FIM MotoGP World Championship

Valencia, Spain

November 9, 2014

Race Results (all on Bridgestone tires):

1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 30 laps, 46:39.627

2. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), -3.516 seconds

3. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), -14.040

4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), -16.705

5. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (DUCATI), -16.773

6. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), -37.884

7. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (FORWARD YAMAHA), -38.168

8. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), -41.803

9. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), -45.710

10. Scott REDDING, UK (HONDA), -51.191

11. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), -56.512

12. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (ART-APRILIA), -57.000

13. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (HONDA), -57.262

14. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), -57.517

15. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), -58.775

16. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), -58.864

17. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (HONDA), -62.389

18. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (FORWARD YAMAHA), -75.795

19. Michael LAVERTY, UK (PBM-APRILIA), -86.309

20. Broc PARKES, Australia (PBM-APRILAI), -97.212

21. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (FTR-KAWASAKI), -1 lap

22. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), -1 lap

23. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), -6 laps, DNF, retired

24. Randy DE PUNIET, France (SUZUKI), -18 laps, DNF, retired

25. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), -21 laps, DNF, retired

World Championship Point Standings (after 18 of 18 races):

1. Marquez, 362 points

2. Rossi, 295

3. Lorenzo, 263

4. Pedrosa, 246

5. Dovizioso, 187

6. Pol Espargaro, 136

7. Aleix Espargaro, 126

8. Smith, 121

9. Bradl, 117

10. Iannone, 102

11. Bautista, 89

12. Redding, 81

13. Crutchlow, 74

14. Aoyama, 68

15. Hernandez, 53

16. Hayden, 47

17. Abraham, 33

18. Barbera, 26

19. Pirro, 18

20. Petrucci, 17

21. De Angelis, 14

22. Colin Edwards, 11

23. TIE, Parkes/Laverty/Di Meglio, 9

26. Katsuyuki Nakasuga, 4

27. Leon Camier, 1

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

Rossi Scores Superb Second Place at Valencia Season Finale

Valencia (Spain), 9th November 2014

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi secured a superb second place under difficult conditions during the 2014 season finale, the Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit.

Starting from pole in what began as a dry race, Rossi took off as soon as the lights dimmed and arrived at the first corner in second place behind compatriot Andrea Iannone. Followed closely by Marc Marquez, the nine-time World Champion was quick to find a strong pace, but as soon as the first lap was finished white flags were waving, signaling rain and allowing riders to come into the pits to change bikes.

Rossi didn’t let the changeable conditions slow him down and set a fastest lap of 1’32.437 on lap five. As things closed up at the front, fans were thoroughly entertained with a heated battle between Rossi, Marquez and Iannone. Sparks were flying from Rossi’s bike on lap 12 as Dani Pedrosa started to get into the mix. Six laps later rain threatened again, allowing the Doctor to reel in Marquez. Rossi kept his head down, but as the track dried again he came just short and finished in a deserved second place, 3.516 seconds behind the front man.

Teammate Lorenzo had an unlucky end to the 2014 season. Starting from fourth on the grid, he soon got caught up in a fight with rival Pedrosa. The Movistar Yamaha rider looked to be the stronger of the two until drops of rain began to fall and he took a few laps to get a feel for the situation, falling back to seventh.

As the track started to dry Lorenzo regained confidence and rose to fifth, having retaken Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso by lap nine. Four laps later the Spaniard arrived at the back of Iannone’s bike and won a hard battle with him before continuing his hunt for Pedrosa in third, until rain once again disrupted the race. Lorenzo struggled to get the bike stopped in the uncertain conditions and dropped down the order. He decided to come into the pits on lap 20 to switch to his wet bike and rejoined the race in 14th place. Unfortunately the gamble didn’t pay off. He dropped back to 21st and was forced to retire with five laps remaining as the conditions remained dry.

With second place Rossi gains 20 championship points, securing second in the championship, with 295 points total. Lorenzo finished third in the championship as his points total remained 263.

Tomorrow Rossi and Lorenzo will be back aboard the M1 on the Valencia circuit for the first test sessions in preparation for next year’s season.

