Andrea Dovizioso managed to beat Dani Pedrosa for third place in the standings (the Spaniard missed three races due to his shoulder injury) and will be moving to Yamaha Tech3. Cal Crutchlow was awarded the 2011 Rookie of the Year award tonight at the FIM Awards Ceremony. Three riders will not be coming back to MotoGP in 2012, Loris Capirossi who is retiring, but we may see him as a Dorna safety delegate next season, Toni Elias who may return to Moto2 instead going to World Superbikes and Hiroshi Aoyama who has already has ride in WSBK.

Here’s what the rest of the riders had to say about the final race of the 2011 season at Valencia.

Andrea Dovizioso - 3rd

“I’m so happy with third place in the Championship, it’s a great achievement born from a lot hard work throughout the year. Before arriving here I knew I only had a few opportunities to arrive in front of Dani, because he has been always so fast here. Dani was faster than me also in this race weekend so I had to make a good strategy to beat him. Considering that I had a soft front tyre, I knew I couldn’t push hard for 30 laps, I tried to stop him when I was in front of him, then every time he overtook me, I tried to pass him immediately. It was a good battle and with the rain at coming with 7-8 laps to go, I wanted to push harder for the win because I’m good in these tricky conditions however, third position in the Championship was too important so I decided not to take any additional risks. Thanks to my team for these three years spent together, I’m very pleased to finish my career at Honda with third in the Championship, my best result so far in MotoGP. On the final lap I thought of Marco and in the end I succeeded here on a track where I have always struggled. Marco helped me in this challenging mission, Ciao Marco.”

Continue reading: More rider quotes from the final race of the 2011 MotoGP season

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Who would ever thought that the final race of the 800cc era would actually go to the line? Casey Stoner and Ben Spies gave fans something to watch in final laps of the Valencia race and it was the first time since the debut of the 800’s that we’ve seen a race won by a mere 0.015s margin.

For Stoner it was his first fought out win of the entire season, but for Spies it was a fantastic comeback after missing the last two GP races due to head and rib injuries and another woeful crash on Friday afternoon. Both riders will be testing their respective 1000cc machines on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“My heart was in my throat! “ said Casey Stoner. “We did such a good job all the race and then it started to rain heavily. Being the first one to arrive to the conditions on the track, I wasn’t sure how hard to push so I slowed up to ensure I finished the race and I thought if they come past I can stay with them. Then coming onto the back straight I made a slight mistake when I went into neutral instead of first gear and Ben came past me. I tried to stay with him but he was riding very well, fast and smooth and he looked confident in the conditions, more so than me. In the first half of the final lap he made a nice gap but I knew we were quick in the second half of the lap. I thought to myself, we haven’t been able to take any risks all season, this is the time to take one and see what we can do. I knew I had a better exit line out of the final turn and I kept my head down and went for the line. It’s amazing to win this on the finish line, I’ve had it done to me in the past a few times but I’ve never done it to anyone else! I’m sorry for Ben, he rode a great race, a big thanks to my team for all their hard work this year”.

Continue reading: Casey Stoner takes the risk while Ben Spies gets the paint sucked off

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We don’t know about you guys, but when we saw Alvaro Bautista go down, Valentino Rossi get trapped in the middle before sliding out together with Nicky Hayden and Randy de Puniet on the first lap, we held our breathe and offered a prayer to a more forgiving racing god that nothing serious had happened, and luckily none of the riders were injured, with Hayden picking up just some bruising to his right hand and nothing else.

