simply a magnificent performance by The Doctor.
Starting the race from pole he was overtaken by Barros before the 1st corner. but then in the next laps he got the lead and maintain it to the finish. Rossi comfortably won the Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang, followed by his country-mate Max Biaggi in the 2nd place and the Brazilian Alex Barros in 3rd.
Gibernau was strunggling very hard in the whole race and lately overtaken by Capirossi in the last fiew laps. He eventually finished 7th.
Here's the race result:
1. Valentino Rossi / ITA / Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha
2. Max Biaggi / ITA / Camel Honda
3. Alex Barros / BRA / Repsol Honda
4. Nicky Hayden / USA / Repsol Honda
5. Makoto Tamada / JPN / Camel Honda
6. Loris Capirossi / ITA / Ducati Marlboro
7. Sete Gibernau / ESP / Telefonica Movistar Honda
8. Shinya Nakano / JPN / Fuchs Kawasaki
9. Carlos Checa / ESP / Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha
10. Troy Bayliss / AUS / Ducati Marlboro
11. Colin Edwards / USA / Telefonica Movistar Honda
12. Norick Abe / JPN / Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3
13. Ruben Xaus / ESP / d'Antin Ducati
14. Yukio Kagayama / JPN / Team Suzuki
15. Jeremy McWilliams / GBR / MS Aprilia
16. Garry McCoy / AUS / MS Aprilia
17. Nobuatsu Aoki / JPN / Proton Team KR
18. James Ellison / GBR / Harris WCM
19. Youichi Ui / JPN / Harris WCM
DNF:
John Hopkins / USA / Team Suzuki
Neil Hodgson / GBR / d'Antin Ducati
Alex Hofmann / GER / Fuchs Kawasaki
James Haydon / GBR / Proton Team KR
Marco Melandri / ITA / Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3
Riders standings:
1. Rossi - 254 pts
2. Gibernau - 224 pts
3. Biaggi - 188 pts
4. Barros - 144 pts
5. Edwards - 136 pts
With this victory Rossi had seized the gap up to 30 pts and getting closer to the world champion title for 2004 season.
in the 2 races remaining Gibernau must work very hard to grab many points as possible and hoping Rossi will get the least.
Next week MotoGP will be held at Phillip Island, Australia and the last race will be at Valencia, Gibernau's home race.