FIM MotoGP World Championship GP GENERALI DE LA COMUNITAT VALENCIANA Valencia, Spain November 7, 2010 Race Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain, (Yamaha) 30 laps, 46:44.622 2. Casey STONER, Australia, (Ducati) -4.576 seconds 3. Valentino ROSSI, Italy, (Yamaha) -8.998 4. Ben SPIES, USA, (Yamaha) -17.643 5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy, (Honda) -19.160 6. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy, (Honda) -20.674 7. Dani PEDROSA, Spain, (Honda) -26.797 8. Hector BARBERA, Spain, (Ducati) -29.288 9. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain, (Suzuki) -29.451 10. Randy DE PUNIET, France, (Honda) -29.860 11. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain, (Ducati) -31.761 12. Colin EDWARDS, USA, (Yamaha), -33.604 13. Marco MELANDRI, Italy, (Honda), -36.622 14. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan, (Honda), -38.968 15. Carlos CHECA, Spain, (Ducati), -56.169 16. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy, (Suzuki), -17 Laps, DNF, retired 17. Nicky HAYDEN, USA, (Ducati), -28 Laps, DNF, crash World Championship Point Standings (after 18 of 18 races): Rider Championship: 1. Lorenzo, 383 points 2. Pedrosa, 245 3. Rossi, 233 4. Stoner, 225 5. Dovizioso,206 6. Spies, 176 7. Nicky Hayden, 163 8. Simoncelli, 125 9. De Puniet, 116 10. TIE, Melandri/Edwards, 103 12. Barbera, 90 13. Bautista, 85 14. Espargaro, 65 15. Aoyama, 53 16. Capirossi, 44 17. Mika Kallio, 43 18. Alex De Angelis, 11 19. Roger Hayden, 5 20. Kousuke Akiyoshi, 4 21. TIE, Checa/Wataru Yoshikawa, 1 Constructor Championship: 1. Yamaha, 404 points 2. Honda, 342 3. Ducati, 286 4. Suzuki, 108 Team Championship: 1. Fiat Yamaha Team, 617 points 2. Repsol Honda Team, 451 3. Ducati Team, 388 4. Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 279 5. San Carlo Honda Gresini, 228 6. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 129 7. LCR Honda MotoGP, 121 8. Pramac Racing Team, 109 9. Paginas Amarillas Aspar, 90 10. Interwetten Honda Moto, 68 More, from a press release issued by Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team: Difficult last race for Aoyama The last race of the season 2010 was not easy for Hiroshi Aoyama and the Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team. After Aoyama had a quite good start he couldn’t match the speed of the other riders. In the middle of the race he improved his speed and shared the same lap times with all the other Honda riders, but was not able to keep the speed until the end of the race and finished it in 14th position. The 29 year old Japanese, who missed two months of his first year in the MotoGP class due to a bad injury of his back earlier this year, thanks his team for the support they gave him and will announce the team he will be riding with in the coming season during the next week. Hiroshi Aoyama, 14 – 47’23.590: “I want to thank my team and sponsors and all the people, who helped me this year. It was a tough year and not easy. Also the last race was tough and difficult. At the end I could finish the race, but I am not satisfied with the way I did it. I almost always finished the races in the points and I had some good experience this year, in my first year in the MotoGP class and I want to thank all the staff who was involved in it.” Tom Jojic, Chefmechaniker: “This was a very difficult race. At the beginning it was not easy to get the necessary speed. Then Hiro could manage to ride with the same lap times as all the other Honda riders did, but he could not keep it. Of course we are not happy with the result.” Daniel M. Epp, Team Manager: “It was a hard year. The effects of the nasty crash and the injury of Hiro you can still feel and see until the last race. Hiro is not fit yet and he will need until the next season starts to recuperate from it. We are looking back to a comeback in 2012 in the MotoGP class.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Consistent Lorenzo unstoppable at season finale in Valencia Round 18: Grand Prix of Valencia Race Valencia, Sunday 7 November 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Medium, Hard (both asymmetric) Jorge Lorenzo proved unstoppable in Valencia today as he ended the season with his ninth win and a record-breaking points haul of 383, overcoming intense pressure from Casey Stoner and teammate Valentino Rossi as he fought back from eighth place. Whilst every rider apart from Alvaro Bautista opted for the harder front tyre, rear slick choices were more mixed and the battle between Lorenzo and Stoner provided a direct performance comparison of the two available options. Lorenzo, who had already proved the race-distance durability of the softer rear slick earlier in the weekend, was remarkably consistent on the softer rear against Stoner who rode equally consistently on the harder option rear Bridgestone. From his third lap to his 29th, the penultimate of the race, every one of Lorenzo’s laptimes was within 0.6seconds, whilst Stoner’s 2nd lap of the race was as fast as his 26th, to the hundredth of a second. Both also set their personal best laptime on the 19th lap of the race, indicating a balance of very good warm-up performance from both tyre compounds alongside excellent race-distance durability, even from the softer slick which incorporates Bridgestone’s new extra soft compound rubber. Behind the leading trio, an equally intense battle for fourth raged between Ben Spies (softer rear slick), Andrea Dovizioso, Marco Simoncelli (both harder rears) and Dani Pedrosa (softer rear) until he dropped back in the latter stages. Switching positions in a tooth-and-nail scrap for much of the race, it was ultimately Spies on the Monster Yamaha Tech3 machine who emerged on top to secure sixth position in the World Championship in his rookie year. Hiroshi Yamada Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department “We saw a very exciting race today with close battles until the end throughout the field. Congratulations to Jorge and Fiat Yamaha for their victory and also their points record this season which finishes what has been a remarkable year for the World Champions. It’s been a fantastic end to what has been a great and memorable season. Yamaha says goodbye to Valentino and Ducati say goodbye to Casey so it is an emotional weekend for the MotoGP family, but we are proud to continue working closely with every team and rider into next season at the start of a new and exciting era for MotoGP. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Dorna and the FIM and the teams and riders for their continued support in our great second season as Official Tyre Supplier to MotoGP.” Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “I am very pleased with tyre consistency today as Jorge and Casey in particular were able to lap for almost the entire race at the same pace, within just 0.6seconds which is very impressive. Consequently, total race time this year is three seconds faster than in 2009. We also saw a good mix of rear tyre choices and both clearly worked well, allowing the top three, and the four riders fighting for fourth, to battle hard throughout the 30 laps. At the end of this season I want to say thank you to all the MotoGP teams and riders for supporting us this year and I look forward to continuing these close relationships next year. On Tuesday at the test here in Valencia we will already start working with all the new riders and team line-ups and we will start our new generation of fundamental tyre development.” Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team Race Winner “Today was one of the most beautiful races for me. From the start we had good pace and I made a good start, but then trying to pass Casey maybe I was too conservative. The fight with Marco was so difficult and I lost a lot of positions when I almost crashed, but little by little I made positions up. With Casey we made a wonderful fight, and winning in front of home fans at this special track is most special to me, and I am very excited to win.” Top ten classification (Sunday 14:00 GMT +1) Pos. Rider Team Race time Gap Front spec Rear spec Tyres 1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 46m 44.622s Medium Medium Bridgestone slicks 2 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 46m 49.198s +4.576s Medium Hard Bridgestone slicks 3 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 46m 53.620s +8.998s Medium Medium Bridgestone slicks 4 Ben Spies Monster Yamaha Tech3 47m 02.265s +17.643s Medium Medium Bridgestone slicks 5 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 47m 03.782s +19.160s Medium Hard Bridgestone slicks 6 Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 47m 05.296s +20.674s Medium Hard Bridgestone slicks 7 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 47m 11.419s +26.797s Medium Medium Bridgestone slicks 8 Hector Barbera Paginas Amarillas Aspar 47m 13.910s +29.288s Medium Medium Bridgestone slicks 9 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 47m 14.073s +29.451s Soft Medium Bridgestone slicks 10 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 47m 14.482s +29.860s Medium Hard Bridgestone slicks Weather: Dry. Ambient 23°C; Track 26°C ( Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Battling Bautista produces his ride of the year Rizla Suzuki’s Álvaro Bautista produced the ride of his rookie season at Valencia today to bring his Suzuki GSV-R home in the top-10 after starting from last on the grid. Bautista and his Crew Chief Tom O’Kane made some big changes to his machine for the morning’s warm-up session and the Spanish rider soon reaped the benefits. As the first few laps unfolded there was no evidence of what was to come as he only made up a couple of places – one of which was due to another rider crashing. By lap 19 Bautista had caught a group of four riders, all of whom were battling for eighth place and the impressive Spaniard quickly passed each one of them in the next few laps to move to the front of the pack. Bautista was then constantly challenged for his position as the riders swapped places in the closing stages, but unfortunately he just couldn’t hold off Hector Barbera in the final lap. He still managed to bring his bike home in a commendable ninth place, to the applause of the whole team. Loris Capirossi had another torrid afternoon, as the Italian retired from the race with a mysterious problem at the end of the 13th lap. Up until that point Capirossi had battled hard to make a couple of passes and move up to 14th place, with the riders in front still well in touch. Sadly he had to come back to the pits to signal the end of the race for him, in what was his last appearance for the team. Capirossi was visibly saddened by the way the race ended, but paid tribute to all at Suzuki for three good years together. Today’s race was held in dry but cloudy conditions with track temperatures getting up to 27°C. A crowd of 80,774 spectators were treated to a thrilling race all the way through the field, with home favourite and new World Champion Jorge Lorenzo yet again showing his dominance with another victory, his ninth of the season. Rizla Suzuki will now stay at Valencia for a two-day test programme on Tuesday and Wednesday. This will be the only post-season test, with the winter ban due to start on the first of December and continue until the start of February next year. Álvaro Bautista: “After having such a difficult weekend with all the problems on Friday and Saturday, today has been a big step for us. This morning in warm-up we went back to a setting that I used in the last races and it quickly felt a little bit better, it wasn’t a big difference but I thought it would be good for the race. I wanted to give my maximum in the race and give the team the best result possible today. I had a normal start and made up one position straight away, but then I was behind Loris and I lost some time because he brakes so late and is difficult to pass. When I got past him I pushed to my limit and I got in to a good rhythm the best I’ve had all weekend. I caught the group fighting for eighth and I finished ninth at the end, but it was a great battle with the others because I managed to overtake them all and it was good fun. Before the race started if someone said I could finish ninth I would have signed for that, but after the battle with Hector I am disappointed because I think I could have been eighth! It is a good result for the whole team after a hard weekend, but it is not the result I expected before I came to Valencia because I came with the mental attitude to finish in the top-five. Now that we have finished the season we know we have many things that we need to improve on the bike and I also need to improve my riding style, so we have a very hard winter ahead of us I hope to get to the first race next season with the bike better than it was this year. I will also have more experience so I expect to improve on my results next season. “I would like to the thank Suzuki, all the team, Rizla and all the other sponsors, because if they didn’t help us it would be impossible for us to be racing, so thank-you to all of them. Next year we will certainly be trying even harder and I really believe we can be competitive!” Loris Capirossi: “I really want to say thank-you to everybody because I have had three really good years here at Suzuki, the relationship is great and I am so sorry to be leaving I really love everybody! The luck this year didn’t really help me, we had many small problems and that showed in today’s race. I have improved a lot in myself in my time at Suzuki and although our roads are now changing direction, I will for sure have a place in my heart for Suzuki and all the people there thank-you for everything!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “It seems that Loris has had a black cloud following him around all season and it came back again this afternoon. On behalf of Suzuki we thank him for maintaining an ultra positive attitude and complete professionalism. We’ll certainly miss him! “For me Álvaro’s ninth place was the ride of his season, from 17th and last on the grid, then to climb through the field and consistently set lap-times – that if he’d started in the top eight – would have seen him battling for fifth was just superb. Qualifying has been our Achilles heel all year, but we really didn’t have the performance in the bike on Friday and Saturday to challenge the other guys, so for Álvaro to take a leap-of-faith today and make such massive improvements was impressive and more importantly very encouraging for 2011. We are now looking forward to the test this week with a lot more optimism, but before that he certainly deserves a beer tonight for his efforts today and I’d like to thank him and all his guys for bringing a breath of fresh air to the team this year!” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: De Puniet rounds season off with THE 9th POSITION IN THE WORLD STANDING Valencia, 7 November: the ultimate round of 2010 season at Ricardo Tormo circuit was run with ambience temperature of 22°C ahead 80.774 warm fans and the title of the smallest class has been assigned to another Iberian rider: Marquez. The premier class last race of the calendar got underway at 14:00 local time with LCR Honda MotoGP Team racer Randy De Puniet celebrating his 200th GP. After yesterdays’ qualifying session, the Frenchman took the start from the 11th spot on the grid but, like the 2009 race, the rear tyre dropped in the middle of the 30-lap race and he managed to end 10th. De Puniet finishes his third season aboard the LCR machine in a brilliant 9th position scoring 116 points. LCR Team will be back on track on Tuesday and Wednesday to start his new adventure with Toni Elias. De Puniet 10th De Puniet: “Well… to start from the fourth row on the grid was a bit difficult for me but I immediately set my pace trying to catch the guys up there. In the last two days we worked mainly on traction control and our overall package was quite good. Maybe we have been too cautious working on engine mapping and rear tyre life so when I was stuck in the second group I had not enough speed in the corners and I was not able to overtake my competitors. Honestly I aimed to finish in the top six but this is racing and I am satisfied about my final position in the standing considering the bad accident I suffered in the middle of the season. I want to thank Lucio and the Team for the five years together (t wo in 250cc class and three in