MotoGP ROUND 17 // 'GALLINA VECCHIA FA BUON BRODO'

As race day commenced, dark clouds gathered above the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) half an hour before the race. Then rain poured down heavily, forcing the race that was scheduled at 3:00 PM local time to be delayed. When it rains here, it rains heavily as you would expect from the typical Malaysian Monsoon season, so it was impossible to race in this condition.

Finally at 3:30 PM, the weather improves and the race was given the green light to start. Valentino Rossi made a great start from pole position, but made a mistake under braking into Turn 1 and ran wide, losing nine places as a result. This allowed his main rival in the championship, Jorge Lorenzo to jump ahead of him. Casey Stoner took the lead after the end of lap 1, and by the end of the 2nd lap was so far ahead of the pack it was apparent that nobody else will be able to challenge him for the win. He was in a class of his own in the tricky wet condition, lapping in a very fast pace from the front. The two Repsol Hondas of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa were running 2nd and 3rd... [read more]

So the question that remains is where Lorenzo will finish the race in relation to Rossi. Provided that Lorenzo wins the race, Rossi only needs to finish 4th to claim the title here. In a typical Rossi style, he began his comeback from the middle of the field, and began to close the gap on Lorenzo. Finally Rossi completed his comeback and overtook Lorenzo for 4th place. So the order was Stoner, Dovizioso, Pedrosa, Rossi and Lorenzo. The celebration was about to begin.

The celebration would be something special as you would expect from Rossi. That is the main reason why fans filled the packed SIC grandstand. But nobody knows what's in store this time.

Rossi's circle of friends that usually travelled with him to every grand prix began to gather at the trackside as photographers began to join them. One of Rossi's friend pulled out a chicken from his bag (above). The chicken was clothed with a shirt and wears a Rossi look alike helmet, with the usual 'Tribu Dei ChiHuaHua' written on it! Photographers began to surround that chicken. At the trackside in one the most prestigious motorsport event, when there are riders still running at the average speed of 300 km/h on the main straight, what do the photographers do? Yeah, capture a photo a chicken at the trackside!

As a photographer, if you want to capture the celebration, you know that this is where it will happen. You know that this is where Rossi will stop at the end of the race. The race is not finished yet as dry lines started to appear on the track, but the celebration has already begun.

It keeps getting better for Rossi and his fans as Dovizioso crashed out and this promoted Rossi to a place in the podium in 3rd. Stoner took the chequered flag with an impressive display of control in the changing condition, completing his 2nd successive wins after winning previously at Philip Island two weeks ago. Pedrosa took 2nd and Rossi completed the podium in 3rd. Rossi wins his 9th overall title and his 7th premier class title with one race to spare at Valencia.

When Rossi stopped to celebrate with his friends, photographers pushed and shoved around him for that money shot. Some fans jumped from the grandstand despite the marshalls trying to prevent them to no avail, and joined the celebration before marching on to the podium. Even some of the marshalls surrounded Rossi to take photos. One of Rossi's friend gave him a shirt with the Italian word 'Gallina vecchia fa buon brodo' written at the front, a new helmet with a chicken cartoon design and a large fake egg with the number 9 written on it.

So, the question you might ask is, what's the deal with the chicken and the egg? 'Gallina vecchia fa buon brodo' literally means " Old hen makes a good soup." The implication is that old hens do not lay eggs, but they're still worth. It's an Italian saying meaning that age has its advantages (mostly used for mature women). Now, the back of Vale's shirt said "Good soup, my ass!". Meaning that this hen, indeed, laid another egg: the 9th. And it's not ready to be turned into a soup. So, the message that Rossi tries to deliver is that although he is 30, he's not just here to complete the numbers. Amongst all these young pretender to his title challenge like Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa, Rossi proved that he can still deliver the goods. Just like an old chicken that can still produce the eggs.

As for the celebration, i'll just let the photos do talking here! The madness and the frenzy that surrounds Rossi makes it very hard for me to capture all those moments, where a lot of things were happening simultaneously. With all the photographers pushing and shoving for space, believe me, it was a crazy moment, but worth every cent of it. I bet that everybody that went to see the race enjoyed it despite the heavy rain at the beginning!

Stay tuned for more photos from the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit!

Photo/Editorial: Anas Zakaria