GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana Valencia, Spain November 8, 2009 MotoGP Race Results: 1. Dani Pedrosa, Spain, (Honda), 30 laps, 46:47.553 2. Valentino Rossi, Italy, (Yamaha, -2.530 seconds 3. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain (Yamaha), -2.913 4. Colin Edwards, USA (Yamaha), -32.515 5. Nicky Hayden, USA (Ducati), -34.585 6. Toni Elias, Spain (Honda), -34.888 7. Ben Spies, USA (Yamaha), -37.706 8. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy (Honda), -38.364 9. Mika Kallio, Finland (Ducati), -42.491 10. Alex de Angelis, Italy (Honda), -43.689 11. Randy de Puniet, France (Honda), -46.018 12. James Toseland, UK, (Yamaha), -50.226 13. Aleix Espargaro, Spain (Ducati), -57.168 14. Loris Capirossi, Italy (Suzuki), -66.877 15. Chris Vermeulen, Australia (Suzuki), -71.701 16. Gabor Talmacsi, Hungary (Honda), -74.405 17. Marco Melandri, Italy (Kawasaki), -93.425 18. Casey Stoner, Australia (Ducati), DNS, crashed on warm-up lap MotoGP World Championship Point Standings (after 17 of 17 races): 1. Rossi, 306 points 2. Lorenzo, 261 3. Pedrosa, 234 4. Stoner, 220 5. Edwards, 161 6. Dovizioso, 160 7. Elias, 115 8. De Angelis, 111 9. Capirossi, 110 10. Melandri, 108 11. De Puniet, 106 12. Vermeulen, 106 13. Hayden, 104 14. Toseland, 92 15. Kallio, 71 16. Niccolo Canepa, 38 17. Talmacsi, 19 18. Aleix Espargaro, 16 19. Sete Gibernau, 12 20. Spies, 9 21. Yuki Takahashi, 9 250cc GP Race Results: 1. Hector Barbera (Aprilia), 27 laps, 44:10.601 2. Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia), -3.663 seconds 3. Raffaele de Rosa (Honda), -5.665 4. Thomas Luthi (Aprilia), – 5.680 5. Ratthapark Wilairot (Honda), -13.601 6. Karel Abraham (Aprilia), -13.667 7. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda), -27.438 8. Alex Baldolini (Aprilia), -35.097 9. Roberto Locatelli (Gilera), -35.866 10. Shoya Tomizawa (Honda), -40.176 14. Mike Di Meglio (Aprilia), -78.692, crash 20. Jules Cluzel (Aprilia), -4 laps, DNF, crash 21. Marco Simoncelli (Gilera), -7 laps, DNF, crash 23. Mattia Pasini (Aprilia), -16 laps, DNF, retired 24. Hector Faubel (Honda), -20 laps, DNF, crash 250cc GP World Championship Point Standings (after 16 of 16 races): 1. Aoyama, 261 points 2. Barbera, 239 3. Simoncelli, 231 4. Bautista, 218 5. Pasini, 128 6. de Rosa, 122 7. Luthi, 120 8. Di Meglio, 107 9. Faubel, 105 10. Alex Debon, 101 29. Stevie Bonsey, 1 point 125cc GP Race Results: 1. Julian Simon (Aprilia), 24 laps, 41:17.553 2. Bradley Smith (Aprilia), -0.220-second 3. Pol Espargaro (Derbi), -12.123 seconds 4. Simone Corsi (Aprilia), -17.577 5. Marcel Schrotter (Honda), -17.917 6. Joan Olive (Derbi), -18.334 7. Efren Vazquez (Derbi), -18.502 8. Sandro Cortese (Derbi), -18.553 9. Randy Krummenacher (Aprilia), 18.731 10. Nicolas Terol (Aprilia), -21.280 22. Cameron Beaubier, USA (KTM), – 1 lap, DNF, crash World Championship Point Standings (after 16 of 16 races): 1. Simon, 289 points 2. Smith, 223.5 3. Terol, 179.5 4. Pol Espargaro, 174.5 5. Sergio Gadea, 141 6. Cortese, 130 7. Andrea Iannone, 125.5 8. Marc Marquez, 94 9. Olive, 91 10. Stefan Bradl, 85 29. Beaubier, 3 More, from a press release issued by Dorna: Hiroshi Aoyama joined the 250cc World Championship full time in 2004 with Honda, after securing the national 250cc Japanese title the previous year and having made several wildcard appearances over the previous four seasons. He had made a big impression on his penultimate wildcard appearance in particular, taking pole position and second place at Suzuka in 2003. The following season allowed him the chance to discover the new venues alongside new 125 champion Dani Pedrosa, and he finished sixth overall in a solid season in which he scored two podiums. He continued with the same team in 2005, picking up his first Grand Prix victory at his home round at Motegi, completing another impressive season in fourth spot in the championship. Moving to the KTM team for 2006, he was in the running for third place in the championship before a crash in the final round at Valencia. The Japanese rider had repeated his home victory, whilst his win in Turkey in the third Grand Prix of that year was also KTM’s first ever victory in the quarter-litre class. After two more victories and four podium finishes in 2007 he continued alongside Mika Kallio on the solid KTM package in 2008, ending up a somewhat disappointing seventh overall having secured just two podiums with second places in China and Malaysia. With the withdrawal of the Austrian factory from 250 his future plans were shrouded in doubt for 2009, but the Scot Racing Team picked up the popular rider after his compatriot Yuki Takahashi moved up to represent the team in the premier class. It proved to be an inspired choice as on his return to the Honda ranks Aoyama consistently scored impressive results including four wins and a further three podiums. He scored points at every single race, and only finished outside of the top four on five occasions, figures which many believed impossible on a bike which had not won a title at this level since 2005. Aoyama will move up to MotoGP with a Honda in 2010 crowned as the new 250cc World Champion, having secured the title in dramatic fashion at the final round in Valencia when just an eleventh place finish was needed. He ran off track and almost crashed at one stage, but eventually brought his bike home in seventh place whilst title rival Marco Simoncelli crashed out of the race lead. Personal Data Date of birth: 25/10/1981 (28 years) Place of birth: Chiba (Japan) More, from a press release issued by Honda: HIRO OF HISTORY: AOYAMA AND HONDA WIN LAST 250 WORLD TITLE Hiroshi ‘Hiro’ Aoyama and Honda won the last 250 World Championship at Valencia today. Aoyama secured the riders’ title aboard his Scot Honda RS250RW with a steadfast ride to seventh place, giving him the crown ahead of Hector Barbera (Aprilia) and Marco Simoncelli (Gilera). Next season the Japanese ace will move up to the premier MotoGP class, riding a Honda RC212V. Aoyama will go down in history as the last king of the 250s, a category that has featured in motorcycling’s World Championships ever since the series was born in 1949. From next year the 250s will be replaced by the all-new Moto2 class. This year’s 250 title has a particular historic resonance for Honda. The manufacturer won its first-ever World Championship in the 250 class, when Mike Hailwood secured the 1961 title aboard his four-cylinder RC162. That success was also the first-ever motorsport world title secured by a Japanese manufacturer. In all, Honda has won 16 250 riders’ titles and 19 250 constructors’ titles over the past five decades. This year Honda took the runner-up spot in the constructors’ championship. Today’s race was a real cliff-hanger. 2008 World Champion Simoncelli was the only rider who could beat Aoyama to the crown, but the Italian needed to win the race with Aoyama lower than 11th to take the title. At one-third distance Simoncelli was ahead when Aoyama ran off the track, rejoining in 11th place! The title was finally decided when Simoncelli crashed out of the lead with seven laps to go. Former Japanese champion Aoyama rode a superbly intelligent 2009 season, winning four GPs, taking a further three podiums and scoring two pole positions. His title success is the culmination of six hard seasons in 250 GPs, starting in 2004 when he came to Europe as winner of Honda’s first ‘GP scholarship’, the reward for his brilliant 2003 All-Japan 250 title success. Aoyama has spent the vast majority of his racing career on Honda machinery, first on an NSR50 minibike, then an RS125, an NSR250 streetbike and various RS250s. He also rode a VTR1000SPW four-stroke Superbike at the 2003 Suzuka Eight Hours, as replacement rider for Tohru Ukawa and Hitoyasu Izutsu, though he didn’t race the machine. Aoyama is the elder of one of Japan’s most famous sibling racing duos. Aoyama and his younger brother Shuhei were both encouraged in their love of motorcycles by their father, who took Hiroshi to the local Chiba pocketbike track for the first time when he was just five-years-old. Aoyama started racing the following year and was soon a regular frontrunner in local kids’ races. In 1995 he moved up to an NSR50 minibike and was immediately competitive on the slightly larger machines, winning the Kanto district title in 1996 and 1997. When he was 16 Aoyama graduated to full-size motorcycles, riding a Honda RS125 in the Tsukuba 125 series and a Honda NSR250 streetbike in the Tsukuba 250 production class. He finished second overall in his first year on the 125, proving he was good and ready to move up to the hard-fought 125 All-Japan series. Aoyama’s first year of national racing, riding for the impressive Team HARC (Honda Active Riders Club) Pro outfit, was one of highs and lows he scored his first podium at Sugo but ended the season 11th overall after several no-scores. However, Aoyama had proved he was worthy of serious support and was offered a 250 All-Japan ride for the 2000 season by Team HARC Pro. He repaid that faith by winning his first All-Japan race at Suzuka and taking another two victories to end up second overall. That summer he also made his GP debut as Wild Card entrant at Motegi, taking an eighth-place finish. Aoyama won the 250 All-Japan crown in 2003 and showed what he might do on the world stage by taking pole position and a brilliant second-place finish at the Japanese GP at Suzuka. Later that year Honda rewarded Aoyama with its first GP scholarship which took the youngster into full-time GPs in 2004 alongside Telefonica Movistar team-mate Dani Pedrosa. Sixth overall in his debut GP season, with podium finishes at the Japanese and Qatar GPs, Aoyama won his first GP victory at Motegi in 2005 to end his second global campaign an impressive fourth overall. Three seasons with Austrian brand KTM followed, during which Aoyama scored another four GP victories, including in 2006 KTM’s first 250 win and another home race win. Last year was altogether tougher, with several DNFs which consigning Aoyama to seventh place overall. Left without a ride when KTM quit the 250 class, Aoyama signed to ride for San Marino’s highly respected Scot Honda team in 2009. He kick-started his challenge for the 250 world title with a stunning win in May’s Spanish GP at Jerez. Aoyama is a quiet, unassuming rider who lives his life around bikes, also enjoying motocross and dirt track. He names cooking as his favourite off-track interest and during the racing season he lives in Barcelona, Spain. Rider: Hiroshi Aoyama Japan. Team: Scot Racing Team. Racing number: 4 Race machine: Honda RS250RW. Date of Birth: October 25 1981 Birthplace: Chiba, Japan First race: 1987 Pocketbike Racing. Grand prix debut: 2000. 