The Malaysian Grand Prix held in stifling conditions at the Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur did not provide the results the team was expecting. After travelling from the cold climes of southern Australia in early spring to the humidity of the tropics, Casey Stoner continued his dominant form in 2007 with another victory. As has been the case many times this year, variable weather conditions in practice combined with problems associated with a newly laid surface guaranteed that the weekend would be far from plain sailing. For the first time this season neither of the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders, Sylvain Guintoli and Makoto Tamada were able to score any championship points.
Makoto Tamada - Position: 18th Time: +59.596
That was a very hard race and it has been a very hard weekend to find something but we never could get there. Friday and Saturday were very difficult but we seemed to find something this morning that we thought would work but again we were wrong. During the race the grip level was very low and didn't seem to improve during the race.
Sylvain Guintoli - Position: 19th Time: +1'23.119
I'm really disappointed in myself as the entire package worked really well for me today with the bike and tyres. I had a bad start and then on the second lap I had a coming together with Kurtis Roberts and I never really recovered. I knew if I got a good start I would be able to battle with Checa, Nakano and a few others but I blew it from the very beginning. I pushed really hard but I was making too many mistakes as on this track you have to be very smooth. I just didn't ride well today and the more I pushed the more mistakes I made.
Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager
This was a weekend to forget. We never had the right pace in race configuration all weekend but after a fairly good qualifying session we expected better than what happened in the race. Now we have to forget about this weekend and look ahead to the final round at Valencia where hopefully we can finish the season on a high note.
Circuit Length: 5548
Temp: 32
Weather: Dry
Race 1 - 21 Laps - MotoGP Malaysia:
1. Casey Stoner - Ducati - AUS 43'4.405
2. Marco Melandri - Honda - ITA 0'1.701
3. Daniel Pedrosa - Honda - ESP 0'2.326
4. Randy De Puniet - Kawasaki - FRA 0'3.765
5. Valentino Rossi - Yamaha - ITA 0'4.773
6. Toni Elias - Honda - ESP 0'17.667
7. Chris Vermeulen - Suzuki - AUS 0'20.950
8. John Hopkins - Suzuki - USA 0'22.198
9. Nicky Hayden - Honda - USA 0'22.450
10. Colin Edwards - Yamaha - USA 0'29.746
11. Loris Capirossi - Ducati - ITA 0'34.923
12. Alex Barros - Ducati - BRA 0'35.667
13. Nobuatsu Aoki - Suzuki - JPN 0'44.113
14. Carlos Checa - Honda - ESP 0'44.486
15. Anthony West - Kawasaki - AUS 0'49.658
18. Makoto Tamada - Yamaha - JPN 0'59.596
19. Sylvain Guintoli - Yamaha - FRA 1'23.119
Best Lap: Casey Stoner - Ducati - AUS 2'2.108
Rider Standings:
1. Casey Stoner - Ducati - AUS 347
2. Valentino Rossi - Yamaha - ITA 241
3. Daniel Pedrosa - Honda - ESP 217
4. Marco Melandri - Honda - ITA 174
5. John Hopkins - Suzuki - USA 173
6. Chris Vermeulen - Suzuki - AUS 169
7. Loris Capirossi - Ducati - ITA 155
8. Colin Edwards - Yamaha - USA 121
9. Nicky Hayden - Honda - USA 119
10. Alex Barros - Ducati - BRA 106
11. Randy De Puniet - Kawasaki - FRA 101
12. Toni Elias - Honda - ESP 98
13. Alex Hofmann - Ducati - GER 65
14. Carlos Checa - Honda - ESP 61
15. Anthony West - Kawasaki - AUS 59
17. Sylvain Guintoli - Yamaha - FRA 45
18. Makoto Tamada - Yamaha - JPN 37
Team Standings:
1. Ducati Marlboro Team 502
2. FIAT Yamaha Team 362
3. Rizla Suzuki 345
4. Repsol Honda Team 336
5. Honda Gresini 278
6. Pramac D'Antin 172
7. Kawasaki Racing Team 169
8. Tech3 Yamaha 82
9. Honda LCR 61
10. Konica Minolta Honda 45
11. Team Roberts 14
Manufacturer Standings:
1. Ducati 374
2. Honda 288
3. Yamaha 278
4. Suzuki 225
5. Kawasaki 137
6. KR212V 14