Valentino Rossi

2nd / +3.516 / 30 laps

“I’m happy, because I finished this very positive season for me and my team with a great race and a good result here in Valencia. For me it’s a great achievement to take the pole position and to finish in second place, especially because this race was very difficult and the conditions were very dangerous. I tried to stay concentrated and not to make a mistake. It’s a bit of a shame that I started to suffer a little bit on the right side of the tyre, because I wasn’t so far from Marc, but it still has been a good season. We got second in the championship, a lot of podiums and two victories. Now, we have to work to be even better next year. My bad luck is called Marc Marquez, because without him I can win the championship and a lot of races. He did a fantastic job and won a lot of races. It’s a great pleasure to fight with him, but we are not so far and we never give up and try to come closer. Especially on Tuesday, but also tomorrow we will start working for next season. I am very close to 300 points, but Marquez won a lot more races than me, so me and my team need to improve the Yamaha to try and stay closer during the whole season. The test is important because we have a lot of new stuff to test for next year, so it will be interesting.”

Jorge Lorenzo

DNF / – / – laps

“In Aragon I decided to come into the pits and it was a good decision, but here it was not raining enough for the rear tyre to work well. I was losing a lot of time as the slicks were dropping because of the water. The other riders were more confident. They weren’t scared to make a mistake, so they were faster and I kept losing time. Like in Aragon, instead of finishing in fifth, sixth or seventh position, I prefer to take risks, but today we didn’t have the luck we had there. I entered the pits and I was losing time every lap. I was five or six seconds slower than the others and eventually I decided to stop. We made a mistake and we have to learn from all the mistakes that we made this season to be stronger and more clever next year.”

Massimo Meregalli

“This has been one of the fastest seasons from my experience in MotoGP. We had a really positive year, though we missed out on the championship we had really good results and 24 podiums, many of them with both our riders standing together. In general our results were excellent and we deserved to finish at least second and third in the championship. We responded very well from the second half of the season and we were able to close the gap and show that the performance of the bike is very good. I really appreciate the effort that everybody in the team put in to keep pushing and never give up, that’s been really important. Today it was a difficult race, the conditions weren’t easy at all. Valentino proved again that he is still one of the most competitive riders in the world. Unfortunately it was a bittersweet end to the season with Jorge’s result. He wanted to take a gamble. It worked in Aragon, but here unfortunately it didn’t. I want to thank everybody again who made this good season possible, every team member and Yamaha employee and also the fans for their fantastic support. Congratulations to Marc for his title, we’ll be back to fight for it next year! Tomorrow it’s already the start of 2015 for us and we’ll start working on the new season.”

More, from a press release issued by Cardion AB Motoracing:

Abraham was close to points in Valencia

From twenty-third position final seventeenth place- that is result of Grand Prix in Valencia for Karel Abraham. The Czech rider managed to fight during the race for points position, however he had to get satisfied with seventeenth place. The point position he missed just less than two seconds. Just due to that Alvaro Bautista and Hiroshi Aoyama beat him. Seventeenth position belongs to Karel Abraham also in final standing of this MotoGP season.

Karel Abraham

“After yesterday bad qualifying it is seventeenth place. The weather helped a bit and that’s pity that it did not help me even more. Since start, the bike was a lot slippery, but when started to rain a little bit that it becomes more readable and I enjoyed ride more. Due to that I managed to reach the group in front of me and I was riding for points position. When the track got dry there was no other possibility to get in front and Aoyama overtook me. I could not fight with him because he was riding on bike for season 2015 and in straights he was ten kilometers per hour faster than me. On the other hand I know, what we can look forward and it will in this way we will be much more competitive next year.

In consideration that in previous races i was not successful, it is probably daring, but I will say it anyway: I think that this season was good, definitely it wasn’t the best in this ten years that I’ve been riding in World Championship. We had consistent results, we fought with rivals on similarly powerful bikes, we reached points regularly and there were a few of crashes. In Misano we managed to get a trophy for the fastest open bike. Unfortunately these last five races were a nightmare. It was partially my fault, partially due to technology, but it does not matter. Today on midnight the season 2014 ends for us and starts the season 2015. And it is necessary to start to concentrate on it right now.”

