Results and summary of the MotoGP race at Valencia:
Jorge Lorenzo has sealed his first MotoGP championship is style, by taking victory in the final MotoGP race of the season at Valencia.
The Valencia circuit is often unloved by fans and riders, and the eerily empty stands reflected the crowd's expectation of another processional display in the final race of the year. Their expectations were confounded, however, and the 80,000 fans who turned up were treated to a display of racing among MotoGP's four aliens that they have been waiting for all season.
To nobody's surprise, it was Casey Stoner who entered the first turn in the lead, the Marlboro Ducati rider capitalizing on his pole position. Behind Stoner, however, chaos ensued, with Dani Pedrosa emerging the big winner. The Repsol Honda rider threaded his way through the pack from 8th on the grid to emerge in 2nd after the first couple of corners, with Nicky Hayden and Marco Simoncelli behind him. Jorge Lorenzo was further back, while Valentino Rossi was with Andrea Dovizioso behind Lorenzo.
Hayden was the first of the leading group to drop out, the American washing out his front at Turn 1 and crashing out of the race. Hayden was nearly joined in the gravel by Jorge Lorenzo, the Spaniard trying to force his way past Marco Simoncelli at Turn 13, painting the inside of the Italian's leathers and nearly crashing, putting on a brilliant save but losing a lot of ground.
At the front, Casey Stoner was not checking out the way that everyone had expected before the race. Instead, Dani Pedrosa was closing fast, a brave display given the Repsol Honda's condition, still recovering from a broken collarbone. Pedrosa soon had Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo also joining the fray, both Fiat Yamaha riders having dispensed with Marco Simoncelli despite the Italian's fierce resistance.
We looked like having the first full contest that MotoGP fans have been looking forward to all year: a head-on clash of all four of the aliens. Dani Pedrosa pushed at Stoner, but the Repsol Honda rider's recently healed collarbone meant he could not keep up the frenetic pace that was being set at the front.
Valentino Rossi was the next to fade. Jorge Lorenzo had been looking for revenge for Motegi, and Rossi was keen to teach his teammate one last lesson before he departed, but the Italian veteran was unable to fight back once Rossi slipped through at Turn 2. Rossi hung on to Lorenzo for three more laps, but Lorenzo's pace was just too much for the Italian to follow.
Lorenzo's charge was clearly unstoppable, and he had only one more obstacle in his path. Casey Stoner resisted for seven laps, before finally succumbing to the pressure of the 2010 World Champion. Once past, there was no more holding him back, and Lorenzo went on to take a comfortable victory, taking Valentino Rossi's points record along the way. Casey Stoner came home in 2nd, while Valentino Rossi ended his career at Yamaha with one last podium.
Behind Rossi, another battle raged for 4th. Dani Pedrosa had been unable to stay with Marco Simoncelli, Andrea Dovizioso and Ben Spies, and Simoncelli looked like coming out on top of what was a fierce battle, with the two Italians and the Spaniard swapping places for the last 10 laps. On lap 27, Simoncelli made one more desperate dive underneath Dovizioso, Dovizioso coming straight back at him, but while the two Italians were concentrating on each other, Spies stole past to take over 4th, and pulled away to hold on to the position by a comfortable margin. Dovizioso held on to 5th, finishing ahead of another impressive performance by Simoncelli.
