoner (centre) spraying champagne with second-placed Marco Melandri (left) and third-placed Dani Pedrosa on the podium at the Sepang International Circuit on Sunday.
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Melandri overtook Pedrosa on the eighth lap to finish in 43:06.106 |
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Aussie creates history with MotoGP win
SEPANG: Newly-crowned MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner overcame dizziness to clinch his 10th win of the season in dominant fashion in the Malaysian Grand Prix here yesterday.
The 22-year-old, competing in only his second season in the premier class, started from second spot behind Dani Pedrosa but quickly passed the Spaniard going into the first corner.
The diminutive Australian started to build up a healthy lead on his red Ducati and eventually finished the 21-lap race in 43:04.405.
Italian Marco Melandri experienced the worse start a rider could face under the sweltering heat when his water connection was cut off but managed to rise above the adversity to take a well-deserved second place.
| | History maker: Casey Stoner (centre) spraying champagne with second-placed Marco Melandri (left) and third-placed Dani Pedrosa on the podium at the Sepang International Circuit on Sunday.
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Melandri overtook Pedrosa on the eighth lap to finish in 43:06.106 |
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Valentino disappointed after missing podium
SEPANG: Five-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy missed out on a podium spot in the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix for the first time since 2001, battling his way to fifth place yesterday.
Rossi, who has won four out of the last six races in the premier class, started from ninth on the grid. It was the second time that Rossi did not finish among the top three after crashing out in his debut year of racing in the premier class in 2000.
Rossi now needs one point from the final race in Valencia to secure second place in the standings. He holds a 24-point lead over third-placed Dani Pedrosa.
After being hampered by a lack of grip on the Yamaha bike through practice and qualifying sessions, Rossi was aware of the huge task facing the team.
揙f course I am disappointed with fifth place but I am very happy with the race today, |
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Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix results and standings
* Circuit dstance: 5.548km
MotoGP (21 laps): 1. Casey Stoner (Aus) Ducati 43:04.405, 2. Marco Melandri (Ita) Honda 43:06.106, 3. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 43:06.731, 4. Randy De Puniet (Fra) Kawasaki 43:08.170, 5. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 43:09.178, 6. Toni Elias (Spa) Honda 43:22.072, 7. Chris Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki 43:25.355,8. John Hopkins (Usa) Suzuki 43:26.603, 9. Nicky Hayden (Usa) Honda 43:26.603, 10. Colin Edwards (Usa) Yamaha 43:34.151;
11. Loris Capirossi (Ita) Ducati 43:39.928, 12. Alex Barros (Bra) Ducati 43:40.072, 13. Nobuatsu Aoki (Jpn) Suzuki 43:48.518, 14. Carlos Checa (Spa) Honda 43:48.891, 15. Anthony West (Aus) Kawasaki 43:54.063, 16. Shinya Nakano (Jpn) Honda 43:56.131, 17. Chaz Davies (Gbr) Ducati 44:03.310, 18. Makoto Tamada (Jpn) Yamaha 44:04.001, 19. Sylvain Guintoli (Fra) Yamaha 44:27.524, 20. Kurtis Roberts (Usa) KR212V 44:55.365.
250cc (20 laps): 1. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jpn) KTM 43:09.316, 2. Hector Barbera (Spa) Aprilia 43:11.567, 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Aprilia 43:12.373, 4. Mika Kallio (Fin) KTM 43:12.281, 5. Thomas Luthi (Swi) Aprilia 43:16.621, 6. Julian Simon (Spa) Honda 43:18.063, 7. Roberto Locatelli (Ita) Gilera 43:25.421, 8. Marco Simoncelli (Ita) Gilera 43:35.417, 9. Yuki Takahashi (Jpn) Honda 43:37.348, 10. Alex Espargaro (Spa) Aprilia 43:44.070.
125cc (19 laps): 1. Gabor Talmacsi (Hun) Aprilia 42:50.831, 2. Tomoyoshi Koyama (Jpn) KTM 42:57.584, 3. Hector Faubel (Spa) Aprilia 42:58.624, 4. Joan Olive (Spa) Aprilia 42:59.011, 5. Sergio Gadea (Spa) Aprilia 42:59.778, 6. Lukas Pesek (Cze) Derbi 43:00.766, 7. Simone Corsi (Ita) Aprilia 43:00.963, 8. Mattia Pasini (Ita) Aprilia 43:01.166, 9. Bradley Smith (Gbr) Honda 43:14.257, 10. Alexis Masbou (Fra) Honda 43:15.639.
OVERALL STANDINGS
MotoGP: 1. Stoner 347 (champion), 2. Rossi 241,3. Pedrosa 217, 4. Melandri 174, 5. Hopkins 173, 6. Vermeulen 169, 7. Capirossi 155, 8. Edwards 121, 9. Hayden 119, 10. Barros 106.
