Stoner wins dramatic Valencia GP at the line

Monday 07 November: World Champion Casey Stoner could not have finished the season any better, after winning the final race of the season in Valencia in spectacular fashion in a race to the line with Ben Spies. Dovizioso seals third in the Championship.

With this podium, Stoner celebrates his 16th podium finish of the year, equaling the record for most podiums in a single season in the premier class, previously achieved by Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

Alongside Stoner and Spies on the podium was Repsol Honda team mate Andrea Dovizioso, who finished third in the race and also wrapped up third place in the Championship. Dani Pedrosa, who was also fighting for the podium until the last five laps, crossed the finish line in fifth position and finished 2011 MotoGP World Championship in fourth place.

The riders took to the grid with slicks and on the warm up lap, drops of rain appeared, hinting at a potentially thrilling race. Stoner pulled away from the start and at one point had an advantage of nine seconds ahead of team mates Dovizioso and Pedrosa, who were jostling for position until lap 23.

On lap 24, a new race began as it started to rain more heavily. Spies overtook Pedrosa and Dovizioso, and with two laps remaining, Stoner made a mistake after engaging neutral instead of first gear and Spies took the lead. Stoner tracked him closely and then took a slightly different line coming out of the last corner of the final lap, and his Honda RC212V drove him to the finish line first, just 0.015 seconds ahead of the American.

Dovizioso and Pedrosa enjoyed a tough but clean fight however, in the final laps the Andrea adapted to the rain better taking his seventh podium of the year and with it celebrated his best Championship classification in his MotoGP career with third position.

This has been a fantastic season for the Repsol Honda Team who celebrate the 'Triple Crown' after adding the Team Championship (with 528 points compared to Yamaha's 446 points) to the riders' and Constructor's titles already won in Australia. The team will return to the Valencia track on Tuesday in the first official testing day for 2012. Riders Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner will take part in the two day test.

On Tuesday, Stefan Bradl will have the opportunity to ride the World Championship winning RC212V as a gift from HRC for winning the Moto2 Championship. It was planned to invite runner-up Marc Marquez to also ride the bike, but unfortunately due to his injury sustained in Malaysia this is not possible.

Casey Stoner:
"My heart was in my throat! We did such a good job all the race and then it started to rain heavily. Being the first one to arrive to the conditions on the track, I wasn't sure how hard to push so I slowed up to ensure I finished the race and I thought if they come past I can stay with them. Then coming onto the back straight I made a slight mistake when I went into neutral instead of first gear and Ben came past me. I tried to stay with him but he was riding very well, fast and smooth and he looked confident in the conditions, more so than me. In the first half of the final lap he made a nice gap but I knew we were quick in the second half of the lap. I thought to myself, we haven't been able to take any risks all season, this is the time to take one and see what we can do. I knew I had a better exit line out of the final turn and I kept my head down and went for the line. It's amazing to win this on the finish line, I've had it done to me in the past a few times but I've never done it to anyone else! I'm sorry for Ben, he rode a great race, a big thanks to my team for all their hard work this year".

Andrea Dovizioso:
"I’m so happy with third place in the Championship, it’s a great achievement born from a lot hard work throughout the year. Before arriving here I knew I only had a few opportunities to arrive in front of Dani, because he has been always so fast here. Dani was faster than me also in this race weekend so I had to make a good strategy to beat him. Considering that I had a soft front tyre, I knew I couldn’t push hard for 30 laps, I tried to stop him when I was in front of him, then every time he overtook me, I tried to pass him immediately. It was a good battle and with the rain at coming with 7-8 laps to go, I wanted to push harder for the win because I’m good in these tricky conditions however, third position in the Championship was too important so I decided not to take any additional risks. Thanks to my team for these three years spent together, I’m very pleased to finish my career at Honda with third in the Championship, my best result so far in MotoGP. On the final lap I thought of Marco and in the end I succeeded here on a track where I have always struggled. Marco helped me in this challenging mission, Ciao Marco.”

Dani Pedrosa:
"It wasn't an easy race. I did my best, trying hard but I wasn't feeling good on the bike, I was rigid and didn't ride very well. But especially in the end with more water on the track I struggled a lot as in Australia, so this is something I will try to improve with my riding in the future. I had a good battle with Andrea and in the last laps I lost a place to Cal Crutchlow, but I couldn't do any more. Andrea and I were on a soft front tyre and we were maybe struggling a little more than Ben or Cal who were on a hard front, but it's not an excuse. I just want to move forward and think about next year and the test we have on Tuesday. It has been a tough year, but we will try to take the positives from here and be optimistic for the 2012."