Results:
Pos. | No. | Rider | Manufacturer | Time | Diff |
1 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | YAMAHA | 46'44.622 | |
2 | 27 | Casey STONER | DUCATI | 46'49.198 | 4.576 |
3 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | YAMAHA | 46'53.620 | 8.998 |
4 | 11 | Ben SPIES | YAMAHA | 47'02.265 | 17.643 |
5 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | HONDA | 47'03.782 | 19.160 |
6 | 58 | Marco SIMONCELLI | HONDA | 47'05.296 | 20.674 |
7 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | HONDA | 47'11.419 | 26.797 |
8 | 40 | Hector BARBERA | DUCATI | 47'13.910 | 29.288 |
9 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SUZUKI | 47'14.073 | 29.451 |
10 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | HONDA | 47'14.482 | 29.860 |
11 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | DUCATI | 47'16.383 | 31.761 |
12 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | YAMAHA | 47'18.226 | 33.604 |
13 | 33 | Marco MELANDRI | HONDA | 47'21.244 | 36.622 |
14 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | HONDA | 47'23.590 | 38.968 |
15 | 71 | Carlos CHECA | DUCATI | 47'40.791 | 56.169 |
Not Classified | |||||
65 | Loris CAPIROSSI | SUZUKI | 20'48.058 | 17 laps | |
69 | Nicky HAYDEN | DUCATI | 3'13.356 | 28 laps |
Comments
Great race
Superb racing. Lorenzo proved is mettle.
undoubtedly his best victory
undoubtedly his best victory of the season having to come from way back. it was clear he was gonna win it or bin it...what with the 12,000$ helmet that was made to celebrate a victory with. surprised stoner couldnt dip into the 1.32s and dani with the fastest lap of the race. lorenzo just showed so much maturity in the conditions early on and went fastest when it mattered most towards the end of the race while picking off his rivals in a calm manner. championship title, BMW best qualifier, record equaling podiums, record breaking points haul. its been a superb season
Great Race! Again, you have
Great Race! Again, you have to hand it to JL in bike set up---Stoner, Rossi, Simo's bike were moving around quite a bit, while JL's bike looked like it was on RAILS! Superb Job! Next year is gonna be INTERESTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Win it or bin it???
I believe those who describe Lorenzo's race strategy as 'win it or bin it' do the young Mallocan a great disservice.
His maturing over the last couple of years has been massive, cumulating with this years record of top 4 every race with no DNF's.
In the post race interview he said of his incident when trying to pass Simoncelli "I keep my calm..."
Given that situation if he were in 'win it or bin it' mode he probably would of let his emotions run high and end up binning it.
Furthermore lets not forget the opening couple of races where he lapped around in 5th before finding his pace and picking off rider after rider to gain excellent finishes.
Jorge Lorenzo is a mature minded rider with a great racecraft- I hope he isn't tarnished by his younger hot-head days for the whole of his career.
In reply to Win it or bin it??? by phil
motogpphill, you've said it
motogpphill, you've said it just as it is. his maturity in race mode is way ahead of his age. i remarked too about the calm manner he picked his rivals off methodically. IMO, it seemed like he was gonna accept nothing less than a victory today. when he was chasing stoner with rossi behind, he had a moment and nearly crashed then lost some time to stoner and fell a bit into rossi's clutches. but alas, he came back at stoner in quick time. some riders may have chosen to play it safe and take the record breaking points haul in a season. nothing short of a victory would do today for JLO in front of his adoring fans and he showed his class...again. like you said, lorenzo has great racecraft and has grown in stature, confidence and skill. what a deserved victory...
Lorenzo put on quite a show
Lorenzo put on quite a show today. Battling with Simoncelli had me scratching my head a bit but then he seemed to take a cleansing breath, settle down and just go on about his business. Championship form indeed.
The Spies, Dovi, Simo battle for 4th was great that last 4 laps. Spies should do well on the factory bike next year. Hopefully Yamaha will improve the acceleration for 2011. The Honda's, and Ducati's seem to be just a step ahead on that front despite the race results.
Gotta say that Simoncelli has certainly stepped up his game in the latter half of the season. His aggressiveness is not in question that is for sure. Tire management seems to be his main issue.
Going to be a long winter. May have to revisit this race on my DVR in the coming months.
Almost perfect...
A fitting end to a super season for Jorge.
Forget the worn tires and the speed of the Hondas, Ben is just too good, and too smart, for Marco and Dovi.
It just seems right for Vale to finish with 46 wins on the Yam. Can't wait to see him in Red.
Next year should be absolutely fantastic - with Ben at the pointy end again!