An apologetic Alvaro Bautista, who will be testing his 800cc Suzuki on Tuesday - there has been no further news on Suzuki’s future in MotoGP - said “It has been a bad way to end the year, because before the race I was expecting to be fighting for the podium! In all conditions we had been fast this weekend and I thought we would have a good race today. In the first corner we all arrived together and I was between Andrea and Valentino. Unfortunately Andrea hit my front wheel with his rear tyre and I couldn’t do anything to save the crash. The worst thing was that I hit three other riders and they crashed as well, I am sorry for them and also sorry for the team and all the fans. This year has been very tough, it didn’t start very well when I broke my left femur and although we did a good job – especially in the middle of the season when I was totally fit, both mentally and physically - we haven’t finished with that many good results. I got more and more confident in the bike as the season went on and the work we have done has been amazing, we have come such a long way. Thanks to Suzuki for all they have done and thanks to my team, they work 100% in all races and I think everybody has been able to see the improvement on the track. Thanks also to everybody that has supported me and Rizla Suzuki in 2011, and now we will have to see what happens for next year.”

The last race of the season for Ducati riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino was just like their entire 2011 season, horrible and complicated. Both riders will be testing the GP12 on Tuesday and Wednesday and hopefully they’ll get the bike right and that the full and convential twin spar aluminium frame they’ll supposedly be testing will help solve their chronic front end problems.

“I felt some riders coming up the inside really fast as we approached Turn 1. Then something happened and it was just the domino effect - race over in the first corner. I’m okay other than my hand being pretty sore. It’s unfortunate. One of our bike’s strengths is generating heat in the tyres, and that’s what you need on a cold, wet track like this. Already on the warm-up lap, the bike felt good. It’s easy to say now, but I honestly feel like we could have put up a decent fight today and had some fun,” said Nicky Hayden.

Continue reading: Classic first turn crash and domino effect stops Bautista, Rossi, Hayden and de Puniet at Valencia

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As expected Casey Stoner dominated today’s MotoGP race at Valencia, as the Repsol Honda rider took off immediately saying good-bye with embarassing ease to the rest of the field, only to find an unexpected and hard charging Ben Spies pass him with two laps to go as it began raining.

The race went down to the line as Spies was looking for dry spots on the track and in the final turn Stoner came out of it better than the Texan, to power pass him on the straight to win with a mere 0.015 second margin.

Stoner took his 10th victory of this 2011 season closing the 800cc era with another epic win and taking his tally of wins in this class to an incredible 33.

Dovizioso claimed third in the championship as he took third on the podium, after battling for almost the entire race for second with team mate Dani Pedrosa, but the Spaniard suddenly and visibly began to fade and ended up in fifth behind Cal Crutchlow (4th) who took the 2011 Rookie of the Year award after Karel Abraham crashed out in front of him. The Cardion AB rider was able to rejoin and finish in 8th.

Jorge Lorenzo’s replacement rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga rode finished in sixth, ahead of an impressive Josh Hayes, who took seventh on his MotoGP debut, ahead of retiring Loris Capirossi, who was expecting much more in his final race and tribute to Simoncelli than 9th. Toni Elias was 10th in his final MotoGP race, while departing Aspar rider Hector Barbera took 11th. Hiroshi Aoyama was 12th and the last rider to cross over the finish line, in what was his last race in MotoGP before heading to World Superbikes with Ten Kate Honda.

The race immediately lost four riders at turn 1 of lap 1, when Alvaro Bautista trying to avoid hitting Andrea Dovizioso’s rear whee,l braked hard, lost traction and crashing out wiped out three Ducati’s - Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden and Randy de Puniet and none of the riders were able to rejoin the race.

Continue reading: Casey Stoner pips Ben Spies to win at Valencia by 0.015s in a decimated field

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Wet, cold and windy and this was the weather this morning at the Ricardo Tormo circuit at Valencia for MotoGP’s warm-up practice and the surprise of the morning was that AMA Superbike champion Josh Hayes who is riding for injured Colin Edwards, topped the timesheets with a best lap of 1.40.469 taking the lead after mounting slick tires in the finale of the session.

Hiroshi Aoyama was second and he grabbed his spot also on slick tires. Casey Stoner lead most of the session ended up third and more than 3 seconds off pace, but he did the entire practice as most of the riders did on rain tires and on the damp track he hammered out fast laps, taking off almost a second every time he went around the track and leaving the rest of the field playing catch-up, but unable to get even close to him.