More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:

Record-breaking finish to 2014 for Marquez as he takes win number 13 at Valencia

Round 18: Valencia MotoGP™ – Race

Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana, Saturday 9 November 2014

Bridgestone slick compounds available:

Front: Extra-soft & Soft (Symmetric) & Soft (Asymmetric). Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)

Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)

Weather: Dry. Ambient 18-18°C; Track 21-21°C (Bridgestone measurement)

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez underlined his dominance in 2014 as the MotoGP™ World Champion became the first rider to claim thirteen premier class victories in a season by taking a masterful win at Valencia.

The season finale commenced in dry conditions, yet light rain began to fall as the first lap was completed creating challenging conditions for the riders. Marquez found himself in third position for the opening nine laps of the race in an entertaining battle with Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi and Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone who had a sensational start to the race. Intermittent rain fell throughout the race, while Marquez seized the race lead from Iannone on lap eleven, after which he was never headed. Marquez streaked away to win the race by 3.516 seconds from Rossi, while on the other Repsol Honda RC213V Dani Pedrosa took third position a further ten seconds behind. Despite the variable conditions during the race, Marc Marquez was able to set a new Valencia Circuit Best Lap record of 1’31.515 on the eighth lap.

The cloud cover and lower ambient temperatures resulted in the track temperature reaching a maximum of 21°C for the race, 7°C degrees cooler than yesterday’s peak recording. As was the case throughout the previous sessions, all the Factory Ducati, Honda and Yamaha riders selected the medium compound rear slick for the race with ultimately fifteen of the twenty-five starters selecting this option. The remaining ten riders opted for the soft compound rear slick. The asymmetric soft compound front slick was the most popular front tyre choice for the race, with fourteen riders selecting it, while ten riders selected the symmetric soft compound front slick. Only one rider, Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham opted for the extra-soft symmetric front slick for the race.

Rossi’s second place at Valencia was enough for him to secure second position in the riders’ championship standings with 295 points, thirty-two points ahead of his teammate Jorge Lorenzo who retired from today’s Valencia Grand Prix for only his second DNF of the year. Marquez’s victory sees him end the season on 362 points.

Kyota Futami – General Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department

“Congratulations to Marc and Honda on capping off such a memorable year with a record-breaking thirteenth victory in one season. It was wonderful to end 2014 with such an exciting race with so many riders competing at the highest level. On behalf of everyone at Bridgestone I would like to thank all the teams and riders, Dorna, and IRTA for their support this year and assisting us in our role as Official Tyre Supplier to MotoGP. I would also like to thank the millions of MotoGP fans around the globe for continuing to support the series in ever-growing numbers and helping to make it the premier motorcycle racing series in the world. This was another successful season for Bridgestone with a total of 19 lap records being set in 2014, and now we look forward to commencing our programme for the 2015 season tomorrow at the Valencia post-race test.”

Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department

“The cool change we expected came through today and so this morning’s Warm Up session helped the riders get a feel for how our various tyre options performed on the cool Valencia track surface. The medium rear slick was selected by the majority of riders, but both the soft and medium rear slicks performed very well over race distance, especially given the variable weather conditions. It was pleasing that so many riders chose to run our new asymmetric soft compound front slick for the race and both the soft compound front slick options provided a lot of grip in the cool conditions, even with the intermittent rain we experienced. A new Valencia race lap record was a good way to end the year and our engineers are now looking forward to supporting the teams at the post-race test.”

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda – Race Winner

“Today I am really, really happy, maybe happier than when I won the championship at Motegi as today my brother Alex also won the Moto3 championship. This last victory was a great way to finish the year and it’s an incredible feeling and now it’s time to enjoy our 2014 season, especially for my family as today was amazing and we will never forget it.”

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Phenomenal Marquez ends season in style with record 13th victory

The MotoGP™ race at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana saw Marc Marquez score a record 13th premier class win of the season, ahead of Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa. The result sees Rossi clinch the runner-up spot in the championship.

Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) set a new record for most victories in a single campaign in the top class, having equaled Mick Doohan’s total of 12 wins in 1997 last time out in Sepang.

The race saw light rain fall, with Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone electing to move onto bikes set up for the wet on lap 20, a decision which would prove costly for both.

Crossing the line in second place Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) notched up the 13th rostrum result of a remarkable season for him too and the Italian also clinches second in this year’s championship. Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) was third in the Valencia contest, registering his tenth podium result of 2014.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) beat Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) to the line for fourth place by just 0.068s in their final race together as teammates.