250cc Pacific Grand Prix, Motegi Honda. First Grand Prix win: 2005. Japanese Grand Prix, Motegi Honda. Total Grand Prix wins: 5 x 250cc. 1 x Honda 4 x KTM. Total Grand Prix podiums: 20. 7 x Honda 13 x KTM. World titles: 1 x 250cc with Honda 2009 Career Highlights Hiroshi Aoyama 1996: Kanto Minibike Champion 1997: Kanto Minibike Champion 1998: 2nd 125cc Tsukuba Championship – Honda 1999: 11th 125cc All-Japan Championship – Honda 2000: 2nd 250cc All-Japan Championship – Honda 2001: 8th 250cc All-Japan Championship – Honda 2002: 2nd 250cc All-Japan Championship – Honda 2003: 250cc All-Japan Champion – Honda 2004: 6th 250cc World Championship – Honda 2005: 4th 250cc World Championship – Honda 2006: 4th 250cc World Championship – KTM 2007: 6th 250cc World Championship – KTM 2008: 7th 250cc World Championship KTM 2009: 250c World Champion – Honda HONDA’S 250 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SUCCESSES RIDERS’ TITLES 1961 Mike Hailwood 1962 Jim Redman 1963 Jim Redman 1966 Mike Hailwood 1967 Mike Hailwood 1985 Freddie Spencer 1987 Toni Mang 1988 Sito Pons 1989 Sito Pons 1991 Luca Cadalora 1992 Luca Cadalora 1997 Max Biaggi 2001 Daijiro Kato 2004 Dani Pedrosa 2005 Dani Pedrosa 2009 Hiroshi Aoyama CONSTRUCTORS’ TITLES 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2005 HIROSHI AOYAMA Q&A How does it feel to be the last 250 World Champion in history? I have been racing for 23 years, so I have been waiting for this moment for 23 years. It’s incredible! I am very proud to win this title, and it makes it extra special that it’s the last 250 title. Today I wanted to win the race, so I was pushing, pushing, pushing, but finally I pushed too much and went outside of the track. I was riding in the gravel, like riding motocross and I kept telling myself ‘Don’t crash! Don’t crash!’ I came back on track, but I was so far back and it was so difficult to think about my position. Finally I saw Simoncelli had crashed, so I knew then that my position was okay to win the title. Today’s race was not the best for me but to win the championship is fantastic. This has been a difficult season, but my team staff gave me great support, we had a great team, they cheered me up and gave me extra motivation when I needed it. I want to say a big, big thank you to everyone Scot, Honda, Dunlop, everyone who helped me. It was not so easy, but I could push hard with all this help. You came to GPs in 2004 as the first winner of Honda’s ‘GP scholarship’ for young riders, how did that change your career? It’s not so easy for Japanese riders to get into Grands Prix, so it was very helpful. It was a great opportunity to participate in GP racing. During those two years I won my first GP at Motegi, which was good for Honda. Those two years were a great experience for me, and, of course, my brother Shuhei won the next scholarship! I respect what Honda did with their programme for young riders. I have been with Honda a long time. I had a good experience riding with KTM for three seasons, but it was nice to come back to Honda. I started out with Honda, so I think my riding style fits Honda machine. What did you do before you won the GP scholarship? I rode in the All-Japan 250 championship for Team HARC, which has a deep relationship with Honda. I guess that was when Honda first took an interest in my career. Before that I raced a Honda RS125 in a private team, supported by my family and other people. Tell us about the highs and lows of 2009. 2009 has been quite good for us! The biggest high was winning my first victory of the year at Jerez, plus, of course, winning the title here at Valencia. Before the season started did you think you could win the title? My expectation was that it would be a difficult season, but I wanted to win some races. It was quite difficult to think about title because the team, the bike and everything were fixed very late. KTM decided to stop their 250 programme quite late, so it was late when I signed for Scot. For that reason the winter was very hard for me, because for a long time I didn’t know what to do, then at the last moment I found this team, so I was very lucky. But I only have one bike, it’s a small team and Honda stopped developing the 250 two-stroke two or three years ago, so no one was really expecting good results. Why was Jerez so special? Winning at Jerez is very special, I think it’s the same for all riders. Jerez is the first race of the European season, there is always a very big crowd and it is never easy to win there. Somehow I won the race and afterwards I said to myself: ‘maybe if I make a good job with this team there is some possibility of the title’. You won Jerez with some fantastic late braking… One of the RS250RW’s good points is that it is very stable and very comfortable on the brakes. This was probably our number one strong point, so I had to use it to my advantage. It is very good to have a bike that is stable on the brakes because at the end of races, when you are fighting with your rivals, you can overtake easier than others. This helps you make a good race. Also, the overall package of the bike is very good. What was the low point of 2009? Phillip Island. We were getting some good result but then we finished seventh at Phillip Island. I didn’t feel good on the bike, so I couldn’t push so much. Also, Simoncelli had been winning some races, catching me on points, so I thought ‘this is not good’. The race was stopped after another rider crashed; without that maybe I could have finished fourth, but after the race you cannot change the result. You have led the championship for a long while, was there ever a time when you rode for points? Before Phillip Island I was 28 points ahead of Simoncelli, this is not so much, because if I had crashed, then I would have had no real points advantage. So, I never rode just for points; in Australia I just didn’t feel comfortable on the bike. The next weekend at Sepang was good. I had a good feeling with the bike, so I could push hard and win the race. Has it been good working with Scot? They are a small team but they know the Honda RS250RW very well. They have worked with Honda for a long time, so they know the bike’s good points and negative points, and what they can and cannot improve. That makes racing easier, they have helped me a lot. How would you describe your riding style? I think it’s difficult to describe your own riding style. I think I need to be more aggressive because sometimes maybe I am too smooth or too calm and sometimes that’s not enough. But many 250 riders go to MotoGP and have success so it will be quite interesting to see how I can adapt to this kind of bike. I think I am like a typical Japanese rider I like to analyse riding, data and set-up, so I spend a lot of time meeting with my chief mechanic, my tyre engineer and my suspension staff. This is part of my character. What four-stroke experience do you have? At the 2003 Suzuka Eight Hours I was third rider for the Ukawa/Izutsu HRC team, so I rode the VTR1000SPW in practice, but I did not race. I think a MotoGP bike is quite different from a Superbike, with many more rider controls, so I need to ride the RC212V before I understand how I will fit this bike. What are your winter plans, to train for MotoGP? I haven’t even thought about the winter, I have only been thinking about this last race! This year I have been out of Japan for a long time, so now I want to go home to see my family. Are you looking forward to being a MotoGP rider? For me, I feel proud and happy to be a MotoGP rider. But beyond that I haven’t thought much about MotoGP, I have been thinking only about 250s. Today a dream came true for me, tomorrow another dream will come true for me when I ride a MotoGP bike for the first time. The level is very high in MotoGP. I will try my best, study and improve, that is my target for next season. Will you feel pressure being the only Japanese rider in MotoGP? I don’t feel any pressure. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA WINS AGAIN FOR REPSOL HONDA AT VALENCIA Dani Pedrosa led from start to finish in today’s Grand Prix of Valencia to win the final race of the 2009 season in dominant fashion on his Honda RC212V. Underlining his brilliance at the Valencia circuit, Pedrosa set the fastest lap of the race on his way to his second victory of the season – a win which elevated him to third place in the World Championship standings following Casey Stoner’s surprise exit on the warm-up lap. Pedrosa made it look easy today, but this was a masterclass of flat-out riding for the entire 30-lap race. The 24-year-old Spaniard led into Turn One, and an inch-perfect first five laps gave him a gap of 2.1 seconds as his pursuers squabbled over second place. Then, for the next five laps, Pedrosa was pursued hard by Valentino Rossi, and the gap hovered at around the two seconds. But Pedrosa was in control and put on a surge of speed, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 10 and extending his lead to over four seconds by two-thirds distance. From then on, it was a case of maintaining his rhythm, and he brought his factory Honda home to take the his second MotoGP win at Valencia; his fifth win here in all classes of Grand Prix racing. Andrea Dovizioso put in a fighting performance and battled valiantly through the field after a less-than-perfect start left him in 14th place on the first lap. Riding with real determination, he reeled off a series of passes, overtaking Loris Capirossi, James Toseland, Ben Spies, Alex De Angelis, Marco Melandri, Mika Kallio and Randy de Puniet on his way up to seventh place. Unfortunately for Dovizioso, Ben Spies was able to retake a place in the closing stages, and this meant that Dovi wasn’t able to retain fifth place in the world championship. However, the Italian now has his sights firmly set on tomorrow’s test session here at Valencia, which effectively marks the start of the 2010 MotoGP campaign. Today’s win for Pedrosa topped off a satisfying day for Honda, as earlier in the day Hiroshi Aoyama won the last 250cc World Championship for the Scot Honda Team. DANI PEDROSA 1st World Championship Position: 3rd 234 points “It’s really great to finish off the season with a win, especially here in front of my home fans. I was waiting on the grid with my visor up and I was looking to the side for Casey to arrive, but the marshal in front of me was walking to the side and I was thinking: ‘Where is he going!’ So I assumed something had happened to Casey on the warm-up lap. In the first few laps I had to be careful because you have to warm up the tyres here, especially on the right hand side. But once that was done, we maintained a good pace and kept focused. In the last laps, the wind was strong and it would have been easy to make a mistake, but I was able to control the gap to Valentino and take this win. I was thinking back to Laguna Seca where Valentino closed the gap a lot, and I also knew that Jorge was catching Valentino too, so I just kept pushing. I’m very happy for the team because we struggled quite a lot in practice here, and yet we were able to win in front of all the Spanish fans. I’d like to thank the fans too. To get third in the championship is not what I was expecting but it’s a nice surprise, even though Casey wasn’t in the race. This season has not been easy and tomorrow’s testing will be important so that we can start 2010 in the best possible shape. This gives us a good start towards that.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 8th World Championship position: 6th 160 points “We overtook a lot of riders in the race, but I cannot be happy with this result because we lost fifth place in the championship, and keeping that position was our target today. I had a bad start and lost a lot of time overtaking riders with a slower pace than mine, and this caused me to lose contact with Edwards and Elias. If I had started from further up the grid, I had the rhythm and pace to fight with them, but starting from the fourth row everything is more difficult. In the end Spies overtook me and I couldn’t re-pass him, and with the eight position at the finish I lost my fifth position in the championship. I don’t want to make any excuse for this result. I’m just looking forward to the future. We have worked a lot this season and, although it hasn’t been easy, we have learned a lot. I’d like to thank my team for their hard work, and from tomorrow the 2010 season starts. Honda has brought a new chassis and I’m really looking forward to testing it.” KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “This win was a great result for Dani and the Repsol Honda Team. The target this weekend was to sign off the season with another victory, and we did that. Dani’s performance was very impressive and, even if Casey had started the race, I think Dani had a big potential to win this afternoon. I’d like to say thank you to Dani and also to the Team for this result. Andrea rode very hard today and showed how strong he can be in race conditions. Unfortunately his grid slot and the start he got meant that it was an uphill struggle, even though he came through the field well. He’s disappointed today, but he has the ability and talent to simply come back stronger from this. Tomorrow the Repsol Honda Team will continue to work with renewed effort. We are already focused on another win at the first race of 2010.” More, from a press issued by Fiat Yamaha: DOUBLE PODIUM SEES FIAT YAMAHA SEAL TRIPLE CROWN IN VALENCIA Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo finished second and third in the season-ending Grand Prix of Valencia this afternoon, the ninth time the pair have shared the podium this season. It ensured that Yamaha won the Triple Crown for the second year running after Rossi took the Riders’ title, Fiat Yamaha the Teams’ and Yamaha the Constructors’. Today’s result also sealed Lorenzo the runner-up spot in the Championship in just his second year in MotoGP. Between them the Italian and the Spaniard have taken ten wins and a further seventeen podiums, Yamaha’s most successful year ever in MotoGP. With pole-man Casey Stoner crashing on the warm-up lap the first corner shuffle saw Dani Pedrosa take the lead followed by Toni Elias, Rossi and Lorenzo, who quickly passed Rossi to re-take third. The first few laps were a mini battle between the Yamaha team-mates as Lorenzo fought to hold off Rossi and look for a way past Elias at the same time. He passed his fellow Spaniard in the last sector of lap three and Rossi followed quickly in his footsteps, overtaking Elias on the brakes into turn one on the fourth lap. A huge slide by Lorenzo soon after however left the 22-year-old unbalanced and shaken up and Rossi went through, leaving Lorenzo to take a bit of time to find his rhythm again. The World Champion set off after Pedrosa and for a little while looked like he was gaining but Valencia is a notoriously tricky track to make up ground on and in the end he was content to chase home the Spaniard for second place, his best result at Valencia since 2004. Lorenzo finished just three tenths off Rossi but was delighted to seal second in the championship in front of his home fans. As well as Yamaha sealing the Triple Crown and filling the first two spots in the championship, a brilliant performance from Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards today saw him take fourth and ensure fifth place in the championship, the top non-factory rider. Yamaha wild-card Ben Spies finished a brilliant seventh in his first MotoGP race on the M1 and James Toseland finished 12th in his farewell race for the team. Quote from Lin Jarvis, Managing Director, Yamaha Motor Racing “It gives me a great personal satisfaction for Yamaha and the Fiat Yamaha Team to have achieved “back to back” titles for 2008 and 2009. Our strong performances throughout this year’s MotoGP championship are the result of a good cocktail of essential ingredients all being blended together in the right way. The performances of our riders have been incredible. Vale has won his 9th World Championship, making it 4 titles with Yamaha in his 6 seasons with us. Jorge has again surprised and thrilled us all year and made fantastic progress to claim the runner’s-up position in only his second MotoGP season. Our engineers have used every single input from our riders’ feedback over the past years and throughout this season to develop the YZR-M1 bike into the “bike of reference” in the MotoGP paddock. Our Team staff have worked tirelessly at every test and every Grand Prix to provide the optimum circumstances for our riders to be ready to win. Our corporate staff in Japan and Italy have also provided the essential “base camp” support to provide the back-up for all of the “troops” in the front line. Last but not least, Fiat Auto and our official sponsors and suppliers have also provided the essential support to enable us to go racing in the best possible way. I would like to personally thank everybody for the great team work that has allowed us to achieve all our targets.” Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: +2.630 “I’m really happy about this result because it was fantastic to be able to ride well at Valencia and it’s my best finish here since 2004. Of course it would have been better to win but I lost some time at the start battling with Elias and Lorenzo and by that time Pedrosa had gone and at this track it’s almost impossible to make up a two second gap. It’s not one of our best tracks but after the problems we had all weekend we can be very pleased, we made a great modification in warm-up so thanks to all my guys for this. We’ve ended the championship on the podium and it’s been a great season, another world title and the triple crown for Yamaha, I am very proud. Thank you to Yamaha, all my team, Bridgestone and everyone else, now we will have a little party before we start work on the 2010 bike tomorrow!” Jorge Lorenzo Position: 3rd Time: +2.913 “I had some good fights at the start and I was feeling quite strong but then I made a big mistake in the slow corner and I was lucky not to crash, so Valentino got by. I was in a bit of pain and I took some time to recover, and by then the gap was a bit too big to catch him. Anyway I’m happy to get another podium in Spain and I am so proud to have finished second in the championship; I want to thank everyone, Yamaha, Bridgestone and all my team, because we have worked so hard and this is a great achievement in just our second season. Now I can’t wait to start testing the new bike and I look forward to being even stronger next year.