Sensational second for Spies in 800cc Grand Prix finale

valencia ricardo tormo motogp race yamaha spies

Yamaha Factory rider Ben Spies delivered a sensational performance today to take second in the tomorrow’s Gran Premio Gernerali de la Comunitat Valenciana, the final race of the 800cc era and the season closer.

The Texan was quick to tuck in behind the fighting duo of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa, pacing the two as they fought for position. With seven laps to go he made his move and began to close down race leader Casey Stoner. Capitalising on a small mistake by the race leader, Spies moved to the front and managed to create a small gap. Unfortunately the last corner saw Stoner fight back, charging to cross the finish line just 0.015 seconds ahead.

Katsuyuki Nakasuga put in a brilliant performance today in his first ever premier class MotoGP race. The Japanese rider has faced challenging weather conditions all weekend on his first visit to the Valencia circuit. Faced with a grid of experienced GP riders and hugely changeable track conditions, Nakasuga-san delivered, holding his own and fighting through to take a very respectable sixth place finish.

Today’s Grand Prix at Valencia was not only the last of the season, but also the last of the 800cc era. Although unable to ride for the last two Grand Prix, Jorge Lorenzo has amassed enough points to seal second in the Championship standings with 260. Team mate Ben Spies takes fifth place with 176 points.

Ben Spies:
"The conditions were really tough today, with the rain it was so difficult to know how hard to push so I was just concentrating on bringing the bike home. We were able to follow Dani and Dovi and get past them eventually and then get past Casey when he made a small mistake. When there’s no rider in front of you, you don’t have a judge on how slippery the track is so it’s difficult to judge speed in that last lap. When we came out of the last corner I got the paint sucked off the bike by Casey as he went past! I’m happy enough; we made a huge charge at the end and finished well. Considering how the last month has gone it’s a great way to end. We’ll focus on the test now and aim to be up there and even more competitive next year. A huge thank you to Yamaha and my crew who made sure I had a great bike to ride today. This morning we all came out to make some noise and say goodbye to Marco, I’m pretty sure he heard us and I know he would have approved!”

Ducati Team out of Valencia GP in Turn one

valencia ricardo tormo motogp race ducati rossi hayden

After a positive first two days during the final round of the 2011 MotoGP season, the Ducati Team had an unfortunate and premature end to the Valencia Grand Prix, with riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden both being taken out of the race in a Turn 1 racing incident.

The American experienced pain and swelling in his right hand following the fall, but an X-ray in the mobile clinic didn’t reveal any fractures. Rossi and Hayden finish the season seventh and eight, respectively, in the final Championship points standings.

A post-race test will take place at the Valencia circuit on this Tuesday and Wednesday.

Nicky Hayden:
"I felt some riders coming up the inside really fast as we approached Turn 1. Then something happened and it was just the domino effect - race over in the first corner. I’m okay other than my hand being pretty sore. It’s unfortunate. One of our bike’s strengths is generating heat in the tyres, and that’s what you need on a cold, wet track like this. Already on the warm-up lap, the bike felt good. It’s easy to say now, but I honestly feel like we could have put up a decent fight today and had some fun.”

Valentino Rossi:
"There’s really nothing to say about today, other than that I’m sorry beyond measure not to have been able to put on Sic’s T-shirt for the lap of honour. It’s truly a shame. I started well and all the conditions were in our favour for having a nice race, but we were unfortunate and received no points here either. We finish the season tied with Sic, with him ahead of me in the standings. I guess that’s my tribute to him!”

Moto2: Pirro scores his first win at Valencia

Gresini Racing’s Michele Pirro rode to his first Moto2 win at the Gran Premio Gernerali de la Comunitat Valenciana, in emotional conclusion to the final race of the season for the Gresini Team. Mika Kallio and Dominique Aegerter completed the podium.

Pole position starter Michele Pirro claimed his first ever GP win in the final round of the season at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, crossing the line over six seconds ahead of Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing) who scored his first podium of the season. The result for the Gresini Team was a fitting tribute to their fallen rider MotoGP Marco Simoncelli, and a was welcome finish to a weekend they had previously questioned participating in.

Pirro’s team mate Yuki Takahashi had joined him on the front row of the damp grid, the Japanese rider launching well off the start and holding the lead until lap five when an unfortunate crash in the slippery conditions put and end to his race. With Pirro inheriting the lead, the battle for second between Kallio (Marc VDS Racing), Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX) and Aegerter (Technomag-CIP) ensued, with the Finn claiming second ahead of the Swiss rider Aegerter when Hernández rode off the track.