the premier one). We shared good and bad moments and this period was an important part of my career”. More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: LAST RACE OF 2010 MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN VALENCIA Last race of the 2010 season for the Pramac Racing Team in the last Grand Prix at Valencia. Aleix Espargaro finished the race in eleventh place in less than two seconds behind in eighth place of Barber. Carlos Checa finished the race in fifteenth place, gaining a championship point. The race was very tight especially for Aleix that have found, over the opening laps, good competition with Edwards, De Puniet and Barbera. After a few laps Aleix began losing his very good rhythm that made him lose contact from the other riders. In the nineteenth lap was overtaken by De Puniet who has so relegated the Spaniard in eleventh position. On the Aleix was overtaken by Bautista. His pace was still good so as not to leave the group consisting of Melandri, Barbera, Bautista and De Puniet. The young Catalan concluded the race in eleventh position. Difficult race for Carlos Checa, despite a great start that saw him gain two positions, he had to give up some position to the other riders who h ad a better race pace than his. Carlos ompleted the full race finishing in fifteenth position. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “We regret not being able to fight for a better position today. Aleix had a really good rhythm this morning and we had high hopes for the race. The first few laps were really good for him, the eighth position was very close. Then, lap after lap while the others have the pace down slightly, he has not been able to approach them and overtake them. The 109 points scored this year are not much, but from this point we begin to work for better results for next year.” Aleix Espargar – Pilota Pramac Racing Team – 11th in the race – 14th in the World Championship “I am truly sorry for the final position. This was my last race in this Team where I found true friends and I wanted to achieve a good result. I do not have much to say about the race, I tried to overtake my rivals but my pace was not so quick to allow me to approach them. I would like to thank the Pramac Racing Team, Paolo Campinoti and all the technicians who accompanied me during this year. It’s been a great experience where I learned a lot and I’m sure it will be useful for me for the rest of my career.” Carlos Checa – Pilota Pramac Racing Team – 15th in the race – 21st in the World Championship “I wanted to finish this race in every way and I did. The result is not exceptional, but the feeling with my bike was not that strong to allow me to do better. It’s a really good start, but unfortunately after six laps my pace was not fast enough for me to hold the position won. I was first passed by Bautista in the seventh round, while the next lap I passed Capirossi and Aoyama. Thank you anyway to Pramac Racing Team for allowing me to run these last two races while riding their bikes and I wish them a successful future.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: DOVIZIOSO TAKES FIFTH AT VALENCIA, PEDROSA SHINES BRIGHT Repsol Honda riders Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa finished today’s Grand Prix of Valencia in fifth and seventh places after an enthralling 30-lap race that saw both riders carving their way through the MotoGP field. The final race of the season produced exiting duels throughout, and the Repsol Honda riders were in the thick of it from outset. Dovizioso made a fast start from ninth on the grid and fought his way up to sixth at the end of lap one. The 24-year-old Italian had taken another position next time around and in the early stages was matching the pace of the leading riders. His pre-race target of another podium finish looked possible at this point. The middle section of the race saw Dovizioso battling again with the Gresini Honda of Marco Simoncelli, and once more it was Dovizioso who came out on top after some committed moves by both riders. Though diminishing grip in the final phase of the race meant Doviz ioso couldn’t take the fight to Ben Spies who passed him with four laps to go, his fifth place today was a creditable result considering his midfield starting position. With seven rostrum finishes to his name this year, Dovizioso has completed a positive season and secured a comfortable fifth place in the World Championship. A brilliant performance from Pedrosa saw him light up the early part of the race and for the first eight laps it looked like the 25-year-old Spaniard was capable of pulling off a stunning victory. An exceptional first lap from Pedrosa – even by his fast-starting standards – saw him climb from eighth on the grid to fourth after the first corner before launching an audacious attack into turn two and claiming two more places. This was Pedrosa at his totally-committed best and he proceeded to hunt down Casey Stoner in front, setting the fastest lap of the race on the way. By the end of lap seven the gap to Stoner was down to 0.062s, b ut almost inevitably fatigue began to set in for Pedrosa, who is still riding well below 100 per cent fitness after his recent collarbone injury and subsequent surgery. Unable to maintain his early pace, he gradually slipped to seventh place at the chequered flag, which was good enough to comfortably secure second place in the World Championship ahead of Valentino Rossi, who took the final podium position today. Jorge Lorenzo won the Grand Prix of Valencia after a two-thirds distance pass on Casey Stoner, who finished second. With the 2010 season now complete, the Repsol Honda Team takes a one-day rest before returning to Valencia for two days of testing, starting on Tuesday, in preparation for the 2011 campaign. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 5th World Championship Position 5th – 206 points “We have done a good job here at Valencia and we can be happy that we were the first Honda rider home today. Our pace wasn’t enough to compete for the win so we can’t be totally satisfied of course, but overall we’ve had a positive end to the season. I was missing some speed in the middle of the corners today which is an area to work on in future, as is improving the stability under braking. I’m disappointed I couldn’t re-pass Spies, but my tyres were very worn by the end and I couldn’t fight in the last laps because the grip was dropping off quite a lot and it was difficult to maintain the pace from the first part of the race. Anyway it was a good battle with Simoncelli again and I hope there will be more like this next year – it shows that pocket bikes was a good training ground! Overall we have to be satisfied with the job done by Honda, the team and myself throughout the year and I’d like to thank all those involved. The package has improved a lot and, whereas last year we were struggling, this year I’ve been consistently faster. We still have some fine tuning to do for next year – and that can start here in the test on Tuesday.” DANI PEDROSA 7th World Championship Position 2nd – 245 points “This was the one of the hardest races of my life and also one of the ones I can feel most proud of. Honestly I was not sure at all before the start that I could do 30 laps today, but I managed to do it and I’m very happy now, and also exhausted. I made a good start and to stay with Stoner in the early laps was amazing for me. I fought as hard as possible to maintain the pace for as long as I could and it was during this period that I set the fastest lap of the race. But of course my strength was ebbing away little by little and I was caught by the group behind me. From then on I just concentrated on staying on the bike and finishing the race – I was counting down the laps. To finish second in the championship was not our goal at the beginning of the season of course, but only we know how hard it has been to keep second place after the crash in Japan. We will take our time to rec over after this race and we can also have a useful test on Tuesday and Wednesday in preparation for next year.” TOSHIYUKI YAMAJI – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “Today we have finished a long season and first I would like to thank all the sponsors, team members and the riders for the commitment and effort they have put in throughout this year for the Repsol Honda Team. It has been a tough season at times, and this race was no exception, especially for Dani who was not riding at full fitness. He pushed to the maximum today and his start to the race really gave our Honda fans something to cheer. Andrea also pushed hard for the podium finish he wanted to end the year with, and although he couldn’t achieve that today, he has made a lot of progress this season and I believe he will continue this and become even stronger in 2011. Finally, I’d like to say thank you for the support of all the Honda fans around the world. Next season the Repsol Honda Team will come back even stronger and work as hard as possible to achieve the best possible results for all those fans.