Rossi No 1 ITALY's Valentino Rossi secured his seventh world MotoGP crown after finishing third in the rain-delayed Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. Rossi, 30, began in pole and only needed a top-four finish, with Yahama team-mate Jorge Lorenzo the only rider able to catch up in the standings. Australian Casey Stoner won the race on his Ducati ahead of Spaniard Dani Pedrosa (Honda), with Lorenzo fourth. The final race of the championship is in Valencia in two weeks. Rossi, who is on 286 points in the standings ahead of Lorenzo (245) and Stoner (220), now has nine world titles in total. "It was a difficult year," Rossi said. "This race reflected how the season went - very tough, with some mistakes, some disappointing results. "But I won six races, I was consistent and it's another world championship. I thank all the team and everyone who's helped me." Spain's Lorenzo trailed Rossi by 38 points ahead of the championship's penultimate race and was forced to start from the back of the grid after being penalised for not taking his starting position on time. With torrential rain hampering proceedings, the race got under way after a 35-minute delay and Rossi immediately slipped back to fifth on the opening bend with Pedrosa taking full advantage through the puddles. At the end of the first lap Rossi found himself in 11th spot but used all his experience and nerve to slowly work his way up through the field. Despite the drying conditions during the 21-lap race, the track remained slippery with Frenchman Randy de Puniet sliding off early on and Andrea Dovizioso losing control of his Honda with seven laps to go when pushing for second spot. "My celebration was because in Italy we say an old chicken makes good soup but can no longer lay eggs! I am like the old chicken - 30 years now - but I have made another egg! That's nine!," he joked. It is Rossi's fourth title for Yamaha and seventh premier class world title overall. Great Britain's five GREAT Britain's Jodie Swallow and Julie Dibens won world triathlon titles at the weekend, taking Britain's tally of world champions in the sport to five. Loughborough 28-year-old Swallow won the long-distance World Championships in Australia on Sunday, held over twice the distance of an Olympic triathlon. Salisbury's Dibens, 34, won the Xterra off-road title, involving trail running and mountain biking, for a third year. They join fellow champions Hollie Avil, Sophie Coleman and Alistair Brownlee. Yorkshireman Brownlee won the World Championships over the standard Olympic distance - a 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run - by taking victory in the competition's finale, in Australia's Gold Coast in September. Avil is the under-23 world champion, while Coleman holds the world junior title in duathlon, a discipline governed by the International Triathlon Union (ITU) which replaces the swimming stage with a second running leg. "Everything came together really well for me out there so I couldn't be happier," said Swallow, who had her funding cut after missing the Beijing Games through injury, having finished 34th in Athens four years earlier. "Before the race everyone seemed to be asking me if I could handle the travel and the hot weather but if you prepare well for these races you give yourself every possible chance," added Swallow. "I went to the Olympics in Athens and that was a tough experience but you learn and you move on, so to come back and win a world championship is very pleasing." In addition to the five champions recognised by the ITU, Britain's Chrissie Wellington is the reigning world champion in the women's Ironman event, organised by the commercial World Triathlon Corporation. Wellington, 32, set the women's course record on the way to her victory in Hawaii earlier in October.