A four way battle for behind the leaders between Anthony West (MZ Racing), Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2), Kenny Noyes (Avintia-STX) and Xavier Simeon (Tech 3 B) went to the line, with Australian West coming out on top of the pile to take fourth position ahead of American rider Noyes in fifth.

Hernandez took sixth, with Mike di Meglio (Tech 3 Racing) seventh ahead of Simeon. Max Neukirchner (MZ Racing) and Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) completed the top ten, while World Champion Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) fell from 7th position early in the race.

Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) crossed the line 11th to claim third place in the Championship, beating out De Angelis who followed the Italian across the line in 12th.

125cc: Terol crowned World Champion as Viñales wins final 125cc GP

Maverick Viñales claimed his fourth victory of his rookie season at the Gran Premio Gernerali de la Comunitat Valenciana as Nicolas Terol was crowned the 2011 125cc World Champion.

The final race of the two stroke era got underway at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit with the Championship to be decided within the 24 laps of the race. Danny Webb (Mahindra Racing) got a great start off his first ever pole position, holding the lead until lap two when Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar) took over from the British rider, but all eyes were on the fight for the Championship between leader Nicolas Terol (Bankia Aspar) and challenger Johann Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo).

Zarco started well off the front row as Terol rode cautiously from his ninth place start, the Spaniard needing only to finish 11th or better to claim the title. But after finishing every race in the top six this season, the young Frenchman’s Championship hopes were dashed as he crashed out of lap three while pushing to get to front on the race, handing the last ever 125cc crown to Terol.

With first and second in the Championship decided with Zarco’s retirement, the battle for third between Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany) and Maverick Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing) was on, though it was decided before the conclusion of the race when the German rider crashed and retired at the halfway point.

The race for top three positions was down to Viñales, Faubel and Terol, as the new Champion made his way to the front to join the race for the win, the three trading order as they stretched the gap to the rest of the field to over 5 seconds. Viñales moved to the front with 6 laps to go, and crossed the line first to score his fourth win of his remarkable debut GP season, with Terol second and Faubel third.

Fourth place went to Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo), with Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) claiming fifth ahead of Alberto Moncayo (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica) in sixth. RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom placed seventh from his second row start, Finnish rider Niklas Ajo (TT Motion Events Racing) was eighth with Luigi Morciano (Team Italia FMI) and Matteoni Racing’s Louis Rossi completing the top ten.

Nico Terol marked his name down in history as the last ever 125cc World Champion by taking the 2011 title, following in the footsteps of fellow countrymen Julián Simón and Marc Márquez who preceded the 23 year-old from Alcoy in a strong Spanish dominance of the category in recent years.

Terol made his Grand Prix debut in 2004 as a replacement for the injured Mike di Meglio in the 125cc class at the final round of the season in Valencia, having finished fourth in his national Championship, and the following year in 2005 he competed in his first full Grand Prix campaign on board a Derbi.

A promising 2006 saw Terol have a strong second half of the season as he regularly scored top-ten finishes, but that progress wavered somewhat the following year as he failed to improve on his final Championship finish.

A switch to Aprilia in 2008 proved to be a catalyst for Terol’s talent to prosper, and it did so in rapid fashion. A first Grand Prix podium at Jerez was later followed by a maiden victory – at Indianapolis – and the Spaniard ended the year in an impressive fifth place overall.

Further progress came in 2009 as Terol finished the season third in the Championship, and his form earned him a ride with the Aspar set-up for the 2010 campaign in which his title credentials really came to the fore. Three victories and a total of 14 podium finishes were only outdone by the stunning form of eventual World Champion Márquez, whom Terol finished runner-up to by 14 points. Injury also played a part in Terol’s season; he crashed out of the Catalunya GP and injured his back, missing the next race in Germany as he recovered.

Touted as the man to beat going into 2011, Terol immediately set the tone by taking victory in five of the opening seven rounds to leave little doubt over his pre-season tag as title favourite. An injury which prevented his participation at Assen and a mechanical failure at Brno presented mid-season moments of concern, but Terol’s quality was underlined as he bounced back from the Czech Republic disappointment with three consecutive wins.

Pushed until the final round of the campaign by rival Johann Zarco, Terol sealed his first World Championship title in front of his home crowd at the Valencia GP with second position, closing another illustrious chapter in Grand Prix history as the 125cc class makes way for the new Moto3 category in 2012.