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Spies ends 2010 with fantastic fourth in Valencia finale Ben Spies rounded off a memorable rookie MotoGP season in superb style in Valencia today, the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider fighting his way to a fantastic fourth position. As well as claiming the coveted Rookie of the Year title and finishing leading non-factory rider in 2010, Spies set another personal milestone this afternoon when he secured a top six place in the overall rankings. Locked on 163-points with Nicky Hayden going into the 30-lap race, Spies’ latest outstanding result earned him the distinction of finishing top American after Hayden’s early mistake ruled him out of contention. On his final appearance fo r the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team, Spies produced a fantastic farewell performance, overhauling Dani Pedrosa, Marco Simoncelli and Andrea Dovizioso with an inspired display of aggressive riding in the final ten laps. Seventh until lap 20, Spies closed down what was close to a three-second deficit to the Honda trio before he move by Pedrosa on the 21st lap. Showing the overtaking prowess that has been a feature of the 26-year-old’s outstanding season, he then swept by Simoncelli and Dovizioso on lap 27 before reeling off a blistering series of laps to leave the Italian duo trailing in his wake on his way to a 13th top six finish of the year. It was a frustrating finale for Colin Edwards as he was unable to capitalise on an excellent practice and qualifying performance. Cooler and cloudier conditions this afternoon saw Edwards opt to race with the softer Bridgestone rear tyre. But the 36-year-old was hinder ed by a lack of acceleration grip and he slipped down to 12th. Today’s race concluded another hugely successful season for Herve Poncharal’s Monster Yamaha Tech3 squad. The French outfit finished the leading non-factory team in the prestigious Team World Championship for the second successive season. Ben Spies 4th 176 points “I’m patting myself and my Monster Yamaha Tech3 crew on the back because to get sixth overall in the points is a great achievement for all of us. It was a good race and once I settled I could see the three Hondas coming back to me quite quickly. I kept them about a second in front of me and pounced when I felt confident I could pass them and pull away. They had some acceleration on me off the turns, so I knew when I made the pass it needed to be into a string of corners and not onto a straight. Once I passed Andrea and Marco I put my head down for a couple of laps and got rid of them. To finish fourth after last week’s crash in Estoril is the perfect finish to what has been a great season. I said at the beginning of the season that a top five feels like a win and now this feels more like a normal result. I’ve had a better year than I thought I would have, so thanks to my team and all the people around me who have given me unbelievable support. I’ve learned a lot this season and I’m confident I will be even stronger in 2011.” Colin Edwards 12th 103 points “I wanted to finish the season on a high to reward my crew for all their hard work, but that was way below what I was expecting and to say I’m disappointed and frustrated is an understatement. Right from the start it just didn’t feel like I had any grip when I accelerated. We’d set the bike up on the hard tyre for most of the we ekend but we went for the soft option because the temperature was a little bit lower. But coming out of the corner I didn’t have the grip to stay with anybody and it is a big pity because the changes we’d made to the bike for the hard tyre this weekend had helped me feel much more confident and comfortable. Congratulations to Ben though on getting sixth overall. He’s been awesome and he’s only going to get stronger.” Herve Poncharal Team Manager “There is not much else I can say about Ben because once again today he showed what an incredible talent he is. It is not easy to recover the gap like he did today, especially when you’re competing in such a high calibre field. But he was patient and once he caught that group it was a pleasure to watch him in full attack mode and he deserved to be sixth in the Championship. That is an amazing achievement for a rookie and I tak e great pride in knowing the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team played a big part in his success. I’d like to thank Ben for everything he has done for Tech3, Yamaha and Monster in 2010. I have no doubt he has a very bright future ahead of him and it is a shame our experience together was so short. It was a privilege to have Ben in our team and we will never forget his achievements. I wish him all the best for the future. Today was not what Colin expected and I know he is very disappointed. He had looked very strong all weekend and it was a shame he could not be in the fight for the top six. Finally I’d like to congratulate Yamaha and Jorge Lorenzo because in 2010 they have been an unbeatable combination and they proved that again today.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: CASEY STONER SIGNS OFF FROM DUCATI WITH WONDERFUL VALENCIA PODIUM After 23 wins, 21 poles, and one World Championship title together, Casey Stoner signed off as a Ducati rider today at Valencia with his 42nd podium. Four wonderful seasons for the Italian factory ended with a weekend to remember, with Stoner taking pole position yesterday and making a perfect start to the race today, leading for the majority of the race and defending first position with tooth and nail before finally conceding to Jorge Lorenzo on the 23rd lap. Nicky Hayden also got a terrific start from the second row of the grid and the American was third into the first turn, passing Dani Pedrosa for second to give chase to his team-mate at the front. However, on the third lap he lost control of his GP10 as he entered turn one and his race ended with a high-speed crash. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 2nd “We had a big decision to make in terms of the tyre choice today but we went for the hard compound and maybe in hindsight it cost us. It is difficult to say because maybe the softer option wouldn’t have worked as well in the final stages so we could have ended up second either way. At the end of the day Jorge had a better pace than us today and there wasn’t much more we could have done. It is nice to bring this era to a close on the podium and I think that is fitting. I have so many great memories of these past few years with Ducati, from my first win at Qatar in 2007 and that race in Barcelona the same year, to the title success at Motegi and my wins at Phillip Island. I also especially remember my return to action in Portugal last year. I have enjoyed every single victory on the Ducati so much and I want to thank them for so many great years together. I leave behind a lot of people that I will miss, like Filippo, Vitto and the others but even though we will be rivals on the track from now on our personal relationship will stay the same. I also want to thank all the Ducati fans for their support over these past four years.