This win at Sepang was Rossi's first victory since his hiatus from the 2010 season following his crash at Mugello. Andrea Dovizioso finished the race second, but the man celebrating the most was third-placed Jorge Lorenzo who clinched the 2010 title for Fiat-Yamaha.
On lap 9 Dovizioso overtook Lorenzo to take race lead. A lap later Rossi did too. Within the next one lap Rossi passed Dovizioso, leading for the rest of the race.
The win at Sepang ends Vale's longest winless stretch.
Valentino Rossi’s Sepang MotoGP victory will live long in the memory after the Italian fought his way through from 11th to take his 46th win for Yamaha. The Fiat Yamaha rider, who feared he would have to withdraw from the championship after the next race in Phillip Island to undergo surgery on his damaged right shoulder, held off a fierce challenge from Dovizioso to win for only the second time in 2010.
The nine-time world champion said: “This is a wonderful moment for me, I am so happy to win like this and take my 46th win with Yamaha on ‘my' M1. I rode so well and it was a fantastic race. To win like this, from 11th at the first corner, is a great feeling. Jorge Lorenzo realized a lifelong dream yesterday when he clinched a maiden MotoGP world title at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. Required only to finish ninth or higher in the 20-lap race, the Spaniard cruised to a comfortable third behind Italian duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo to seal the title with three races remaining.
The 23-year-old, who had previously won two world 250 titles in 2006 and ’07, won the title having claimed seven victories and 13 podiums in 15 races, He said: “This is a dream come true for me, I can't really believe it yet! Anyway I knew that winning the race wasn't the most important thing this time. Now we can relax and enjoy the last three races of the championship.”
Yamaha moved a step closer to claiming a third successive MotoGP triple crown after Jorge Lorenzo wrapped up his first premier class title at a scorching hot Sepang yesterday. Out-going senior Yamaha boss Masao Furusawa, who was not present in Malaysia, said: “First of all, I want to congratulate Jorge Lorenzo for clinching the 2010 MotoGP world championship title at Sepang, with three rounds still remaining in the season. I would like to congratulate Jorge on his excellent season, resulting in him winning his first MotoGP world title. It was a super result for the Fiat Yamaha team, with Valentino winning the race and Jorge coming home safely in third spot, giving us two important victories at the same moment. The points haul today is also very important for the Team and Manufacturer championships. Dani Pedrosa passed on his congratulations to fellow Spaniard and bitter rival Jorge Lorenzo after the Fiat Yamaha rider secured his first MotoGP world title in Malaysia yesterday. Casey Stoner’s hopes of winning a third successive MotoGP race ahead of his vital home clash at Phillip Island this weekend ended in disaster yesterday in Malaysia. We knew we would be at the front challenging for the win and watching the race confirmed that. Stoner lost third-place in the overall rankings to race winner Valentino Rossi with his fourth crash of the season.