Rossi wins again in Malaysia

The Italian moved into second place on lap two following an unsuccessful attempt on lap one, and quickly moved onto the tail of leader Dani Pedrosa. Rossi then sat on Pedrosa's tail before taking the lead on lap 11 with a late-braking move around the back of the circuit, easing away to victory ahead of the Spaniard.

The battle behind them for third position was close throughout the race, Andrea Dovizioso in third ahead of Nicky Hayden, Casey Stoner and Shinya Nakano on lap two.

As the laps wound down Stoner struggled to keep up, Nakano eventually taking fifth from him on lap 16, quickly catching the duo ahead.

At the start of lap 18, Hayden took third from Dovizioso at turn one, only for Dovizioso to take it straight back on the exit, Hayden then taking the place back again at turn two.

But Dovizioso took the place back again just a couple of corners later, and although Hayden stayed right on his tail, the American couldn't make a pass, the young Italian taking his first MotoGP podium finish.

Hayden finished just behind Dovizioso in fourth, Nakano in fifth and Stoner in sixth. Loris Capirossi and Colin Edwards put in good performances to be within a few seconds of Stoner at the finish in seventh and eight positions.

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.

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