Valencia MotoGP: Sunday (updated regularly)

November 8, 2009 by admin
Filed under 2010 Race Calendar

NEWEST AT TOP

San Carlo Honda Gresini

Toni Elias made his final appearance for the San Carlo Honda Gresini MotoGP team – at least for the immediate future – with a trademark charge to sixth place at Valencia, whilst his team-mate Alex de Angelis signed off with a creditable top ten. Elias made a thunderous start from the third row of the grid to pass Valentino Rossi around the outside of the first turn and claim second place behind early leader Dani Pedrosa, battling tooth and nail for every inch of track over the next 30 laps but eventually conceding positions to the Italian, as well as Jorge Lorenzo, Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden and finishing just 0.3 seconds behind the latter American.
The result was enough to seal a coveted seventh place in the championship that no fewer than six riders had designs on before the red lights went out today, covered as they were by just seven points going into this final race. Tenth place for De Angelis means he finishes the season just behind his team-mate in eighth overall.

Toni Elias (6th in the race, 7th in the championship on 115 points): “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.”

Alex De Angelis (10th in the race, 8th in the championship on 111 points): “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. ”

Fausto Gresini – Team Manager: “I am particularly happy today because seventh and eighth in the championship for Toni and Alex is the best way we could have hoped to finish this championship. We have been on the podium twice this year and it is always our ambition and our target to improve. Naturally I want to thank Alex for contesting his first two seasons in MotoGP with us, during which time I think we have given him the opportunity to demonstrate his potential, and Toni who has worked with us before and has achieved his highest championship position in MotoGP this season. I also want to thank San Carlo for their support and for believing in our project, which we will continue together in MotoGP next year, and all our technical partners. Last but not least I want to thank all the guys in the team for continuing to work with such determination to always achieve the best possible results.”

Alberto Vitaloni – President of San Carlo Gruppo Alimentare: “It has given us great pleasure once again to work so closely with Fausto Gresini and his team this year. We have a great professional relationship but more than that we have a wonderful personal rapport. It is important for our brand to be associated with a young and dynamic world such as motorcycle racing and to be competitive within it, as we are in business. On a sporting level the second half of the season in particular has gone very well and we hope it carries through to next season.”

1.Dani PEDROSA SPA Honda 46 ‘ 47″ 553
2.Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha 46′ 50″ 183
3.Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha 46′ 50″ 466
4.Colin EDWARDS USA Yamaha 47′ 20″ 068
5.Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati 47′ 22″ 138
6.Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 47′ 22″ 441
7.Ben SPIES USA Yamaha 47′ 25″ 259
8.Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Honda 47′ 25″ 917
9.Mika KALLIO FIN Ducati 47′ 30″ 044
10.Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 47′ 31″ 242
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Ducati Marlboro

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)
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Pramac Racing

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.”

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LCR Honda

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”.

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Monster Yamaha Tech3

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.”
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KTM

Spanish Red Bull KTM rider Marc Marquéz was running close to the front for almost the entire 125 cc race today’s final Grand Prix at Valencia, but didn’t make the podium that he and his team had wished for in the last 125 cc race of the Austrian manufacturer.
Whilst fighting for a podium finish on the last lap, Marquéz and Joan Olivé banged into each other, and Marquéz ran off the track and crashed. The 16-year-old managed to re-start and made it to the finish line, but had to settle for a disappointing 17th place.

“I had a good start but realised early on that it would be impossible to stay with Simon and Smith who had an incredible pace. But I managed to run with the second group, where we were fighting between fourth and seventh place, and were I planned to make a final dash for a podium finish. But then, Olivé and I touched, and I crashed”, said Marquéz. “I am very disappointed, because I so desperately wanted to give the team a good result on their final race. It’s the third time that I had problems with Olivé this year, which certainly isn’t good”.

Team-mate Cameron Baubier and Wild Card Sturla Fagerhaug also crashed. “My race was good, in the final lap I passed Zanetti and started to pull away bit by bit, with some world championship points within my reach”, said Beaubier. “But not much later a gust of wind caught me in turn four and I went down, even as I was prepared and slowed down as the wind was extremely strong especially there. Of course I’m really disappointed now”.

The race of Fagerhaug was finished after only four laps. “My start was not too bad, I made up a couple of positions and was together with a group of faster riders. But then I ran wide in the corner of the back straight. When I was back on the track, I was pushing hard to catch up again, but I was trying to much and lost the front”.

Team director Harald Bartol was also disappointed. “This was a sad end. It’s a pity that Marc crashed out of a promising position in his home race after touching another rider, but these things happen in racing. He’s got great talent though, and I’m sure that he will make his way to the top in motorcycle racing. I also hope that Cameron will get a second chance in another team – he certainly deserves it, he was riding like other rookies and sure he has some good potential.”
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Rizla Suzuki

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.”

GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana Race Classification:

1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 46’47.553: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +2.630: 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +2.913: 4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +32.515: 5. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) +34.585: 14. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1’06.877: 15. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1’11.701:

World Championship Classification:

1. Rossi 306: 2. Lorenzo 261: 3. Pedrosa 234: 4 Casey Stoner (Ducati) 220: 5. Edwards 161: 9. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 110: 12. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 106:
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Repsol Honda

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

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

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

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.”