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “After two days of struggling with the setting this was a very good race for us. I think the team and the engineers did a very good job to change the bike completely and find a way that worked for Valentino and we’re happy to finish second here in Valencia, which has never been one of our best results. Now if we arrive here next year needing a good result, we’ll be a bit more confident! It’s been a great season, a historic one for Yamaha because we won everything we could and our riders won the most races and the triple crown, it’s a season to remember. Now we’re looking forward to the next one, which starts tomorrow for us, and we will try to repeat the result!” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “This was a good end to the championship for us and a good way to celebrate a wonderful season with Jorge and the fantastic job the whole Yamaha team have done this year to win the triple crown. We’ve shown all season how strong Yamaha is and the job everyone has done has been fantastic. This is my last race with Yamaha so I want to take the chance to thank everyone here, it’s been a great eight years and I wish Jorge and all the team all the best for the future.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha President & CEO Tsunji Togami: On Winning the 2009 MotoGP Triple Crown Message from Tsunji Togami, President & CEO, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. “It gives me the greatest pleasure to announce that, for the second consecutive year, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. has achieved its ultimate goal in MotoGP competition by winning the Triple Crown of rider, team and manufacturer championship titles. “We owe this great achievement today to the spirited support of the many Yamaha fans and our sponsors, and I would like to take this opportunity to extend to all of you my heartfelt appreciation. “We at Yamaha Motor believe that our participation in MotoGP and our challenge to win titles makes it possible to share the excitement and deep satisfaction we call Kando with people all over the world, while also contributing to the marketing of our motorcycles. “In these efforts, I ask for your ongoing support of our company and our teams.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki looking ahead following Valencian adversity Rizla Suzuki will begin testing and preparations for the 2010 season tomorrow following a below par finish to this year’s calendar for Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen. Due to the cool weather conditions experienced here at Valencia all weekend and the disappointing qualifying from both riders yesterday, this afternoon’s race was always going to be a difficult and demanding affair. Capirossi used the softer of the two Bridgestone compounds available to him for the 30-lap race, but was still unable to generate enough heat to give him the performance he required. He battled stoically throughout the whole race and his 14th place finish was scant reward for the hard work he has put in all weekend. Vermeulen had hoped to leave the team with a good to result from his last appearance in Rizla Suzuki colours, but the Australian struggled as much as Capirossi to find the performance from his Suzuki GSV-R. Vermeulen crossed the line in 15th place to secure the one remaining point scoring position in the race and give him the small consolation of being the only rider to score points at every event this season. Today’s race was held in cool and very windy conditions at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Spain. Over 94,000 spectators witnessed a near faultless performance from home star Dani Pedrosa, as he led from start to finish to win his second Grand Prix of the year. Rizla Suzuki will now regroup and restructure in time for a three-day test that begins at the Valencian circuit tomorrow, when new rider Alvaro Bautista will join the team to begin his career as a MotoGP rider. Loris Capirossi: “Before we got to Valencia our expectation was that it would be a bit tough here as the conditions would be quite cold and everything we expected seems to have come true. It was difficult in the practice as we tried to find a good setting, but just never got the feeling we wanted. I chose the softer tyre today, even though I didn’t have a good feeling in that so you can imagine how difficult the hard one would have been to use! At the start of the race when the tyre was new everything felt not too bad and I tried to follow some guys , but as the grip levels dropped down I didn’t have complete control over the bike and struggled even more. I tried to defend my position but it felt like everyone could get past me, so all I did was try to make sure I finished the race. This result is not good for me, the team and Suzuki, because we try to work hard and we really want to have a result so this feeling is not good. Thankfully, the good thing we have as a team is that we are strong inside and we know what our target is. We want to make sure we break everybody’s balls so that we can get to the front and we have to do it next year, because like this is just not good enough! “I also want to say I feel sorry for Chris that he had to finish with this result. I have worked with him for two seasons and he is a great team-mate and we have a good friendship. We work well together and we check data all the time to try to improve the bike, so for me this is not a nice day. After two seasons it will be difficult to look over and see a different guy in my box, but this is the way life goes and I want to say good luck and welcome to Alvaro and hope we can work together as well as Chris and I have done.” Chris Vermeulen: “It has been a difficult weekend and the only positive I can take from it is that we definitely improved in the race from yesterday’s qualifying and managed to pass a few guys out there today. I was catching Loris towards the end of the race and I could see that he was struggling with a similar sort of situation as I was. Suzuki has got a lot of work to do to get this sorted, but I really hope they are able to do that, especially for all my crew who work so hard to get things right. I want thank everyone at Suzuki and in the team for what they have done in the last four years, we’ve had some good times sadly today was not one of them unfortunately. I hope the guys get a lot of work done in the winter and come out much stronger. I also want to wish good luck to Loris and Alvaro for 2010; I have enjoyed working with Loris and will miss the friendship and rivalry that we had together.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “I have nothing to say about today’s race! The 2010 season starts tomorrow and our huge differential in performance in low-grip conditions is clear for all to see. To get the consistency in the bike is the highest priority and along with Alvaro taking his first steps as a MotoGP rider tomorrow, our target is very clear. “I’d like to thank Loris for riding at 100% all season and for being such a fantastic team player, the team will be doing everything in its power to push the Suzuki factory to give him the bike in 2010 that his efforts deserve. As for Chris, he has also been a huge asset to Suzuki for four years and we all wish him well as he takes a new direction in his career. He has always been the consummate professional both on and off the track and we wish him and his family well. He’ll always be welcome whenever he comes to visit.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Pedrosa wins season finale on home soil using harder Bridgestone slicks Round 17: Valencia GP Race Ricardo Tormo Circuit, Sunday 8 November 2009 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Medium, Hard (asymmetric) Spaniard Dani Pedrosa took his second win of the season at home in Valencia, marking his second victory since switching to Bridgestone tyres in the latter stages of last season. After polesitter Casey Stoner suffered a highside crash on the warm-up lap that ruled him out of the race, Pedrosa dominated from start to finish. Pedrosa opted for the harder option Bridgestone slick tyres both front and rear, as in fact did the top four. World Champion Valentino Rossi finished second followed by teammate Jorge Lorenzo, with Yamaha stablemate Colin Edwards coming home fourth, equalling his second best premier class result on Bridgestone tyres. Fifth-placed Nicky Hayden was the first rider using the softer front slick tyre to cross the line, finishing just ahead of Toni Elias who also used the soft compound front slick. Seven riders in total used the softer front tyre during the race, but only Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi chose to use the softer rear tyre. Overall, the harder compounds proved the faster option despite the cool and windy conditions. Hiroshi Yamada Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department “I’d like to congratulate HRC and Dani for this result today; his second victory on Bridgestone tyres. It is a great way for them to end the season and they will surely start tomorrow’s test here at Valencia on a high. I also think that Ben and the Sterilgarda Yamaha Team did a very good job this weekend to finish seventh. Now we are at the end of the season some riders and teams are leaving MotoGP, but I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for all their support and wish them all the very best in their respective futures. I am happy with the way this season has gone for us, and that there have been five different race winners and eleven different riders on the podium, and I look forward to getting a taste of what we can look forward to in 2010 when we start the official test tomorrow.” Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “Today the conditions got cooler again and the wind was still high which made it tricky on track, and it was crucial for the riders to warm their tyres up properly when they left the pits. When the wind is high this circuit gets very dusty, and of course the layer of dust on the circuit makes it slippery. The harder compound slicks were still the faster choice despite the cooler track because of their extra durability over the 30-lap race distance, but Nicky and Toni also finished well on the softer fronts, and actually Toni set the fourth fastest lap of the race. Whilst the laptimes were slower because of the cooler weather, the overall race time was good, just four seconds from the fastest time set by Dani in 2007, so I am happy with this.” Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Race Winner “I am very happy for this win because I really wanted it and I was only thinking for the win here. In practice we struggled a lot but the whole team did a great job. On the first lap it was difficult to warm up the tyres very well, but after that we had good pace, actually better than I expected. Towards the end the wind was coming and it was easy to make a mistake, but we kept a good rhythm until the end and I am very happy.” Top ten classification (Sunday 14:00 GMT+1) Pos. Rider Team Race time Gap Front tyre Rear tyre Tyres 1 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 46m47.553s Medium Hard Bridgestone slick 2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 46m50.183s +2.630s Medium Hard Bridgestone slick 3 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 46m50.466s +2.913s Medium Hard Bridgestone slick 4 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 47m20.068s +32.515s Medium Hard Bridgestone slick 5 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 47m22.138s +34.585s Soft Hard Bridgestone slick 6 Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 47m22.441s +34.888s Soft Hard Bridgestone slick 7 Ben Spies Sterilgarda Yamaha Team 47m25.259s +37.706s Medium Hard Bridgestone slick 8 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 47m25.917s +38.364s Medium Hard Bridgestone slick 9 Mika Kallio Pramac Racing 47m30.044s +42.491s Medium Hard Bridgestone slick 10 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 47m31.242s +43.689s Soft Hard Bridgestone slick Weather: Dry. Ambient 19°C; Track 24°C ( Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Dorna Comunications: Victory on home soil saw Dani Pedrosa end the 2009 FIM World Championship on a high at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, as the Repsol Honda man enjoyed a start-to-finish win in the final race of the 2009 season and Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo completed the podium. The drama started before the race had even commenced, as pole position holder Casey Stoner’s high-side crash on the warm-up lap meant he was unable to take his place on the grid. That allowed Pedrosa to lead the grid from second position on the front row, and after taking the holeshot he did not look back, sealing third spot in the overall standings in the process. World Champion Valentino Rossi followed the Spaniard home in second place, finishing 2.630s behind Pedrosa as he ended his title-winning season with his 13th podium of the campaign. The Italian’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who did well to hold onto his bike when a moment on the opening lap almost threw him off, was a further 0.283s behind as he took third, having already sealed second spot in the Championship by virtue of Stoner’s non-start. Stoner ended the season in fourth place overall, with Colin Edwards’ fourth place in the race allowing him to snatch fifth in the 2009 standings from Andrea Dovizioso. The top five on the day was completed by Stoner’s Ducati Marlboro team-mate Nicky Hayden, who held off the challenge of Toni Elías as the Spaniard came in sixth in his final race with the San Carlo Honda Gresini team. Wildcard rider Ben Spies rode to an impressive seventh-placed finish, and in depriving Dovizioso of that spot the Italian finished eighth played a direct role in helping his future Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Edwards take fifth in the Championship. There were also top-ten finishes for Rookie of the Year Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini). 250cc A dramatic 250cc race ended with Hiroshi Aoyama claiming the World title after defending champion Marco Simoncelli crashed out when in the lead, as Héctor Barberá took the victory. Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar Team) and Raffaele de Rosa (Scot Racing) completed the podium, as Barberá won by a margin of 3.663s and sealed second spot in the World Championship standings ahead of Simoncelli. Scot Racing Team rider Aoyama survived a run-off in lap nine, which dropped him down to eleventh position the lowest finish he could afford in order to claim the title as an engrossing race then saw Simoncelli lose the front of his bike when going into turn two with seven laps to go, thus ending his race. Thomas Luthi (Emmi – Caffe Latte), Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG) and Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) all finished ahead of Aoyama in the race. The new World Champion also survived an earlier scare when nearly touching bikes with Bautista, before Simoncelli recovered from falling to eighth place from first on the grid to lead the race. Aoyama’s run-off then added more entertainment, before Simoncelli’s crash handed him the title as both Mike di Meglio (Mapfre Aspar) and Jules Cluzel (Matteoni Racing) also suffered spills which ended their seasons on a low. 125cc It was a third straight one-two for Bancaja Aspar team-mates Julián Simón and Bradley Smith in the 125cc contest, as the pair put on another enthralling display which went down to the last lap. Taking their duel to the very last corner of the race again, Simón managed to hold off his rival for another thrilling finish, as he eventually finished 0.220s ahead. Pol Espargaró (Derbi Racing Team) completed the podium after riding a lonely race in third, confirming fourth place in the World Championship, with Nico Terol finishing tenth in the race as he sealed third in the season’s overall standings. Simone Corsi won the battle for fourth place ahead of the impressive Marcel Schrotter, with Joan Olivé (Derbi Racing Team), Efrén Vázquez (Derbi Racing Team), Sandro Cortese (Ajo Interwetten) and Randy Krummenacher (Degraaf Grand Prix) all finishing inside the top ten. More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: KALLIO CELEBRATES HIS BIRTHDAY WITH THE NINTH POSITION AT VALENCIA. ESPARGARO’ THIRTEENTH The 2009 MotoGP season is today over at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. Pramac Racing riders, Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargarò, were really motivated after the good warm up where they have respectively registered the eighth and the thirteenth fastest lap times. Mika’s best lap time was only two tenths of second slower from the third best conquered by Colin Edwards. In the race the white and red duo didn’t make it to start well losing various positions after the first lap. The Finnish rider has found himself in twelfth position and has started a passionate fight with four more riders concluding in ninth place. Aleix instead had to made a comeback as he was in last place after the first lap due to a small mistake. The young Spanish rider has recovered and overtook lap after lap Vermeulen, Talmacsi, Melandri and Capirossi. From tomorrow the 2010 season will start with the first test for the Pramac Racing riders on the Valencia track. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “The Championship is over and I want to thanks the Pramac Racing team members for the work done this season. It has been an intense and constructive season and we have to start from here to improve next year. I want to also thank Niccolò Canepa who unluckily couldn’t race these last two races with us due to the injury. Mika has obtained a good result today: we a re bit sad only that he took too much time to overtake De Angelis losing contact with the riders who were in front of him. I am sure that he could have fought at least for seventh position. Aleix has been really unlucky in the start where he had a small problem that put him in last position. From here on he started a good comeback that took him to the thirteenth position. Not bad as he has reached and overtook riders much more experienced than him.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 9th in the race – 15th in the Championship “The ninth position isn’t a great result but for how it went the race today it can be ok. When I was in the group that was fighting for the seventh position I felt some pain in the left arm and I couldn’t brake as late as I would have want to overtake De Angelis. Once overtook him I made it to find back the good rhythm of the beginning of the race but I was too late to reach the riders in front of me. I want to thanks the Pramac Racing team for the great work done this year and I confide to grow together next season.” Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing rider – 13th in the race – 18th in the Championship “Horrible start but from the second part of the race I made to registered interesting lap times. I lost too much time in the fight with Vermeulen and lap after lap I reached and overtook without too many complications Talmacsi, Melandri and Capirossi. I wanted to try to reach Toseland but it was too late and we were riding with similar lap times. Now I can say my stage at Pramac Racing is over, from tomorrow we will begin the real job. I am ready, motivated and I hope to grow a lot next year.