MotoGP: Rossi overjoyed with seventh title

Date published : 25 Oct 2009 - 09:23:55

Valentino Rossi was overjoyed to win his seventh MotoGP world title with a third place finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix.Rossi's result, which came in a wet race, means that his championship lead stands at a now unassailable 41 points over his Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, with only 25 available from the Valencia season finale.

"It's a great achievement," said the 30-year-old Italian, who celebrated in typical fashion by donning a new helmet and posing for pictures with a live chicken on the warm-down lap."For me it's the ninth world championship and the seventh in Moto GP, so I have to thank all the guys from Yamaha down to my guys in the garage who have helped me to arrive at this great achievement."Rossi paid tribute to his team-mate Lorenzo, a man who he described earlier in the season as the toughest rival he has ever raced against. "All season I have had great rivals, especially Jorge, my team-mate," he added. "He stayed very close to me. We had some great fights and he's a great rival, so congratulations to him. "But now we will try to relax and understand this achievement. It's pretty great."

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