 His first corner crash with Nicky Hayden in Australia was a blow to his title chances and Rossi clinched the title with a third-place finish in Malaysia.On 25 August 2009, Lorenzo ended speculation surrounding a possible move to Honda or Ducati by signing a contract to race with Yamaha in the 2010 MotoGP Championship.Ducati reputedly offered him a $15 million contract to take the seat vacated by Marco Melandri which was eventually taken by Nicky Hayden.