Race Result – Round 17
1 Dani Pedrosa 46m 47.553 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 Valentino Rossi +2.630 ITA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
3 Jorge Lorenzo +2.913 SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
4 Colin Edwards +32.515 USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
5 Nicky Hayden +34.585 USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
6 Toni Elias +34.888 SPA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
7 Ben Spies +37.706 USA YAMAHA Sterilgarda Yamaha Team
8 Andrea Dovizioso +38.364 ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
9 Mika Kallio +42.491 FIN DUCATI Pramac Racing
10 Alex De Angelis +43.689 SMR HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
11 Randy De Puniet +46.018 FRA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
12 James Toseland +50.226 GBR YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
13 Aleix Espargaro +57.168 SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
14 Loris Capirossi +1m 06.877 ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
15 Chris Vermeulen +1m 11.701 AUS SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
16 Gabor Talmacsi +1m 14.405 HUN HONDA Scot Racing Team MotoGP
17 Marco Melandri +1m 33.425 ITA KAWASAKI Hayate Racing Team

Championship standings
1 Valentino Rossi 306 pts ITA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
2 Jorge Lorenzo 261 pts SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
3 Dani Pedrosa 234 pts SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
4 Casey Stoner 220 pts AUS DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
5 Colin Edwards 161 pts USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
6 Andrea Dovizioso 160 pts ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
7 Toni Elias 115 pts SPA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
8 Alex De Angelis 111 pts SMR HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
9 Loris Capirossi 110 pts ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
10 Marco Melandri 108 pts ITA KAWASAKI Hayate Racing Team
11 Randy De Puniet 106 pts FRA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
12 Chris Vermeulen 106 pts AUS SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
13 Nicky Hayden 104 pts USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team
14 James Toseland 92 pts GBR YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha
15 Mika Kallio 71 pts FIN DUCATI Pramac Racing
16 Niccolo Canepa 38 pts ITA DUCATI Pramac Racing
17 Gabor Talmacsi 19 pts HUN HONDA Scot Racing Team MotoGP
18 Aleix Espargaro 16 pts SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
19 Sete Gibernau 12 pts SPA DUCATI Grupo Francisco Hernando
20 Ben Spies 9 pts USA YAMAHA Sterilgarda Yamaha Team
21 Yuki Takahashi 9 pts JAP HONDA Scot Racing Team MotoGP

Circuit information
First race 1999
GPs held 10
Laps 30
Race distance 120.150km / 74.670miles
Track length 4.005km / 2.489miles
Track width 12m
Longest straight 0.876km / 0.544miles
Corners 14 (5 right, 9 left)
Pole position Right

Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana

Autovía A3 Valencia-Madrid

Salida 334. 46380 – Cheste

(Valencia) SPAIN

T: +34 96 252 52 20

F: +34 96 252 52 24

Website: www.circuitvalencia.com

Circuit records
Pole position 1m31.002s (158.436km/h) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha, 2006)
Race lap 1m32.582s (155.732Km/h) Casey Stoner (Ducati, 2008)
Race time 46m43.533s (154.283km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2007)
MotoGP Wins 2 (Valentino Rossi 2003-04)
2008 Winner Casey Stoner (Ducati)
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MotoGP

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.

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De Graaf Team

Randy Krummenacher had a great race during the GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana. Almost the whole race the Swiss teenager was fighting for the 4th position and finished at a very good 9th place. Danny Webb couldn’t compete in the last race of the season and the DeGraaf Grand Prix due his broken left and right foot.

In the warm-up session in the morning Randy Krummenacher had already a very good and fast pace. In this session Krummenacher’s lap time was faster than his qualification time of the Saturday and ended the session on a very good 5th position. Danny Webb had to go to the doctors to get a clearance for his start in the race. The doctor said that Webb could try it in the warm-up session and after 4 laps Webb came in. It wasn’t possible to race in this physical condition. It was a very hard decision for Webb not to start especially because it is the last race of the season and the last race riding for the DeGraaf Grand Prix Team.

With only Randy Krummenacher starting the race, all the team members and sponsors were focussed on the Swiss rider. Krummenacher didn’t have a good start but did have a very good first lap. The Swiss teenager fought back from P21 to P15 in the first lap. After several fast laps, Krummenacher joined the group fighting for P4 till P10. The whole race Krummenacher battled with the top of the 125GP and had the change till the last lap to finish in the top 5. Krummenacher finish at a really great 9th position only one second of the 4th man Simone Corsi.

Randy Krummenacher (9th): “This is really a very good ending of the season and also my personal best position of the year! My start wasn’t great and I gave everything form the first till the last lap to finish the season on a good position. I tried to stay in the group but some of the riders were so aggressive that I lost the connection. Every time I could close the gap and join the battle. In the last turn to the long straight I lose some speed so I couldn’t pass a rider from out of the slipstream. But P9 is an excellent result and my goal was to improve my 10th position from Barcelona this year and I succeeded. It’s great to end the season like this. I will! have a little holiday and then use the wintertime to prepare for the 2010 season with Arie Molenaar Racing and want to race in the top of the 125GP World Championship!”

Danny Webb (DNS): “I really tried to ride the last race of the season and for the DeGraaf Grand Prix Team. It wasn’t possible. I didn’t have the strengths in my feet to control the bike and I got also dizzy on the bike. This is not the conditions you want to race. It’s a shame I couldn’t give the team a good result this weekend. I really enjoined the three years with the team and want to thank all team members. Especially I want to thank Arie Molenaar, Jarno Janssen, Hans Spaan, My mechanics ! Rob and Rick and Marlon Fluit. They made it possible to race for and I will never forget them. I still will see them in the paddock next season when I will ride for the WRB Jack & Jones Team. See you in 2010!”