The 2009 Shell Advance MotoGP over the weekend was more than just another bike race, spectator numbers were as high as this year as  fans flock to the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) to see the a MotoGP champion being crowned here in Malaysia.

Valentino Rossi, the greatest MotoGP rider in history, closed the deal and got his ninth world MotoGP championship title as he crosses the finish line in third place with just one more round to spare.

“The race went a bit like how the season has gone, because we were so fast on the dry tyres, but right before the start of the race it started to rain so we had to go out on the track without any wet setting,” said Rossi.

“It’s a great achievement, and for me it’s the ninth championship, the seventh in MotoGP. I have to thank all the guys from Yamaha, who are great, and all the Fiat Yamaha team, from Jeremy (Burgess, chief mechanic) and all the mechanics to all the guys that work for me, and all my friends. All the people that helped me with this great achievement.”

Rossi also broke the fastest record set on two wheels over the weekend during his qualifying round. The Italian beat his own pole position record at the Sepang international circuit – which had stood since 2006 and was set on a 990cc machine – to record a new best time of 2’00.518.

“Sepang is a great circuit, one of my favorites and I like it a lot,” said Rossi.

A total of 102,255 spectators came to watch the race over a three day period, as many as 59,206 came on Sunday despite the rain which delayed the MotoGP class to start by almost an hour.

“It was really a big surprise from the number of spectators we had on raceday, most of the seat on the main grandstand and K1 area was full,” said SIC CEO Razlan Razali.

He added that it was more than SIC had expected and it created some good problems such as overflowing parking and so on.

“Nothing that we can’t overcome but it is also a way for us to gauge things for next year’s MotoGP.

Apart from seeing Rossi win the championship there were a lot for spectators to experience at the circuit which proved to be the perfect formula to draw the fans to the circuit. Once-in-a-lifetime experience from racing in go-karts with the riders, guided pit tours, riders autograph sessions, pit walkabout and even taxi rides on the MotoGP safety cars were available to a few lucky fans.

“You can expect a bigger one next year with all of this year’s excitement mixed with new ones we have already concocted that will surely thrill any MotoGP fans,” said Razlan.

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