Valentino Rossi takes the 2008 World Championship after winning in Motegi, stealing the lead from Casey Stoner at the halfway point. Starting from 4th on grid, Rossi dropped back to 5th, before starting to make his way through the field of Stoner, Pedrosa, and Lorenzo. Stoner initially powered to the front of the field but was soon challenged by Pedrosa who had a spell leading the race. Nicky Hayden who made up the top three on the grid maintained a steady pace but ultimately could not stay with the leading pack and dropped back to finish 5th.

Valentino Rossi – Race Winner
`It´s difficult to compare titles, but this one definitely feels great. I feel very good, because the battle was very tough this year, especially with Stoner and Pedrosa. It has been a long season with a lot of hard races. In my career I have been lucky and have won some hard championships –like the first with Yamaha in 2004-, but this one I maybe tried to put more effort in outside of the races to try and win. I have to thank everyone at Yamaha for their efforts this year, the M1 has been very fast and we have worked very hard every weekend. Today was a great battle and a great race, and to win the championship with a race win is fantastic.´

Casey Stoner – 2nd
`At the beginning of the race everything felt quite good; I made mistake on a cold tyre at the start and needed laps to warm up the tyre. The lap times were fast and I was comfortable at that pace, but didn´t have enough force after a while to change the direction of bike with my physical condition. Valentino went past and I started to lose a little ground, I thought that I could stay behind him for a while, and about three quarters of the way through I didn´t give up, but dropped the pace a little. When I picked it back up I did some reasonable lap times, but just made a little mistake and that was it, race over again. Hopefully the next races and next year we´ll come back stronger.´

Dani Pedrosa – 3rd
`It was good to finish third today, as for the last few races we´ve not had such good results. Also it is great for my team. At the beginning I was not so fast, and not feeling comfortable. At the end Lorenzo came on strong and I had to keep him away. Congratulations to Valentino for his great season, he deserves the championship for his great consistency over the year.´

Motegi MotoGP Results:
1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 43min 9.599 secs
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 43min 11.542 secs
3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (B) 43min 14.465 secs
4. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 43min 15.764 secs
5. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 43min 34.192 secs
6. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 43min 35.284 secs
7. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 43min 35.517 secs
8. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 43min 35.602 secs
9. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 43min 35.818 secs
10. John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 43min 46.730 secs
11. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 43min 47.173 secs
12. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP (M) 43min 47.619 secs
13. Marco Melandri ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 43min 49.367 secs
14. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alice Team (B) 43min 55.445 secs
15. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 44min 5.347 secs
16. Toni Elias SPA Alice Team (B) 44min 8.919 secs
17. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 44min 21.997 secs

Did Not Finish:
Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 29min 15.247 secs
Kousuke Akiyoshi JPN Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) lap 1

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