Australian Ducati rider Casey Stoner won the Malaysian Grand Prix while Valentino Rossi wrapped up the 2009 MotoGP World Championship title with third place.
Stoner crushed the field in his second-successive win, finishing an astounding 14.666s ahead of Dani Pedrosa in wet conditions.
But it was Rossi’s championship that stole the headlines, and he celebrated in his typical flamboyant style, displaying a chicken dressed in the Italian’s blue and yellow colours.
It was Rossi’s ninth world title and seventh in the premier class.
While Stoner raced away at the front, the Repsol Honda team-mates of Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso diced for second spot, but disaster struck Dovizioso on lap 14 when he succumbed to the wet conditions and slid off, allowing Rossi to move up to third.
Fourth place went to title challenger Jorge Lorenzo, who was forced to start from the back having failed to grid up in time.
Nicky Hayden equalled his second-best result of the season in fifth, ahead of Australian Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing).