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) was sixth in the race to confirm sixth in the championship in an excellent rookie season. Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) crossed the line 0.284s behind his brother in seventh, giving him seventh place overall in the standings.

Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), wild card Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) and Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) completed the top ten.

On lap 11 Marquez had taken the initiative and took the lead from pole man Rossi and early race leader Iannone (Pramac Racing). At the half way stage Iannone made a mistake and ran through the gravel trap dropping back from the front group, having set the early pace.

On lap 20 Lorenzo and Iannone took the decision to swap bikes as light rain fell. Lorenzo then pulled into the pits on lap 26 having worn down wet tyres on a track which remained relatively dry, whilst Iannone ended up 22nd.

Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) was forced to retire during the early stages with a technical problem. Suzuki’s MotoGP return also ended with Randy De Puniet (Team Suzuki MotoGP) in the pits.

Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) suffered a small crash, but was able to remount and recover to 14th.

Moto2: Luthi takes dramatic win at final round as Rabat slows on finish straight

Tom Luthi took the victory in the final Moto2™ race of the year at Valencia, overtaking Tito Rabat on the final straight, with the World Champion slowing after the last corner and letting the Swiss rider slip in front. Johann Zarco finished third.

A close battle between Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) and Luthi (Interwetten Sitag) saw the Swiss rider come out on top in dramatic fashion at the death. Rabat stated afterwards that he had encountered a fuel shortage coming out of the final corner, allowing Luthi to charge forward and claim victory.

It was a lonely ride for Zarco (Caterham Suter) in third, as he finished 10 seconds down on the leading duo

Luis Salom (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) beat Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) who had pushed hard to catch the Spaniard for fourth. Dominique Aegerter (Technomag CarXpert) was part of that battle towards the end of the race but crossed the line sixth.

Sam Lowes (Speed Up), Marcel Schrotter (Tech 3), Anthony West (QMMF Racing Team) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Gresini Moto2) rounded out the top ten.

Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP), Jonas Folger (AGR Team) and Gino Rea (AFT REA Racing) came together on the opening lap, though the latter two were able to remount quickly and get back into the race.

Soon after there was an incident between Maverick Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) and Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) that saw the Spaniard crash into Kallio. Viñales returned to the pits and while Kallio’s race was over in the gravel.

Axel Pons (AGR Team) and Julian Simon (Italtrans Racing Team) also came together several laps later.

Lucas Mahias (Promoto Sport) fell, as did Franco Morbidelli (Italtrans Racing Team) who lost the front and rejoined the race. Thitipong Warokorn (APH PTT The Pizza SAG) also had a spill and rejoined.

Mattia Pasini (NGM Forward Racing Team) was forced to retire with a technical issue.

Moto3™: Ecstatic Marquez clinches Moto3™ title in third as Miller wins final race

Alex Marquez took the Moto3™ title by crossing the line third at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, with Jack Miller winning the race ahead of Isaac Viñales.

A breathtaking 24 lap contest at the Spanish track saw Marquez doing enough to take the World Championship crown by two points, holding off a fight from Danny Kent in the final stages for the crucial last podium spot.

The championship triumph for Marquez means that he and older brother Marc Marquez, the MotoGP™ World Champion, are the first siblings to win World titles in Grand Prix racing.

Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) produced another stunning ride for his sixth win and tenth podium of a remarkable season, but it was Marquez’s third place – also his tenth rostrum of 2014 – and the Spaniard’s consistency over the year that won the day.

Viñales (Calvo Team) was searching for his first career victory and held the lead provisionally, eventually being overtaken by Miller and finishing second by 0.155s.

Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) was 0.617s in front of Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) for third with the Englishman missing a gear in the final stages meaning he could not challenge the Spaniard on the line.

Also in the front running group were Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Efren Vazquez (SaxoPrint-RTG), the Spanish pair crossing the line fifth and sixth respectively.

The top ten was completed by pole man Niccolo Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN), Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing), Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) and Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo).

Albert Arenas (Calvo Team) was an early crasher, but remounted to finish the race. Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA Racing Team) also fell and was taken to the medical centre for checks.

Scott Deroue (RW Racing GP) was forced into the pits with a technical issue, while Jules Danilo (Ambrogio Racing) fell while chasing points.

As the battle between Marquez and Miller reached its climax, Jorge Navarro (Marc VDS Racing Team) and Niklas Ajo (Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo) both crashed.