250cc: 1. Lorenzo 303 (champion), 2. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) 247, 3. Alex De Angelis (Rsm) 215, 4. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) 181, 5. Barbera 166, 6. Aoyama 154, 7. Kallio 132, 8. Luthi 126, 9. Simon 113, 10. Simoncelli 92.
125cc: 1. Talmacsi 262, 2. Faubel 252, 3. Koyama 186, 4. Pesek 171, 5. Corsi 164, 6. Pasini 161, 7. Gadea 144, 8. Olive 131, 9. Pol Espargaro (Spa) 104, 10. Smith 93. |
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Stoner seeks 11th win
 | "The work never stops for us" CASEY STONER
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SEPANG: MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner may have conquered the Sepang track yet again but he does not plan to rest on his laurels.
The baby-faced Australian, who added the MotoGP win to his previous success in the 125cc and 250cc categories at the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, is now looking to end the season on a high by taking his tally of victories to 11 in the race in Valencia on Nov 4.
The 21-year-old Stoner has returned to his native country for a few days' break but he is expected to head to Europe early with the Ducati team to prepare for the 2008 season.
Most teams have started developing their prototype bike for the new season and testing has already begun. In fact, Suzuki ran a third bike, which they will use next year, in Sepang.
揟he work never stops for us. It is the same even though I am already the world champion. I hope we can get the settings right and be on top again, like what we have done in the last two weeks, |
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Azlan hopes to break his bad spell in Zhuhai
PETALING JAYA: A debut season for Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman in the Petronas Sprinta FIM Asian Grand Prix has been full of adventure thus far.
After the thrill of his first race at the Sentul International Circuit in Indonesia and the challenge of performing before his home crowd in Sepang after that, Azlan is now champing at the bit to hone his techniques in the fifth round of the championships in Zhuhai this weekend.
After a strong start to the season where he scored top five finishes in the two rounds in Indonesia, the 23-year-old Petronas Sprinta Yamaha Malaysia rider was forced to sit out the third round in Sepang because of injuries sustained before the national championships.
On his return to the competition in the fourth round, also in Sepang last month, he crashed out in the first race but shook it off to finish the second race in 10th position.
After a two-month break, Azlan is ready to put his bad spells behind him and treat them as a learning curve.
揑抦 learning a lot from the races this season.
揟he crashes I have sustained are new experiences to me as it is my first season astride the powerful Yamaha R6. I am also learning to race in different conditions. The braking points are different in the wet compared to dry racing, |
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Rafie, Rosnizam itching for action after two-month break
PETALING JAYA: After a two-month break, Com Star YY Pang riders Mohd Rafie Naser and Rosnizam Mohd Noor are looking forward to racing again in Round Five of the Petronas Sprinta FIM Asian Grand Prix in Zhuhai from Oct 26-28.
Both riders are among the top five in the Underbone 115cc championship standings and they are relishing the change of pace that Zhuhai would bring.
Rafie is in second place on 73 points and Rosnizam is fifth on 60 points.
Indonesian Wahyu Widodo is the championship leader on 161 points.
揟he weather in China will be slightly cooler, between 25 to 30癈 and it抣l be interesting to race because the machines won抰 be as hot as it would be at home in Malaysia, |
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Ahmad Fuad satisfied with his time in first practice session
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's Ahmad Fuad Baharudin was all smiles despite clocking only the fourth fastest time in the first practice session of the Super Sports 600cc category in round five of the Petronas Sprinta FIM Asian Grand Prix at China's Zhuhai International Circuit yesterday.
Ahmad Fuad was timed at 1:40.875 and it was one second faster compared to his qualifying time in Zhuhai last year.
Petronas Sprinta Yamaha Thailand抯 Decha Kraisart set the pace, clocking 1:39.791. Babie抯 Sport Racing's Makota Inagaki and Toshiyuki Hamaguchi were second and third fastest clocking 1:39.942 and 1:40.408 respectively.
揑 am slower compared to my rivals Decha, Makoto and Toshiyuki, |
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Fifth-placed Ahmad still confident of a podium finish
ZHUHAI (China): Malaysian ace Ahmad Fuad Baharudin could only manage the fifth fastest time in the official practice in the fifth round of the Petronas Sprinta FIM Asian Grand Prix here yesterday.
The 28-year-old Petronas Sprinta Yamaha Malaysia rider, who is third overall going into today's race, clocked 1:40.562.
Decha Kraisart of Petronas Sprinta Yamaha Thailand clocked 1:39.783 to grab pole ahead of Japan's Makoto Inagaki (1:39.942), Thailand's Chalermpol Polamai (1:40.392) and overall leader Toshiyuki Hamaguchi of Japan (1:40.408).
Ahmad Fuad said he had no complaints about starting fifth on the grid.
揗y time in the final practice was far better than that in the first practice, |
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Post time 19-10-2007 05:46 PM
