Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128237
At the start, It was Sete Glbernau 115) getUng a . . . jump from his second-row grid posItioII, while Valentino Rossi 146) squa~."" pole position. By M ICH A E L S COTT PH OTO S BY G O LD £, G OO SE SEPANG, MALAYSIA, OCT. 12 w o o u t of three Worl d C hamp i on shi ps we re settle d in t he Sepa ng sau na on Sunday. Valen t ino Ross i and D an i Ped ro sa we re th e Li ttle and L ar g e o f t h e G ra n d Pr i x se ri e s, Ho nda th e her oes . For Pedrosa, it was a fi rst title, at the age of 18. For Rossi , his fifth, at the age of 24. He pu shes his wa y further u p th e li st o f racin g leg ' ends. A lready th e yo unges t rider to win title s in th ree classes ( 125 , 250 and 500cc/ Mo to GP) , he is now num ber eight in the li st of p e opl e t o win three or m or e titles back to back . T he othe rs are Geoff Duk e, John Surtees, M ik e Hailwood, Giacom o Agosti ni, Kenny Robert s, Wayne Rain ey and Mick Doo han. An d the flam boya nt son of a winner fro m Tavu llia in Ita ly is not finish ed yet. Ro ssi t o o k th e t i tle j us t as h e p romi sed - w ith a cl ea r ra c e win . That' s how he's won all of th em so far. His last d istant ri val Set e Gibe r nau , o n t h e T ele f on i c a Mov i St a r Hond a , pu sh ed th e Rep so l H onda rid er all the wa y after leading the fi rst eight of 2 1 laps of the 3.43- m ile Sep ang ci rc uit. Although overcast sk ies dropped temperatures slig htly co mpared with practice, at 30 degr ees (86 ' F), humid - T Vale secured his fifth World Championship with a solid come-frombehind w in. 14 OCTOBER 22 ,2003 • ity peake d at a punishi ng 63 percent, m ak ing co ndi ti ons difficult fo r all . Mat te rs w ere c o m p li c ate d fu rt he r w ith heavy overni g ht rain that washed the trac k clean. Mo rning warm-up was still wet, so th ere was no chance to check ti re choi ce. A s a result, almost eve ryb ody c o m p l a i n e d lat e r t h at t h e i r cho ice had been too soft . Not Rossi, however. He and Gib erna u had opte d f o r m e d i um c o mpo und s, and it pa id off . "This fifth title is lik e a dr eam ," he said. " It was a hard race , j ust li ke the w hole seaso n. B u t a ls o very g o o d fun. Set e [Giberna uJ put m e under a lot of pressure, to da y and all yea r. I thi nk we won because all seaso n we were more co nst ant." Later, he said : "I d idn 't slee p well , 'd and whe n I woke and saw the rain . T bett er not te ll you wha t wo rds I used. We t races are like Russian roulette. I m i ght so u n d c raz y , but I have t o adm it I was talk ing to m y bik e during th e ra ce. I' ve do ne this be fore. I lo ok at m y b ik e like a beautifu l wo ma n . She g ives m e a lo t of happiness, and I talk t o her w ith t he m ax im um of re sp ec t. Th e b ike i s like a ' do n na perico losa' [a dangerou s wife] . " I don 't know if yo u c an c all m e a legend. I've won five World titl es, but I am o nl y 24 . I leav e it t o othe rs t o decide. Whe n I sta rte d raci ng , I didn 't expect to ar rive at suc h a high level , but aft er th e first t itle things started to ch a ng e. O f c o ur se, I don't p l ay a s