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) DNF “I am bitterly disappointed with the result today. After the warm-up this morning when I set the fastest time I really felt confident we could get a good result today and I pushed hard from the start. The bike felt good and I was able to make up a few positions into the first turn, then pass Dani for second place. To crash just a couple of laps later is frustrating because I had the pace to be fighting for the podium out there. It is definitely not the way I wanted to end the season and my guys deserved more after another great job this weekend. We had our problems with the bike on Friday but we pulled something out of the bag and I had a competitive bike here. Overall over the past few races we have ended the season quite strongly and I am looking forward to taking that into winter testing and hopefully coming out with an even more competitive package next year.” FILIPPO PREZIOSI General Director Ducati Corse “Right now I feel a mixture of sadness and pride because I feel we weren’t able to give Casey the opportunity to win this race. Every time we have been able to do that he has won or been on the podium. With 23 victories he has won more than any other rider in the 800cc era, as well as 42 podiums, 21 pole positions and of course the title in 2007. It is difficult to find any other words for him than ‘thank you’. I am sorry for Nicky because he had an excellent warm-up, he made a determined start and he was really on the pace when he crashed but these things happen when you give 110%.” More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO WINS IN VALENCIA AND ROSSI TAKES THIRD ON YAMAHA FAREWELL World Champion Jorge Lorenzo signed off his victorious season in style today, taking his ninth win in front of his home fans at Valencia. Valentino Rossi finished third on his 117th and final appearance for Yamaha, bringing to a close a wonderful seven-year partnership with his YZR-M1. Lorenzo and Rossi both dropped places at the start, the Mallorcan slipping to fifth and the Italian right back to ninth in the race to the first corner. Lorenzo soon began looking for a way past Marco Simoncelli but almost crashed in the process, somehow making a spectacular save but dropping several places to ninth. Rossi meanwhile made it up to fourth by the end of the third lap and was on the hunt for third, trying to get by his determined fellow Italian Simoncelli. On lap six Rossi moved into third and Lorenzo, who had brill iantly recovered his composure after his near-miss to gain back the places he had lost, followed him through next time around to take fourth, with Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner in front of the Yamaha pair. At one third of race distance Rossi and Lorenzo dispatched Pedrosa and then it was Lorenzo’s turn to pass his team-mate, moving into second behind Stoner. Rossi tried his best to go with him but the shoulder that has plagued him all season stopped him riding at the maximum on the twisty track and he dropped off, content to at least finish on the podium for one final time with Yamaha. Lorenzo was unstoppable by this stage and the cool-headed 23-year-old stormed ahead of Stoner on lap 23 to take a final win on home soil. His win today brings his season points-tally to 383, a new record for a rider in a premier-class season. Rossi’s final podium for Yamaha secured third place in the standings and the Italian bid an emotional farewell to his beloved M1, stopping on the cool down lap to kiss his bike in an echo of the first of his 46 Yamaha wins, at Welkom back in 2004 when the ‘Yamaha and Rossi’ story first began. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1st Time: 46’44.622 “Coming here to Valencia I really wanted to win one more time in this fantastic season, in front of my home fans. In the practices I was fast all weekend, but it seemed like Casey was even faster. I made a good start today but in the second corner trying to pass Casey I got overtaken by three or four riders, then I had a hard fight with Simoncelli when I nearly fell! I kept calm after that and concentrated and then lap-by-lap I recovered. I had a wonderful fight with Casey at the end. Winning here in front of my home crowd at this special track is one of the happiest moments of my life. We are proud to have got the record for the most number of points with 383, I used to be known as a crazy rider who crashed too much so to demonstrate consistency in this way makes me proud. Thanks to Yamaha and everyone involved for a fantastic season – now we have tim e to celebrate tonight before we start working for 2011 on Tuesday. Finally I want to say goodbye and good luck to Valentino – I am looking forward to racing him next year!” Valentino Rossi Position: 3rd Time: +8.998 “Honestly I’m happy with this final result with Yamaha, because we had a difficult weekend here. I didn’t get a good start but I realised straight away that I was much faster today and that my bike felt good. At one point I thought I might be able to win but in the later part of the race I just didn’t have enough strength to stay with Lorenzo and Stoner, this is a very hard track when you’re not completely fit. I started to make a few mistakes because I didn’t have enough power to stop the bike so after a bit I decided it was better to slow down and keep my third place. Arriving on the podium was my way to say thank you to my bike, to Yamaha and to all the people who have worked with me in these seven seasons. It’s been a great experience and I have enjoyed it so much. 46 is a great number of wins – of course I wanted more but I think I can be happy with what I have done here. We have finished the season strongly with five podiums in a row and after such a difficult season we can feel happy about how we have ended. It’s been a wonderful seven years, great fun with a special atmosphere, many fantastic victories and four world championships. I stopped with my bike after the race today just like I did at Welkom when this story began, it was the right way to say goodbye to ‘her’. Thank you to everyone, we have wonderful memories.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “Number 99 with nine wins in 2010 – it sounds a bit strange but we are so happy with that! I think it was the best race of the season for us. It proved that Jorge is the rightful champion because he beat everybody after slipping to ninth place, like his team-mate Valentino has done in so many races. What can I say except that we have the best rider on the best bike! Well done to Jorge and to all the team for a great job this season.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “I think we had a very good race with Valentino after a difficult weekend. The team worked really hard and we finally found a good setting for the race. Unfortunately Valentino’s physical condition, when all the riders are on the limit, meant he had to pay the price today and couldn’t fight right to the end but we were very competitive and that’s what we wanted for our last race. This is the last race with Yamaha for many of us, including me; my nineteen-year experience with Yamaha finishes here. I just want to thank Yamaha and everybody who worked together with us, they have been years that I will never forget.” More, from another press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ADDITIONAL QUOTES FROM VALENTINO ROSSI, MASAO FURUSAWA AND LIN JARVIS Valentino Rossi “This is a very emotional day but I’m very happy as well because I don’t have any regrets and there have been no bad moments or thoughts throughout these seven seasons together with Yamaha. From the beginning it was something great and we worked very well together. Like in life, in sport the results are crucial but just as important is the enjoyment and we had this at Yamaha. We had a great fusion in my team – the Australians, the Italians, the Japanese, the English and many more…a lot of people all together having fun. If in 2004 somebody had told me that I would win four world championships with Yamaha and 46 Grand Prix I would have signed in blood! I am happy. I have to thank first of all Masao Furusawa because we went through some difficult moments but we were able to improve the bike and make it the best machine, then I just have to say a big thank you to everybody who helped me in these seven seasons, and wish everyone good luck.” Masao Furusawa “I would like to thank Valentino very much, I started in MotoGP in 2003 and it was a terrible year, it was almost like I