More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing:

Iannone tries till the end, Hernandez is betrayed by the front tire

It was a cursed race a Valencia for the Pramac Racing Team. Andrea Iannone started perfectly and after leading the group for ten laps he ended unlucky in twenty-second position. Yonny Hernandez was forced to retire because of an unusual behavior of the front tire.

Andrea Iannone was the author of a perfect start conquering the first position. Andrea also completed a series of impressive fast laps, keeping the lead for ten laps. At that point the Italian rider had to give up positions to Marquez, Rossi and Pedrosa due to his pain in the left arm that limited his force during braking and changing direction. Because of the precarious physical condition Andrea went off track, when he got back on track in seventh place after a while it started to rain. Considering the painful arm and the sky that threatened to rain Andrea tried his chance and returned to the garage changing the bike hoping on the one with wet tires. But it did not work because the rain stopped falling and Andrea ended the Grand Prix in twenty-second position. Never as in this case, the result does not reflect the performance. Andrea fought like a lion and made us dream of the podium. At this point we can only thank him for the good times spent together and wish him the best for the future.

A bitter end of season for Yonny Hernandez, who was forced to retire in the Grand Prix of Valencia. Yonny has been protagonist of a good start that allowed him to get to the eighth place in a few laps. Unfortunately on the tenth lap his feeling with the front tire drastically disappeared, forcing him to return to the pits. Yonny is upset because he wanted to end the year with a good race. Tomorrow he will use the GP14.2 to start working for the 2015 season!

Andrea Iannone

“I’m sorry I finished the race like this. I started good and I knew I had a good pace and had a good chance to push hard and stay in front. Initially the other riders did ride as fast as they did during practice. I had a good feeling and I was able to push for a third of the race, but by the seventh lap my arm started burning again and I had to slow down a bit for the lack of strength. When it started to rain, I decided to change bike thinking it would had continued to rain but unfortunately it didn’t happen. I’m very happy with my season and I want to thank the Pramac Racing Team for all the work and support they have given me in these two years! “

Yonny Hernandez (EnergyT.I. Pramac Racing)

“I’m disappointed that I had to retire. From the beginning I had a good feeling so I was able to push hard and I gained the twelfth position on the first lap and then up to the eighth position. During the third lap I lost the feeling with the front tire, I had the same feeling I had in Brno. At every turn the front tire tucked and seemed to ride on a track full of holes. At that point I decided to do another lap but there was nothing to be done. I’m sorry I closed the final round with a zero. From tomorrow I will have a new bike and I’ll do my best to do better than this year!. “

More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:

Marquez breaks another record with victory in Valencia and Pedrosa completes Repsol Honda double podium clinching 2014 Triple Crown

2014 World Champion Marc Marquez has broken another record in Valencia today, winning his thirteenth race of the season – the most ever in the premier class. Teammate Dani Pedrosa took third place – continuing his impressive record at the Valencia track with six podium finishes in nine starts in MotoGP – and together the Spanish duo have clinched the Team Championship resulting in back-to-back Triple Crown’s.

It was another complicated race with rain constantly threatening to arrive. Dani starting from 3rd and Marc in 5th traded positions on the opening lap as the race began at a very quick pace with riders jostling for position. Dani fought with Crutchlow in the early laps but finally completed the pass into 4th and joined the battle for the podium. Meanwhile Marc attacked Rossi – setting a new record race lap of 1’31.515 (beating Pedrosa’s 2013 lap of 1’31.628) – and passed him on lap ten and after a brief battle with Iannone on lap eleven, finally took the race lead. The following lap Dani also passed Iannone and began to chase down Rossi and Marc.

Then with twelve laps remaining small spots of rain began to appear. Lorenzo entered the pits for his wet setup bike, but fortunately for the other riders the rain never arrived. Although lap times fluctuated, Marc was able to control his lead and Dani consolidated third place resulting in Repsol Honda winning their 7th Team Championship (since the beginning of the MotoGP class in 2002) to add to the Rider and Constructor Championships and marking Honda’s third Triple Crown in four years and second in succession.

The 2014 season is now officially over but the 2015 season will begin tomorrow with a three day test in Valencia. Dani will be on track after lunch but Marc and his team will take a break and start their testing programme on Tuesday, with Marc’s brother – 2014 Moto3 World Champion Alex – enjoying some laps on the Factory RC213V as a gift from Honda.