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Jubilant Edwards claims fantastic fifth overall Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Colin Edwards produced a stunning final race in Valencia today to clinch a dramatic fifth place in the final 2009 MotoGP world championship standings. Starting from fifth on the grid in front of 94,177 vocal Spanish fans, all eyes were on the Texan and his fight for fifth in the points-standings with Andrea Dovizioso. In sunny but blustery conditions, the Texas Tornado held fifth place until lap seven when he passed Toni Elias to move into fourth. At the time, Dovizioso was back in 11th. Edwards maintained an impressive pace to sit comfortably in fourth position and remain on course for fifth overall. But Dovizoso then produced a dazzling charge through the field to move into seventh position on lap 16. That meant fifth place would go to Dovizioso with no further position changes. But there was one final dramatic twist in arguably Edwards’ best ever MotoGP campaign, thanks to new Monster Yamaha Yamaha Tech 3 rider Ben Spies. The Texan’s brilliant Yamaha debut ended with him passing Dovizioso on lap 25, a move that secured Edwards his hard earned but thoroughly deserved fifth place in the final points tally. British rider James Toseland produced a gallant ride in his final appearance for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team that saw him in contention for a top ten finish throughout the 30-lap encounter. A stunning start and skilled overtaking on the first lap saw him climb into 11th position and he was lock ed in a thrilling dice with Spies, Dovizioso, Mika Kallio, Alex de Angelis and Marco Melandri in the first half of the race. But a small rear tyre issue prevented Toseland from maintaining his fast and consistent pace and he slipped back to finish 12th. Colin Edwards 4th 161pts “Things really fell my way today but over the course of the season I feel like I really deserve fifth place in the championship. At best I was thinking I could finish fifth in the race but then I saw Casey wasn’t on the grid and immediately I thought ‘well, there’s some more points up for grabs.’ I got a great start and the bike was working awesome but those three out front were untouchable. I don’t know how they do it, what they’ve got or what they eat for breakfast, but I couldn’t run their pace. In the middle of the race I couldn’t carry the corner speed I wanted to so I tried to smooth myself out and just rode out of my skin. I was doing the best I could but wasn’t sure where Dovizioso was. It turns out Ben got by him and that point proved crucial. I gave him a big bug after the race and anything he wants me to buy him, he can have it. I’m glad he adapted so quickly to the Yamaha because him riding so well is what got me that fifth overall and I’m really looking forward to working with him. To finish fifth in the championship is a great feeling when you look at the talent in front of me. I was consistent all season and feel like I rode some of my best races to get this final position. I’m happy for myself and for my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. We are a really close unit and they always give me 100 per cent, so hopefully they can take a lot of satisfaction out of this result as well. I wish James all the best for the future too and am convinced he can carry on Yamaha’s success in World Superbikes.” James Toseland 12th 92 points “I really enjoyed my last race. I wanted to give my team everything I had and I’m proud to say I did that. I had a good first few laps and took a few risks with not a lot of temperature in the tyres and got myself into a good position. But unfortunately on about lap 15 the rear tyre turned on the rim and I wasn’t able to keep the pace and stay in the bunch that were battling for seventh place. I’d like to congratulate Colin for fifth in the championship because he has done a brilliant job. I’d like to thank everybody working with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team for all the effort and support they have given me. I’ve had an absolutely fantastic time with them and I’ll take a lot of interest in how they perform in the future. I’ve made a lot of friends in MotoGP and at Tech 3 and the team will always hold a special place in my heart. Now I’ve got to look to the futu re and I do so relishing a new challenge with Yamaha.” Herve Poncharal Team Manager “I can’t congratulate Colin enough for the amazing job he has done this season. To finish behind those four guys is an incredible feat and one that gives the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team a lot of pride to have been involved in helping achieving fifth position in the championship for him. He has been consistent all year long and hardly ever outside the top six, and I would say this has been his best ever season. I’m so happy he is still with us next year because he brings so much to the team. Not just in terms of his results but his personality has been a great asset to the team, Yamaha and MotoGP. The sport needs more people like Colin and I can’t wait for next season when we have the full Texan team. I am really excited about the prospect of working with Ben. What he did this weekend w as amazing. By passing Dovizioso as well he did a great favour to Colin and a great job for our team. I also want pass on my heartfelt thanks to James for all his hard work since he joined us at the end of 2007. We’ve had some up and downs but he brought a lot to the team. He is a true gentleman and he has been one of the hardest working and highly motivated riders ever to be at Tech 3. He has plenty to proud of in MotoGP. He is staying in the Yamaha family and I would like to wish him all the best in 2010. I’m sure he will keep Yamaha on top in World Superbikes.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: De Puniet rounds season off with another solid finish Valencia, 8 November: the ultimate round of 2009 season at Ricardo Tormo circuit was run with ambience temperature of 19°C with premier class riders struggling with strong winds and local hero Dani Pedrosa took the victory ahead 94.177 national fans. The LCR Honda MotoGP Team racer Randy De Puniet started from the head of the third row yesterday’s good qualifying when he took the seventh fastest lap time at the 4.005 Km race track. The Frenchman set impressive lap times throughout the week end but he was not able to translate his pace into a good performance today. The 28-year-old took a goof start for the 30-lap race finishing the first run in 6th position but struggled with rear grip issues managing to end the last round 11th. De Puniet finished his third year in MotoGP in 11th position with 106 points. LCR Team will be back on track tomorrow for two days of testing. De Puniet 11th De Puniet 11th: “Honestly I would have preferred to finish the last race of the season in the top six positions and I am a bit disappointed about today’s result. I took a good start from the third row ending the first run 6th but after 12 laps I started to lose grip on the left side of the rear. I could not control the bike in the corners as it slid too much; that’s why the other guys caught me! However I want to thank Lucio and the Team for their efforts; we had a positive season together and I am pretty sure we could have had a better result if I hadn’t suffered the left ankle fracture in the middle of the season. I am happy to continue with them for next year because we have got the potential to be the most competitive Honda private Team”. More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: SEASON ENDS WITH CONTRASTING FORTUNES FOR STONER AND HAYDEN AT VALENCIA The Ducati Marlboro Team concluded its 2009 MotoGP World Championship with contrasting fortunes for its two riders, as Nicky Hayden ended the season on a high with a hard-fought fifth place but Casey Stoner was left empty handed following a crash on the warm-up lap. Stoner came into the race with back-to-back wins and was a strong contender to make it a hat-trick following a dominant performance in practice. However, the grid strategy used by the team for the last two years proved to have a weak point today and the Australian’s tyres were not up to the right temperature, leading him to crash. Hayden has made constant progress over the course of the weekend to mirror the positive trend of his season following a difficult start. The American started from sixth on the grid and improved by one placing in the race to claim fifth for the second successive race, despite dropping back to seventh on the opening lap. Confidence is now high in both camps for a much better season in 2010, preparations for which start in a three-day test that gets underway tomorrow here at Valencia. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) (DNF; 4th in the championship on 220 points) “Obviously this is a frustrating and disappointing way to finish the season. There have been plenty of highs and lows throughout the year and we have ended on a low, but with another lesson learnt for next season. We have had this strategy for two years and not had a problem until today so I guess it is better it happened here than in the first race of next season in Qatar! The important thing is that after back-to-back wins in Australia and Malaysia we have shown our pace here at Valencia and we know we have everything in place to be competitive next season if we do the job right over the winter. Now I am looking forward to working on the bike over the next three days and then spending a couple of months building up my physical fitness, which I haven’t been able to dedicate myself 100% to for such a long time. We know it will be hard next year but we are confident that we can be back and fighting again. I want to give my personal thanks to everybody in the team to Filippo and everybody at Ducati Corse for giving me a bike that was competitive even when I wasn’t and for working to make sure it was firing on all cylinders when I came back. I also want to thank Livio Suppo, who is leaving the team, for all the support he has given me since I joined Ducati and especially during the difficult moments this season.