was in hell! I really wanted to make the YZR-M1 a better bike but the more investigated it, the more I realised I needed something else, more than the bike. So we found Valentino Rossi. First of all I didn’t believe Valentino would come to Yamaha because the bike wasn’t great but somehow it worked. After South Africa in 2004 I felt like I was in heaven, it was a very exciting and memorable year. In 2004 Valentino was the only one who could win on the YZR-M1 so he contributed a lot to developing the bike. This year not only Valentino but also three other riders were fast so it’s clear that our YZR-M1 is a pretty good bike. This is mainly because of Valentino’s contributions over the years so I really appreciate that an d I want to wish him all the best in the future.” Lin Jarvis “In 2003 when we had our worst year ever in GP racing and finally we said that whatever we were going to do, without Valentino Rossi on the seat it wasn’t going to work! That was the point where we decided that we needed him. There were some exciting and secretive negotiations with Valentino and it was a very important decision but, with the backing of Masao Furusawa and the President of Yamaha Motor Company, we made it happen. It was ‘do or die’. With a huge commitment from Yamaha, the engineers and everybody in the team we made it work. We are very, very grateful because Valentino’s arrival really turned things around for Yamaha and we came back to victorious ways. We are incredibly thankful and grateful to him for that. We’ve had so many exciting and enjoyable moments with him and with the crew that he brought with him, who are great guys. Today we will be saying goodbye to a great number of people including Davide Brivio, Jerry Burgess and the whole crew. We’ve had a super time, it’s been a really excellent team and we will miss them tomorrow, it will be a strange day.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: LORENZO WINS 2010 FINALE, DOVIZIOSO FIFTH, SIMONCELLI SIXTH World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) completed his title-winning season in the best way possible today, winning the Valencia Grand Prix in dominant style. Honda’s top MotoGP riders had a tougher day at the 2010 finale, Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V), Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) finishing fifth, sixth and seventh. During the later stages of the race the Dovizioso/Simoncelli was the main attraction as the pair continued from where they left off at Estoril last Sunday, swapping positions time and again as they fought for superiority around this tight, sinuous track that makes overtaking so difficult. Finally Dovizioso prevailed, just as he had done at Estoril, though once again rookie Simoncelli impressed with his determination. Simoncelli finished the race ruing his decision to run the harder compound Bridgestone rear; he believes he could have been faster with the softer option. Also in the mix with Dovizioso and Simoncelli was Ben Spies (Yamaha), who got the better of both the Italians to secure fourth place during the final four laps. Dovizioso did everything he could to come back at the American but didn’t quite have enough grip left to mount a counter attack. Pedrosa, still suffering from the broken left collarbone he sustained at last month’s Japanese GP, was the surprise of the opening laps, rocketing through from the third row of the grid into second place. The Spaniard pressured leader Casey Stoner (Ducati) during the first third of the 30 lap race, in the process setting the fastest lap, but then his shoulder injury began to take its toll. Unable to use full force when braking into turns, Pedrosa slipped down the order as several riders managed to pass him on the brakes. The former 125 and 250 World Champion rated today’s race as one of the toughest of his life. The heroic effort was worthwhile, it secured him second place in the World Championship. Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) spent much of the race among a group of five or six riders contesting eighth place. Hector Barbera (Ducati) won that particular battle, the Spaniard followed across the line by Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki) and de Puniet. The French Honda rider had hopes of a better result but believes that he and his crew had been too conservative in their work on tyre life and traction control settings, so he didn’t have the corner speed to break out of the group. Today’s race ended de Puniet’s five-year relationship with the LCR squad three seasons in MotoGP and two in 250 GPs. Valencia also marked the end of Melandri’s Grand Prix career. The Italian was 15-years-old when he started full-time GPs in 1998. Next year he will switch to the World Superbike Championship. Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V) had a difficult ride to 14th place. During the early stages of the race the Japanese struggled to find the feeling he needed to push to his limits, and although he rode a good pace during the mid-stages, his lap times tailed off again in the later stages. Czech Moto2 rider Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing, FTR) won a thrilling first Grand Prix victory today, coming out on top of a frantic last-lap skirmish that involved the four leading riders. The final race of the inaugural Honda-powered Moto2 World Championship was ultra-close throughout with the top six covered by just one second at half distance and the first four finishers separated by just seven tenths at the flag. Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up) led from the start, building a 1.5 second lead, until hard-charging Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter) came through to challenge for the lead in the closing stages. Local hero Simon had fought back from ninth on the first lap. The Italian and the Spaniard traded passes on numerous occasions, with Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) and Abraham right behind them, looking for an opening. On the final lap Elias tried to go under Simon, ran in too hot and tagged the rear of Iannone’s bike. Elias ran off the track and crashed while Iannone was forced wide, allowing Abraham to take the lead for the first time. Abraham’s first success at GP level brings his career in the intermediate class to a perfect end on Tuesday he will commence winter testing for his first MotoGP season in 2011. Despite that last-lap collision, Iannone managed to hang onto second place, with Simon crossing the line in third spot. Less than six tenths of a second covered the three podium finishers. Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2, Moriwaki) finished fourth, less than two tenths behind Simon. Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team, Suter) was fifth, a further three seconds back. Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing, Suter) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Technomag-CIP, Suter) had also been in the leading pack earlier in the race, but both crashed out, without injury. Elias remounted to finish 30th Abraham is the ninth different winner in this year’s inaugural 17 round Moto2 World Championship. Marcel Schrötter (Interwetten Honda 125 Team) finished the final 125 race of the season in 12th place. Not only was Valencia the last race of the year, it was also the last race of all for Schrötter’s crew chief Sepp Schlögl. The multi-world-title-winning German, who has been actively involved in racing for 40 years, was given Schrötter’s bike as his retirement present. The 125 World Championship was the only title to be decided today, and the last crown of the year went to Spanish teenager Marc Marquez (Derbi) who finished the race in fourth. Today’s race winner was Briton Bradley Smith (Aprilia). HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V): 5th “We have done a good job here at Valencia and we can be happy that we were the first Honda rider home today. Our pace wasn’t enough to compete for the win so we can’t be totally satisfied of course, but overall we’ve had a positive end to the season. I was missing some speed in the middle of the corners today which is an area to work on in future, as is improving the stability under braking. I’m disappointed I couldn’t re-pass Spies, but my tyres were very worn by the end and I couldn’t fight in the last laps because the grip was dropping off quite a lot and it was difficult to maintain the pace from the first part of the race. Anyway it was a good battle with Simoncelli again and I hope there will be more like this next year it shows that pocket bikes was a good training ground! Overall we have to be satisfied with the job done by Honda, the team and myself throughout the year and I’d like to thank all those involved. The package has improved a lot and, whereas last year we were struggling, this year I’ve been consistently faster. We still have some fine tuning to do for next year – and that can start here in the test on Tuesday.” Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 6th “I was hoping for a better result than this to be honest but I am still satisfied because I gave it my best shot. I struggled a little bit to set the same lap times as yesterday and stay with the front guys. I was losing the rear in a few places and maybe with the conditions today we should have gone with the soft tyre. Even though it had less grip yesterday I felt more confident with the hard so we stuck with it because I thought it would help me stay consistent to the end of the race, but it was sliding around a lot. In any case I kept going and I am happy with my performance.” Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V): 7th “This was the one of the hardest races of my life and also one of the ones I can feel most proud of. Honestly I was not sure at all before the start that I could do 30 laps today, but I managed to do it and I’m very happy now, and also exhausted. I made a good start and to stay with Stoner in the early laps was amazing for me. I fought as hard as possible to maintain the pace for as long as I could and it was during this period that I set the fastest lap of the race. But of course my strength was ebbing away little by little and I was caught by the group behind me. From then on I just concentrated on staying on the bike and finishing the race I was counting down the laps. To finish second in the championship was not our goal at the beginning of the season of course, but only we know how hard it has been to keep second place after the crash in Japan . We will take our time to recover after this race and we can also have a useful test on Tuesday and Wednesday in preparation for next year.” Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V): 10th “Well… to start from the fourth row of the grid was a bit difficult for me but I immediately set my pace trying to catch the guys up there. In the last two days we worked mainly on traction control and our overall package was quite good. Maybe we have been too cautious working on engine mapping and rear tyre life so when I was stuck in the second group I had not enough speed in the corners and I was not able to overtake my competitors. Honestly I aimed to finish in the top six but this is racing and I am satisfied about my final position in the standing considering the bad accident I suffered in the middle of the season. I want to thank Lucio and the team for the five years together. We shared good and bad moments and this period was an important part of my career.” Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 13th “I don’t want to talk about the race. I would rather look to the future because I think we have seen today that the right choice right now for me is to end this story and start a new one. Having said that it has been a big part of my life and I am the person I am today partly because of MotoGP. I want to thank all the people who have stayed close to me and also those who have been against me because they have helped me to grow. Thanks to all the sponsors who have accompanied me over these years and to everybody who has worked with me, also my family and my fans, who I will see again next year in another championship.” Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V): 14th “I want to thank my team and sponsors and all the people who helped me this year. It was a tough year and not easy. Also the last race was tough and difficult. In the end I could finish the race, but I am not satisfied with the way I did it. I almost always finished the races in the points and I had some good experience this year, my first in the MotoGP class, and I want to thank all the staff who were involved in it.” MOTO2 RIDER QUOTES Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing, FTR): winner “I’m so happy with this win because it proves not only to the people but also to me that we can fight for victories and podium finishes. During the last few races, since I got my first podium in Japan, we have always been fighting up front, so I’m really happy with these results and especially for this victory. I was a little lucky at the end of race. Toni made a big mistake, but that’s racing sometimes I get lucky, sometimes someone else gets lucky. The fight was very hard and I only got to taste first place at the very end, after spending much of the race either second, third or fourth. It’s a great day for me and now I am very excited about getting started in MotoGP. I am really looking forward to Tuesday when I will have my first chance to really compare myself against the other riders on my Ducati.” Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up): 2nd “The start went well and at the beginning I tried to push as hard a possible because I knew that after seven or eight laps the rear tyre would go away, and that’s exactly what happed. The rear was sliding around and it was difficult to get traction through the corner exits. That’s why Julian was able to catch me. We had a great battle, a great duel and it was very clean we didn’t touch each other at all. It’s a shame what happened with Toni on the last lap. I don’t really know what really happened but it forced me wide and allowed Karel though; then I didn’t have time to fight back. I really wanted second place in the championship, but we didn’t quite make it. Thanks to my team, I will always remember this year, it’s been my best season so far, so I was to say thanks to everyone who has helped me.” Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter): 3rd “I’m very happy to get second place in the championship. I tried to win here because I won the 125 race here last year and that was a very special feeling in front of all the Spanish fans. Also, it would’ve been great to finish the season with my first Moto2 race, but anyway, to finish on the podium and get second in the championship is good, so I am very happy. It was a good race; I did my best to win, which makes me happy. My start was not perfect, at the end of the first lap I was only ninth. I took me many passes to get ahead of De Angelis and I thought maybe it’s not possible to win. But then step by step better we passed other riders and finally I caught Andrea and I passed him. I had a very nice battle with him. Finally Toni attacked on the last lap and that was a disaster for my hopes of victory. But I’m happy anyway and very motivated for the 2011 championship.” HONDA 125 RIDER QUOTE Marcel Schrötter (Interwetten Honda 125 Team) “This was a good end to the season and the weekend, which started in a difficult way. I am glad it ended that way. I could earn some more last points in the championship and was meeting my expectations of a 12th place today. I am happy about that. I was close to 11th place, but on the straight I had no chance and I could only catch up again with my braking, which I did. But in general I am really happy with the last race of the season.