TEAM QUOTES

Marc Marquez

1st – 2014 World Championship: 1st

“I am so pleased, especially for my brother! It is a very happy day, even more than in Motegi when I was crowned Champion. Today Alex took the Moto3 title that he deserved, and to cap it off I was able to close the year with a victory here in Valencia. I congratulate my brother for his season, because both him and Honda have done a great job this year! Now it’s time to celebrate in the way that the occasion deserves, because it will be difficult to repeat another season like this. During today’s race I was reminded of Aragon, because it was raining and there was a moment in which I considered whether or not to change the bike. In the end we stayed calm and today we were successful with our strategy. It was an ordeal which I enjoyed but suffered a bit at times! Thanks to the whole team for all their efforts this season!”

Dani Pedrosa

3rd – 2014 World Championship: 4th

“It has not been my best season and obviously I’m not satisfied, but you have to take the positives from the situation because we learned a lot this year. Over the next few days we have some testing and we will try to get the best out of the bike for the next test, which comes in February. Today’s race was difficult. It rained a lot in some areas of the track and it was very hard to keep upright because other parts of the track it was dry. We had to take risks and also be careful at the same time. On the other hand, we finished on the podium and that’s good because we hadn’t taken points at the previous two races.”

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Dovizioso and Crutchlow end the season with fourth and fifth place in the Valencian Community GP: Pirro ninth. The Ducati Team finish third in the teams’ classification

Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow finished the 2014 season with a good result at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Cheste (Valencia). The two Ducati Team men ran almost the entire race together, swapping places a number of times, and they took the chequered flag in the Valencian Community GP in fourth and fifth place.

The race was disturbed by a light rain that began to fall half-way through, forcing the riders to slow down to avoid any problems caused by the damp track.

Michele Pirro, entered as a wild-card on the Desmosedici GP14 of the Ducati Test Team, also scored a positive result, the Italian coming home ninth overall.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 4th

“I am very happy with this fourth place because it confirms that this weekend we worked well, as I said yesterday despite a rather disappointing qualifying session. I am satisfied with the way I administered the race, because if you start from the third row here at Valencia it’s very complicated to make up positions. It was difficult because with the rain you can never feel the limit and so it depends on how much you want to risk. I gave the maximum I could give, even though maybe I could have risked a bit more when it began to rain, but that’s OK. I want to thank all my team, because we have worked well together throughout the entire season. With Cal the battle was really nice and aggressive, but clean as always, and so I really enjoyed it. Now I feel a bit sorry that Cal is leaving our team!”

Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – 5th

“I think it’s been a fitting end to the year to finish, with Andrea and me together in fourth and fifth, we did a good job. I believe I should have pushed a little bit more in the tricky conditions created by the rain, but we could also have been strong for this result in the full dry conditions. I was pleased for the weekend, I felt my race pace was good and we made a good race with Andrea so I’m happy with the final race of the season. Obviously a big thanks to Ducati and all the guys in the team: they did a great job and it’ll be sad to leave. Good luck to them all in the future.”

Michele Pirro (Ducati Test Team #51) – 9th

“Today I’m happy because it’s never easy to finish in the top 10 in MotoGP. I’m a bit disappointed because at the start I didn’t want to make any mistakes and I rode with a bit too much caution: I am sure I could have finished higher in the results, but it was my mistake and so I have no one else to blame. A big thanks to Ducati for this opportunity they have given me: I will try again next year and I hope to make a further step forward because I believe that we all deserve it.”

Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)

“We can now put the 2014 season behind us with a result that is in any case positive. Today both Dovizioso and Crutchlow did a great race and Michele Pirro also finished inside the top 10. Furthermore Andrea Iannone led the race for the first ten laps and this demonstrates that we have reached a good competitive level. With this Grand Prix my first year in Ducati also comes to an end. The past twelve months have been very intense and demanding, but also full of satisfaction. Together with the guys in Ducati Corse and our riders we have managed to constantly improve the performance of our bikes, scoring three podium finishes but above all succeeding in reducing the gap to the frontrunners to within the limits that we had fixed as a target. The new season gets underway already, starting tomorrow, and we will be tackling it with two Italians, Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone, safe in the knowledge that we have two of the fastest riders around in MotoGP. We fondly say goodbye to Cal Crutchlow and sincerely wish him all the best for his new adventure.”

