 Rossi was in typically scintillating form in Valencia |
World champion Valentino Rossi ended his brilliant season in style with victory in the Spanish MotoGP. The Italian took his ninth win of the year after holding off a late charge from arch-rival Max Biaggi's Honda.
Rossi's third win in a row ensured Yamaha won the team title, a stunning result for an outfit that were also-rans until the he joined this season.
Troy Bayliss was third, his best result of the season for Ducati, ahead of championship runner-up Sete Gibernau.
Pole position man Makoto Tamada could only take fifth place on his Camel Honda with Repsol Honda's Alex Barros rounding out the top six. Jeremy McWilliams was the top Briton, ending the season with a 13th place for Aprilia, with D'Antin Ducati's Neil Hodgson 15th and Harris WCM rider James Ellison 19th.
Rossi, who clinched the riders' title two weeks ago in Australia, won despite slipping down to sixth on the opening lap from third place on the grid at the Valencia track.
 Biaggi showers victor Rossi with champagne on the podium |
He was fourth by the end of lap two, and then moved up to second on lap three after benefiting from a tangle between Biaggi and Gibernau. The two were disputing second place when they ran wide at turn one after braking too late, putting the Spaniard way down the order.
Two laps later, Rossi slipped into the lead after passing Tamada.
The Japanese, a two-time winner this season, re-passed Rossi on lap seven.
But the world champion continued to pressure his rival and moved into the lead at half distance.
Biaggi passed Tamada shortly afterwards, but despite closing on Rossi could not prevent him from winning by 0.425 seconds.
Gibernau enjoyed a late resurgence and took fourth from Tamada on the penultimate lap.
Results from final, 16th, round of the 2004 MotoGP world championship:
1 Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 47mins 16.145secs
2 Max Biaggi (Ita) Honda 47:16.570
3 Troy Bayliss (Aus) Ducati 47:19.278
4 Sete Gibernau (Spa) Honda 47:22.273
5 Makoto Tamada (Jpn) Honda 47:23.913
6 Alex Barros (Bra) Honda 47:30.820
7 Shinya Nakano (Jpn) Kawaskai 47:39.460
8 Colin Edwards (USA) Honda 47:43.586
9 Loris Capirossi (Ita) Ducati 47:45.548
10 Norick Abe (Jpn) Yamaha 47:47.682
250cc:
1 Daniel Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 44mins 10.176secs
2 Toni Elias (Spa) Honda 44:18.262
3 Hiroshi Aoyama (Jpn) Honda 44:20.519
4 Randy De Puniet (Fra) Aprilia 44:37.588
5 Franco Battaini (Ita) Aprilia 44:41.796
6 Chaz Davies (Gbr) Aprilia 44:44.235
125cc:
1 Hector Barbera (Spa) Aprilia 40mins 45.283secs
2 Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 40:46.044
3 Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Aprilia 40:46.262
4 Pablo Nieto (Spa) Aprilia 40:46.568
5 Sergio Gadea (Spa) Aprilia 40:46.621
6 Roberto Locatelli (Ita) Aprilia 40:48.991
MMIX
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