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Jorge Lorenzo signed off a hugely successful 2010 campaign with his ninth win of the year today, taking victory at Valencia in front of a delighted home crowd. The MotoGP World Champion, who before this weekend had never won at the circuit, eventually crossed the finish line 4.576s clear of Casey Stoner, who was followed onto the podium by Valentino Rossi. Despite the margin of victory it was far from a straightforward win for the 23 year-old Spaniard, who did magnificently to avoid crashing when he collided with Marco Simoncelli early on. Motivated even further by the moment Lorenzo determinedly pushed on and rode brilliantly to end his season in the perfect manner. In second place and ending his four-year partnership with Ducati Stoner had led the race for much of the contest, but with eight of the 30 laps remaining he was unable to prevent Lorenzo taking over. A further four seconds back Rossi, who was also ending a chapter in his illustrious career with his final race for Fiat Yamaha after seven success-laden years, placed third having engaged in a great scrap with Lorenzo in the earlier stages of the race. The Italian also secured third in the final Championship standings ahead of Stoner. The fight for fourth was another great encounter in which Ben Spies came out on top as he rode his final race with Monster Yamaha Tech 3 before moving up the factory team. The American had been locked in a battle with Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and San Carlo Honda Gresini rookie Simoncelli to the end with the Italian pair completing the top six. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) who sealed runner-up spot in the Championship with seventh Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar), Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) ended their 2010 seasons with top-ten finishes, with Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing), Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP) and Carlos Checa (Pramac Racing) completing the 15 finishers. There was disappointment for Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) who crashed out at the start having risen to second position, whilst Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) retired from the race with 17 laps remaining. Lorenzo’s final points tally of 383 is also a new record for the most points scored in a single season in the MotoGP class. His win was also the first at Valencia for Yamaha in the 800cc era. Moto2 Karel Abraham’s first-ever World Championship Grand Prix win came in the Moto2 race as the Czech rider took victory in a thrilling encounter before making the move up to the premier class next year. Following Abraham onto the podium were Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) and Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar), with the Spaniard clinching runner-up spot in the Championship by just two points ahead of the Italian. It was a fantastic race from start to finish and Iannone shot into the lead early on, with a number of riders battling for positions at the front of the race. Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) who became the youngest ever rider to make 50 GP starts and World Champion Toni Elías (Gresini Racing Moto2) were amongst those as they traded moves. Both Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Technomag-CIP) were involved too, and as they went head to head when fighting for second position the Turk was forced to run on at turn one and went down. He rejoined the race but then had to retire, and shortly after Bradl himself crashed out at turn 12 when pushing to keep pace with the leaders. All the while Simón had slowly crept up the order having dropped as low as ninth on the opening lap, and he slotted into second as he hunted Iannone down. The duo became involved in a great battle in the latter half of the race, into which Abraham and Elías were drawn as they both rode hard. After many moves and exchanges of positions it came down to the final lap and the tension peaked when Elías clipped Iannone’s rear wheel and crashed out. Abraham capitalised and slipped through into first position amid the drama, holding it to cross the finish line 0.522s ahead of Iannone with Simón just six-hundredths behind in a breathless finale. Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Racing) was less than two-tenths back with Redding capping off his season with a top-five finish. The top ten was completed by Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2), Simone Corsi (JiR Moto2), Sergio Gadea (Tenerife 40 Pons), Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP) and Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up). Elías returned to the track to finish the race 30th. 125cc Fourth position for Marc Márquez was more than enough for the 17 year-old to be confirmed as the deserved 2010 125cc World Champion after a mature ride from the Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider. Victory was taken by Bradley Smith as he won his first race of the season in the final round, cruising across the finish line 2.786s clear in his last 125cc ride before graduating to the Moto2 class next season. Smith took the lead from the start, with Nico Terol (Bancaja Aspar) Márquez’s only title rival in the final round and Márquez following behind. A poor start from Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing) was recovered well by the Spaniard as he slowly climbed back up the order having dropped as low as 11th on the opening lap, and as the race progressed Márquez allowed him through and into third, thus avoiding any potential mishaps. With two laps to go Espargaró went through on Terol and the duo swapped positions once again, all the while Smith led comfortably at the front. The Brit took the chequered flag almost three seconds clear for his first win of 2010, thus breaking what had stretched to a 26-race winning streak in the category for Spanish riders. Espargaró signed off from the class with second position his 12th podium of the year with Terol crossing the line in third. Márquez, at just over five seconds back, took fourth position to end the year on 310 points having won ten races, taken 12 podiums and 12 poles in the process. Completing the top ten were Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo), Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX), Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany) in his 100th GP Efrén Vázquez (Tuenti Racing), Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) and Luis Salom (Stipa-Molenaar Racing). More, from another press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki pays tribute to Capirossi Rizla Suzuki has given Loris Capirossi a fond farewell after he left the Suzuki MotoGP team following the final race of the year at Valencia in Spain. Capirossi joined Suzuki at the Valencia test in 2007 and made his racing debut in 2008. He has been a firm favourite with Suzuki’s management and crew in his three years with the team and has brought a wealth of experience and passion that all who have worked with him have benefitted from. Suzuki Motor Corporation, all members of the MotoGP team, title sponsor Rizla and the team’s other sponsors and partners would like to wish Capirossi and his family well in the next steps of his career and in his personal life, and to thank him for the three years of hard work and effort that he has given the team. Loris Capirossi: “I have had a great three years at Suzuki and am obviously very sad to be leaving. The results have not been what we wanted, but we have never given up trying and the whole crew has always given me the support and help I’ve wanted. I have made some good friends during my time here and I hope those relationships will last long after the racing. I want to wish Paul, Sahara-san, Álvaro and the rest of the team all the best for 2011 and I look forward to fighting against them on a race-track somewhere in the near future.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “On behalf of Suzuki Motor Corporation and the whole team, in addition to Rizla, we thank Loris for the three years that he has been with the team and wish him the best of luck for the future. Loris has been a ‘racing animal’ and a great ambassador for Rizla Suzuki both on and off the track – even when things have not gone according to plan he has been a true professional and a gentleman. Loris has become a good friend of the team and we will be sad to see him leave. We hope that Loris, Ingrid, Ricardo, Roberto and all his family and friends will remain in touch with us and feel free to say hello and come for a coffee whenever they want because they will all certainly be very welcome. We all hope that Loris continues to have success, health and happiness in the next steps of his career grazie, Loris!”