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) (5th in the race; 13th in the championship on 104 points) “I thought it might be possible to do a little better than that today but I didn’t get the best start. The clutch was slipping a little bit down the first couple of straightaways and I lost some positions. After that I managed to pull myself up again and from there it was a case of doing my best to try and bridge the gap to Colin (Edwards). The bike was working quite well but every time I closed a tenth or two he had an answer and pulled it back out. Towards the end I had some issues in a couple of left-handers and my pace dropped too much. Anyway, I had an enjoyable race, going back and forth with a few guys at the beginning especially. It’s not a spectacular result but we’ve end the season with two top fives and we know we have a direction to work in over the winter. It hasn’t been a great season for me in terms of results but the improvements we have made since the start are huge and I’m excited about the future. We’re thirteenth overall, which looks awful on paper, but we are only eleven points off seventh and I had three first-lap incidents that weren’t my fault just one of those could have made the difference. Next season starts tomorrow and I can’t wait to get back to work! There will be some changes in the team and a few guys leaving who I will miss. I want to thank them because even though it’s on old saying it really is true that Ducati is like a family. All I can say is good luck to them and I’m looking forward to welcoming the new guys in.” Filippo Preziosi Ducati Corse General Director: “Unfortunately after a virtually perfect weekend Casey was denied the opportunity to finish it with a good race today. We’ve been using this grid strategy for the past two season, but the only risk is that the tyres are colder than they should be for the “warm-up lap”. We obviously need to change this for the future and make sure there is enough temperature in the tyre. It is the first time it has happened in two years but once is already too much so we will look to improve on that. We have some ideas already and we will have something different in place for the first race of next season. Nicky picked up another solid fifth place, ending the season running comfortably within the mid-pack towards the front and that is a positive sign for next year, even though we need to take another step forward. We start testing with him and with Casey tomorrow with three days of testing here at Valencia. Finally a big hug to Livio and good luck for his future”. 2009 Valencia GP Podium 1st Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 2nd Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), 3rd Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) Fastest lap: Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 1’32.778 – 155.403 Km/h Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008), 1’32.582 – 155.732 Km/h 2009 Pole: Casey Stoner (Ducati), 1’32.256 – 156.282 Km/h Best Pole: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha – 2006), 1’31.002 – 158.436 Km/h Riders World Championship 1st Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 306 points; 2nd Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 261; 3rd Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 234; 4th Casey Stoner (Ducati) 220; 5th Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 161; “¦ 13th Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 104. Constructors World Championship 1st Yamaha (386 points); 2nd Honda (297); 3rd Ducati (272); 4th Suzuki (133); 5th Kawasaki (108) More, from a press release issued by Honda: Crowd: 94,177 Weather: sunny, cool and windy Ambient temperature: 19 degrees Track temperature: 29 degrees PEDROSA AND HONDA WIN FINAL 2009 MotoGP RACE, AOYAMA AND HONDA MAKE 250 HISTORY Honda enjoyed a great 2009 season finale at Valencia today with Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) winning the MotoGP race in dominant style and Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) securing the last-ever 250 World Championship. It was a fitting climax to the season that marked Honda’s 50th anniversary of Grand Prix racing. Pedrosa was in awesome form. He led from start to finish, leaving his rivals struggling to match his pace during the 30 lap event run in cool, windy conditions. Starting from the front row of the grid the local hero took just three laps to open a 2.1 second gap over his pursuers, using the speed of his RC212V to maximum advantage (Pedrosa was fastest through the start/finish speed trap at 316.6km/h). At one stage he was 4.4 seconds in front of closest challenger Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), finally crossing the line 2.6 seconds ahead of the Italian who just bettered team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. Pedrosa’s second victory and 11th podium of the year gave him third in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship. The only man who could have beaten him to third overall was Casey Stoner (Ducati), but the Australian didn’t even make the start after sliding off during the warm-up lap. Cool conditions made the track quite treacherous throughout the weekend. Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) took a hard-fought sixth-place finish, just behind Nicky Hayden (Ducati). Elias made a lightning fast start from the third row of the grid to complete the first lap in second place. The Spaniard didn’t quite have the pace to stay there, however, and gradually slipped back to spend much of the race battling with Hayden. Nevertheless Elias did enough to secure seventh place in the championship, just in front of team-mate Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini). Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) started from the fourth row after a difficult qualifying session but wasn’t daunted by the task ahead of him. The Italian was 14th after one lap, and then he started working his way through the pack, even though Valencia isn’t the kind of track that makes overtaking easy. During the mid-stages of the race he was in a five-man group fighting for seventh position. Eventually Dovizioso fought his way to the front of that group and spent the last third of the race battling back and forth with recently crowned World Superbike Ben Spies (Yamaha). Spies prevailed, crossing the finish line just sixth tenths ahead of Dovizioso who finished less than six seconds off fourth place. De Angelis and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) took 11th and 12th. De Puniet ran well during the early stages, holding sixth place between Colin Edwards (Yamaha) and Hayden, but began to have some rear-grip issues in left-handers; a real problem on an anti-clockwise racetrack. De Angelis also found the going quite slippery, but chased Mika Kallio (Ducati) all the way, finishing less than a second behind the Finn. Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) had a tough race, finishing 16th, less than three seconds off final points scorer Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki). The 250 World Championship was the only 2009 title fight to go down to the wire, and today’s 250 race was a real thriller. The race was also the last 250 GP, 60 years after the first 250 GP was staged in June 1949. Next year the class will be replaced by the new Moto2 category. Aoyama needed to finish a minimum of 11th if title rival Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) won the race. At one-third distance Simoncelli was ahead when Aoyama ran off the track at the high-speed first corner while in the lead pack, rejoining in 11th place after a long excursion through the gravel trap! The title was finally decided when Simoncelli crashed out of the lead with seven laps to go, handing race victory to Hector Barbera (Aprilia). Aoyama finished in seventh spot to give Honda its 16th 250 riders’ title. It was in this class that Honda won its first World Championship in 1961, with Mike Hailwood. And that 1961 world title success was also the first in motorsport by a Japanese manufacturer. Aoyama’s team-mate Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) completed a wonderful day for the San Marino-based Scot team by finishing third to secure sixth overall and claim the coveted Rookie of the Year title. De Rosa rode another stunning race, storming through from 12th to claim his second podium of the year. Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) also enjoyed a great ride in the last 250 race, equalling his best result with fifth place, a fraction ahead of Kael Abraham (Aprilia). Wilairot’s team-mate Hector Faubel (Valencia CF-Honda SAG) was less fortunate, the local star sliding off while in the group contesting sixth place. Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda) equalled his best result of his rookie GP year with a determined ride to tenth place. He scored his first top-ten result at his home GP at Motegi. Team-mate Valentin Debise (Team CIP Honda) picked up the last point in 15th, a good result considering he had slid off twice during the weekend. Shuhei Aoyama (Racing Team Germany Honda) took 11th place, nine seconds down on Aoyama. This was the younger Aoyama brother’s fourth race since returning to GP duties at last month’s Portuguese GP. Off-season commences at Valencia tomorrow, then continues at Sepang, Malaysia, in February. The 18-round 2010 MotoGP World Championship gets underway at Losail, Qatar, on April 9/10/11. HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: race winner. “It’s really great to finish off the season with a win, especially here in front of my home fans. I was waiting on the grid with my visor up and I was looking to the side for Casey to arrive, but the marshal in front of me was walking to the side and I was thinking: ‘Where is he going!’ So I assumed something had happened to Casey on the warm-up lap. In the first few laps I had to be careful because you have to warm up the tyres here, especially on the right hand side. But once that was done, we maintained a good pace and kept focused. In the last laps, the wind was strong and it would have been easy to make a mistake, but I was able to control the gap to Valentino and take this win. I was thinking back to Laguna Seca where Valentino closed the gap a lot, and I also knew that Jorge was catching Valentino too, so I just kept pushing. I’m very happy for the team because we struggled quite a lot in practice here, and yet we were able to win in front of all the Spanish fans. I’d like to thank the fans too. To get third in the championship is not what I was expecting but it’s a nice surprise, even though Casey wasn’t in the race. This season has not been easy and tomorrow’s testing will be important so that we can start 2010 in the best possible shape. This gives us a good start towards that.” Toni Elias, San Carlo Honda Gresini: sixth. “I started the weekend with a bit of a cold, which hasn’t helped, and we had a few technical issues to resolve too. The team have done a great job though to give me a bike that I was able to ride to the maximum in qualifying yesterday and in the race today, which gave me the opportunity to take seventh place in the championship, which six riders were going for. I was calm going into the race because I know I usually start well and after that it was a case of pushing as hard as I could to stay with the front guys, who were on another planet again here. I managed to stick it out with Nicky and Colin for the whole race although they were slightly faster than me and it was an effort to stay with them. In the end I knew seventh place in the championship was ours if I could finish sixth so I gritted my teeth to the end. There are so many people I want to thank. My MotoGP adventure is over for now but I hope to be back as soon as possible after taking on the new challenge that awaits me, starting tomorrow, in Moto2.” Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: eighth. “We overtook a lot of riders in the race, but I cannot be happy with this result because we lost fifth place in the championship, and keeping that position was our target today. I had a bad start and lost a lot of time overtaking riders with a slower pace than mine, and this caused me to lose contact with Edwards and Elias. If I had started from further up the grid, I had the rhythm and pace to fight with them, but starting from the fourth row everything is more difficult. In the end Spies overtook me and I couldn’t re-pass him, and with eighth position at the finish I lost my fifth position in the championship. I don’t want to make any excuse for this result. I’m just looking forward to the future. We have worked a lot this season and, although it hasn’t been easy, we have learned a lot. I’d like to thank my team for their hard work, and from tomorrow the 2010 season starts. Honda has brought a new chassis and I’m really looking forward to testing it.” Alex De Angelis, San Carlo Honda Gresini: tenth. “I’m happy because we’ve finished the season with a good position in the championship, virtually the first satellite rider if you consider that Edwards is a test rider on pretty much factory machinery and Elias was on the factory Honda. We’re also ahead of the two factory Suzukis. It was a difficult race today because the rear was sliding around a lot but I think I held my own and did pretty well with what we had. I want to thank all the sponsors and everybody in the team for helping me make this position in the championship possible. “ Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda: 11th. “Honestly, I would have preferred to finish the last race of the season in the top six, so I am a bit disappointed about today’s result. I made a good start from the third row, but after 12 laps I started to lose some grip on the left side of the rear tyre; that’s why the other guys caught me! However I want to thank Lucio [Cecchinello] and the rest of the team for their efforts. We have had a positive season together and I am pretty sure we could have had a better result if I hadn’t broken my left ankle in the middle of the season. I am happy to continue with LCR for next year because we have got the potential to be the most competitive private Honda team.” Gabor Talmacsi, Scot Honda: 16th. “I’m not satisfied with the race. While I got a good feeling from the bike in the qualifying session, the race was a different story. I had to fight the bike all the way. About the season in general, it has been very tough. They say what does not kill you makes you stronger. Well, I collected a lot of experience in my first MotoGP races. I’ll make good use of it next season, in Moto2. I want to thank the team for all they did for me.” HONDA 250cc RIDER QUOTES Raffaele De Rosa, Scot Honda: third. “I enjoyed the race. It has been a fantastic weekend great on the track, great in the garage. At the beginning of the race there were so many riders in front of me, so I realised it was going to be tough. Then, I started to make up positions, improving lap by lap. The tyres begin to get to the limit, but I went on recovering positions. The wind was strong, but I could manage the conditions. I’m happy for myself and for the team. Thanks to everybody. And I want to congratulate Aoyama: he has been brave to get the title in such tricky conditions. Well done, Hiro!” Ratthapark Wilairot, Thai Honda PTT-SAG: fifth. “The start was not so bad but at the first corner I was on the outside line and a lot of riders overtook me. After that I had a good pace but the engine was lacking a few rpm. At that moment I was behind Cluzel but it was difficult passing him. At the end I had a good battle with Abraham. I want to thank all the team for their great work during all the year. We had problems that we solved perfectly and if I hadn’t had some bad luck with injuries I’m sure I would have finished higher in the overall standings.” Hiroshi Aoyama, Scot Honda: seventh. “I have been racing for 23 years, so I have been waiting for this moment for 23 years. It’s incredible! I am very proud to win this title, and it makes it extra special that it’s the last 250 title. Today I wanted to win the race, so I was pushing, pushing, pushing, but finally I pushed too much and went outside of the track. I was riding in the gravel, like riding motocross and I kept telling myself ‘Don’t crash! Don’t crash!’ I came back on track, but I was so far back and it was so difficult to think about my position. Finally I saw Simoncelli had crashed, so I knew then that my position was okay to win the title. Today’s race was not the best for me but to win the championship is fantastic. This has been a difficult season, but my team staff gave me great support, we had a great team, they cheered me up and gave me extra motivation when I needed it. I want to say a big, big thank you to everyone Scot, Honda, Dunlop, everyone who helped me. It was not so easy, but I could push hard with all this help.” Shoya Tomizawa, Team CIP Honda: tenth. “I made some mistakes on the first lap, I wanted to pass some people but I found it impossible with a full fuel load. I came back little by little and finally I could get tenth place, same as I got at Motegi. Now I am looking forward to Moto2, I start testing in January with our Suter bike.” Shuhei Aoyama, Racing Team Germany Honda: 11th. “Yesterday we had a issues with the suspension and engine. This morning we changed the suspension back to our Friday setting and it was better. For the race I was very concentrated to make a good start. After that I pushed behind Pesek, Passini and Locatelli. I wanted to try to pass in the corners because on the straight the gap was too big. Finally, I’m happy with the result because the weekend was so difficult compared to Portugal, Australia and Malaysia.” Valentin Debise, Team CIP Honda: 15th. “It has been a difficult weekend, so I am happy to get another point. I crashed again this morning. I had slowed down looking for a slipstream, so the tyre cooled down and I fell. We changed the settings and fitted a softer front tyre for the race and the bike was better.” Hector Faubel, Valencia CF-Honda SAG: DNF. “Today I made an incredible start, from ninth position to fourth! It was really good because I found a good lap pace, but then the front suspension problem I’d had all weekend appeared again, the front suspension rebounding. I knew I had to push hard to move up the overall points standing. Finally, I crashed because I was at the limit and that was difficult with the front rebounding. Anyway, we worked hard for a good result today and all the riders in front of me in the overall standing were behind me, so I finished ninth overall. Crashes are part of racing and we should not be sad for these things. I want to thank all the people who have helped me this year.”