Italy's Valentino Rossi wins MotoGP world title

Italy's Valentino Rossi stormed to victory at the Grand Prix of Japan of Sunday, claiming his sixth MotoGP world championship.

Rossi, riding a Yamaha, pulled ahead of defending MotoGP champion Casey Stoner of Australia with 11 laps to go and won the race with a time of 43 minutes, 09.599 seconds, 1.943 seconds ahead of Stoner after 24 laps.

Spain's Dani Pedrosa was third, 4.866 seconds back, while pole-sitter Jorge Lorenzo, also of Spain, was fourth. It was Rossi's eighth victory of the season and fifth straight since he took the United States Grand Prix in July. He came into Sunday's race needing just a podium finish to claim the title, his first since 2005. With three races left in the season, Rossi has 312 points, 92 ahead of Stoner.

Sunday's race quickly became a contest between Stoner and Rossi as the two riders opened up a comfortable lead ahead of the pack. Earlier, pole sitter Marco Simoncelli of Italy won the 250cc race, increasing his overall lead in the world championship standings. Simoncelli, riding a Gilera, crossed the finish line in 43 minutes, 09.385 seconds after 23 laps, .348 seconds ahead of Spain's Alvaro Bautista for his fourth win of the season.

Spain's Alex Debron was third. With three races left, Simoncelli has 215 points, 32 points ahead of Bautista. Germany's Stefan Bradl won the 125cc race, edging pole sitter Mike Di Meglio of France for his second career victory. Bradl, who started from the front row, clocked a time of 39:57.228 on an Aprilia to finish .151 seconds ahead of Di Meglio. Reigning world champion Gabor Talmacsi of Hungary was third with a time 39:57.509.

Results from Sunday's Grand Prix of Japan at the at the 4.8-kilomter (2.98 mile) Twin Ring Motegi course:

MotoGP

1. Valentino Rossi, Italy, Yamaha, 43 minutes, 09.599 seconds.
2. Casey Stoner, Australia, Ducati, 1.943 seconds behind.
3. Dani Pedrosa, Spain, Honda, 4.866.
4. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain, Yamaha, 6.165.
5. Nicky Hayden, United States, Honda, 24.593.
6. Loris Capirossi, Italy, Suzuki, 25.685.
7. Colin Edwards, United States, Yamaha, 25.918.
8. Shinya Nakano, Japan, Honda, 26.003.
9. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy, Honda, 26.219.
10. John Hopkins, United States, Kawasaki, 37.131.

250cc

1. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Gilera, 43:09.385.
2. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Aprilia, .384 seconds behind.
3. Alex Debon, Spain, Aprilia, 8.414.
4. Julian Simon, Spain, KTM, 9.151.
5. Mika Kallio, Finland, KTM, 17.041.
6. Yuki Takahashi, Japan, Honda, 19.632.
7. Aleix Espargaro, Spain, Aprilia, 19.892.
8. Mattia Pasini, Italy, Aprilia, 20.442.
9. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, KTM, 22.303.
10. Roberto Locatelli, Italy, Gilera, 22.387.

125cc

1. Stefan Bradl, Germany, Aprilia, 39:57.228.
2. Mike Di Meglio, France, Derbi, .151 seconds behind.
3. Gabor Talmacsi, Hungary, Aprilia, .281.
4. Joan Olive, Spain, Derbi, 5.945.
5. Nicolas Terol, Spain, Aprilia, 6.072.
6. Sandro Cortese, Germany, Aprilia, 6.135.
7. Simone Corsi, Italy, Aprilia, 6.455.
8. Scott Redding, Britain, Aprilia, 25.393.
9. Sergio Gadea, Spain, Aprilia, 25.537.
10. Danny Webb, Britain, Aprilia, 26.192.