Rossi must wait as Capirossi wins in Japan

MOTEGI – Valentino Rossi will have to wait at least another week to claim the MotoGP world title for the fifth year in a row after crashing out of the Japanese Grand Prix yesterday.

Ducati’s Loris Capirossi won the race – his first victory since Barcelona in 2003 – ahead of his fellow Italian Max Biaggi, while Japan’s Makoto Tamada followed his win here for Honda last year with third place. Yamaha rider Rossi needed a top-two finish to be certain of winning the title with five races remaining in the season but made contact with Marco Melandri’s back wheel as the two Italians battled it out for third place just after halfway through the race.The impact sent both skittling into the gravel trap and out of the race.Melandri was carted off on a stretcher while Rossi returned to the pits on the back of a scooter.It was Rossi’s first race crash of the season and first in nearly a year since the Qatar Grand Prix last October.An official complaint to race officials from Honda was not upheld.Rossi, who has won nine of the 12 races this season, will now take his quest for a seventh world crown to Sepang next weekend with a 112-point lead over Honda’s Biaggi in the standings.To secure the championship, the 26-year-old has to win the race with arch-rival Biaggi finishing no better than fifth.-Nampa-ReutersYamaha rider Rossi needed a top-two finish to be certain of winning the title with five races remaining in the season but made contact with Marco Melandri’s back wheel as the two Italians battled it out for third place just after halfway through the race.The impact sent both skittling into the gravel trap and out of the race.Melandri was carted off on a stretcher while Rossi returned to the pits on the back of a scooter.It was Rossi’s first race crash of the season and first in nearly a year since the Qatar Grand Prix last October.An official complaint to race officials from Honda was not upheld.Rossi, who has won nine of the 12 races this season, will now take his quest for a seventh world crown to Sepang next weekend with a 112-point lead over Honda’s Biaggi in the standings.To secure the championship, the 26-year-old has to win the race with arch-rival Biaggi finishing no better than fifth.-Nampa-Reuters