Valentino Rossi was the star of the show once again on Sunday evening at the traditional gala ceremony in Valencia which closes the MotoGP season, as he was officially presented with his 2009 FIM MotoGP World Championship trophy, in the Spanish city’s Palacio de Congresos.

At the conclusion of the 2009 FIM MotoGP Awards Ceremony, which was presented by the BBC’s Matthew Roberts and TVE’s Ainhoa Arbizu and broadcast across the globe, Rossi was presented with the trophy by Mr. Francisco Camps, President of the Generalitat Valenciana and Rita Barberá, the Mayoress of Valencia.

Mr. Vito Ippolito, the President of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme and Mr. Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, were also in attendance as an array of prizes were awarded over the course of the evening, marking the achievements of those riders who have excelled on-track this year.

Newly crowned 250cc World Champion Hiroshi Aoyama - who clinched the title at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana earlier on Sunday - and the 2009 125cc World title winner Julián Simón were both also presented with their respective trophies.

Additional prize categories included Rookie of the Year, Tissot Pole of Poles for best qualifier in each class, BMW M Award for best MotoGP qualifier and the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ World Championships.