---
title: "Rossi secures second in the championship at Sepang"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2016/10/30/rossi-secures-second-championship-sepang/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "MotoGP News"
published: "2016-10-30T15:20:57Z"
modified: "2016-10-30T15:21:30Z"
---

# Rossi secures second in the championship at Sepang

Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi secured runner-up spot in the 2016 MotoGP World Championship for the third season in succession after finishing second in today’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Italian rider came into this round in need of just two more points than his teammate Jorge Lorenzo in order to seal second in the championship, though this looked like it might have been a tougher task than he realised with the Spaniard starting alongside on the front row of the grid.

Indeed, Lorenzo nailed the start and took the holeshot into Turn 1 while Rossi slipped back from second to fourth. However, the number 99 Yamaha only held sway over the Italian for half a lap as Rossi carved his way past him and Honda’s Marc Marquez for second at Turn 9. This was the last the Yamaha duo saw of each other during the 19-lap contest, Lorenzo slipping back with a lack on confidence in the wet conditions.

In the early stages of the Grand Prix, Rossi had the pace to challenge for the victory and engaged in a hard battle with Ducati’s Andrea Iannone. The pair chopped and changed positions on a number of occasions. The Italian finally made a pass stick on his compatriot on the 12th lap, but things were to quickly go awry for the Doctor.

As the track began to slowly dry, Rossi’s front tyre started to overheat and pretty quickly he lost grip with his medium wet front tyre. He ran wide at Turn 1 with five laps to go, and this allowed Andrea Dovizioso into the lead. Deciding that it was better to safely finish second than potentially crash chasing the victory, Rossi eased off for the final few laps and cruised to his 10th podium of the season.

With Lorenzo in third place, Rossi outscored the Spaniard by four points today, enough to see him victorious in the pair’s final inter-team battle. Although the championship was his aim, the Italian says that he is nonetheless happy to finish runner-up and beat a rider of Lorenzo’s calibre, something he admits is no small feat.

“My main target for today was to arrive in front of Jorge for second place in the championship, but I also wanted to win because I felt very good with the bike in the beginning. I had to fight a lot with Iannone and he was fast,” said Rossi.

“After, when I went in front, I was very optimistic but when the water on the track became less the temperature went up, I was a bit in trouble with the tyres, especially with the front. I had two moments, I risked too much and I made a mistake and in that moment Dovizioso was too fast and he went. Securing second place in the championship is important, the battle with Lorenzo is always very intense and we always arrive at the last race. When you beat a rider that‘s very strong, like Jorge, it‘s great and in the end it has been a good season. I wanted to win, but it wasn‘t possible.”