More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda:

BRADL ENDS IN 8th HIS LAST RACE WITH LCR HONDA MOTOGP TEAM

Valencia, 9 November: the 2014 season came to an end at Ricardo Tormo circuit today with more than 100.000 fans celebrating the ultimate MotoGP exciting show. Today’s Moto3 race crowned Alex Marquez as World Champion in the lower class whilst the 35-year-old Valentino Rossi got the runner-up award behind Marc Marquez. LCR racer Stefan Bradl rode his Honda RC213V to the 8th place finishing his third season in the premier class with the 9th position overall.

Stefan: “Sure I was expecting a bit more from this race because our pace was faster than what we finally achieved. But this race was really strange because it started to rain the first laps and I was not strong enough to make the pace. Honestly I did not want to crash to ruin my last race with LCR and Honda. This is an acceptable position considering that I am not a fan of this race track. I was expecting something more from this season but with these ups and downs it was not easy. I really enjoyed these 3 years with LCR and my greatest thanks go to Lucio because he believed in me and, together with the Team and the Team sponsors, they have done the maximum to support me”.

Lucio Cecchinello: “Three wonderful years for us with Stefan: full of emotions. Together we have been through good and bad moments but we won’t forget Stefan because this cooperation was simply great. We have done our maximum and we are sure that he did the same so we want to thank him and wish him the best for his career”.

More, from a press release issued by Drive M7 Aspar Team:

Hayden finishes thirteenth as Aoyama says goodbye to the team with another point

Satisfactory end to the season for DRIVE M7 Aspar pair at Valencia despite strange track conditions

At two o’clock this afternoon the final round of the 2014 MotoGP World Championship got underway at Valencia and just moments later the rain began to fall at the Ricardo Tormo circuit. Whilst some riders exercised caution at the sight of the drops on their visors, others like Andrea Iannone took the opportunity to make a break at the front. The Italian’s charge proved no more than a flash in the pan as Valentino Rossi and Marc Márquez established their pace, with Dani Pedrosa following closely behind as Márquez went elbow-to-elbow with Iannone for the lead. Their battle was brief as Márquez’s pace proved too hot, with only Rossi putting up any kind of resistance as both Iannone and Pedrosa dropped back. There was to be no stopping Márquez though on his latest record-breaking ride, the Spaniard becoming the first rider ever to take thirteen victories in a season. Second place for Rossi was enough to seal second in the championship, with Pedrosa completing the podium some fourteen seconds behind.

Nicky Hayden finished the season in the way he knows best, battling hard and finishing in the points. After two operations during a season that he missed large chunks of, the DRIVE M7 Aspar Team signed off from the 2014 campaign with a thirteenth place finish today. Nicky left nothing on the track at Valencia, a circuit he loves, fighting with a group of riders in the early stages of the race only to drop off the pace as his tyres wore in the final laps. Whilst Hayden begins testing for next season with the team tomorrow, Hiroshi Aoyama says goodbye to both the team and the championship. The DRIVE M7 Aspar Team rider has been one of the most consistent riders on the grid this season and after working hard to set a new bike up since Friday he was able to finish his campaign with a single point to add to his tally in his 168th appearance.

13th Nicky Hayden: “The team did a great job this morning, we found a couple of small improvements to the bike that enabled me to set a decent pace in the warm-up. I was only 1.1 seconds off the best time, the closest I’ve been since I came back. The race was okay but I was hoping for more. Even though I got a good start I lost a couple of positions. When it started to rain I felt comfortable but as the laps went by the tyre destroyed and then when it rained again I didn’t have a good feeling and I couldn’t fight with the guys around me. Thirteenth place is not a bad result for us but I was hoping for more today. Now the season is over and it is time to start thinking about the test tomorrow.”

15th Hiroshi Aoyama: “The track conditions were quite tricky today and with a new bike it was particularly difficult to manage. We went with the harder tyre option and maybe that was a mistake. When the track was damp at the start of the race I struggled for rear grip and I couldn’t keep my pace up. It was a nice but strange experience to race a completely new bike today but I am happy to sign off in this way at Valencia. The electronics on this new bike needs a lot of work, especially with respect to the power delivery and traction control.”