Andrea Dovizioso who suffered a dislocated left thumb in yesterday’s qualifying session was fourth, followed by Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi with his new leathers and career tribute helmet were fifth and sixth.

Ben Spies finished ahead of Valentino Rossi with Randy de Puniet in ninth and struggling slightly and Cal Crutchlow closed out the top ten.

Continue reading: Josh Hayes leads in warm-up practice at Valencia

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Tomorrow at Valencia Loris Capirossi will be starting from 12th from the grid and it be his 328th race start and the last of his 22-year old racing career.

The 38-year old Italian will be retiring on a bittersweet note, but with three world titles (two in 125cc and one in 250cc), 29 victories, 99 podiums and 41 pole positions, he can be more than satisfied.

Capirex will be wearing these white and black leathers highlighted by the colours of the rainbow with touches of gold and debut a special edition helmet design that tributes all the rides he has had in his long career from the Ducati Desmosedici, to the Aprilia 250, the 500, 250 e 125 Honda’s and Suzuki.

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Today’s qualifying session at Valencia was the last for the 800cc era (and may we add good riddence) and as usual Casey Stoner was the top dog taking his 12th pole position of the 2011 season and while he was at it, broke his own 2008 circuit record by more than eight tenths of a second.

With Stoner’s stunning pace, tomorrow’s race will only be for second and third place spots on the podium and with weather conditions still uncertain, we could finally see a decent and hopefully entertaining race. Dani Pedrosa will want to finish ahead of Andrea Dovizioso for third place in the standings, there will be a battle to decide the 2011 MotoGP Rookie of the Year between Cal Crutchlow and Karel Abraham. Loris Capirossi will be retiring and the GP paddock will be giving their final good-byes to Marco Simoncelli, in what we expect to be a poignant and touching ceremony and we believe will draw tears from millions of racing fans around the world.

We should also have some official announcements regarding, Suzuki, Alvaro Bautista, Randy de Puniet and Hector Barbera, so it will be emotionally packed season finale, before they break out the 1000s Tuesday morning for the dawn of another MotoGP era.

Casey Stoner - 1st

“Of course I’m really happy with pole position today, I’m still hungry to win and get pole positions, after all this is why I line up to go racing, winning the Championship is the bonus at the end of the season, but I still try my best in every session and every race. I took some less risks yesterday in the wet as I didn’t feel we were making any progress in the conditions. Today was also difficult, there was a little rain in all the sessions, this morning there were some wet patches on the track and it was hard to know where to push, then the same this afternoon with some rain on the track, you’re never 100% sure how far you can push. We felt comfortable though and the feeling in the bike was pretty good, with a similar set up to the test we had here last year and we put in a good lap. Now we’ll have to see what the weather does tomorrow and take it from there, but we remain confident.”

Continue reading: MotoGP qualifying quotes from Valencia

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The entire GP community has been paying their respects to Marco Simoncelli during this Valencia weekend and after Paolo Simoncelli’s request that his son Marco be honoured with a minute of ‘casino’ by all three Grand Prix racing classes and this will now include an honour lap.

Tomorrow morning following MotoGP’s warm-up practice, at 10.10 am local time, all three categories will leave the pit lane as a group, and complete a lap of the 4.005 km Ricardo Tormo circuit in honour of Simoncelli.

1993 World Champion Kevin Schwantz who was a close friend of Simoncelli (his tribute to Marco can be read here) will don special leathers and a tribute helmet and will lead the group riding Simoncelli’s #58 Honda Gresini RC212V bike.

As the riders round the final corner of the circuit and approach the finish line they will stop just short, with local authorities and representatives of MotoGP’s governing bodies (Dorna, IRTA and the FIM) congregating on the other side of the finish line alongside Simoncelli’s family and members of the Gresini team. Paddock members are also invited to be present on track and will be able to meet in a designated area.

Once the bikes have taken up their positions on the start/finish straight a two-minute Valencian Mascletà (a traditional firecracker display) will take place.

Source | motogp.com

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Casey Stoner has the 2011 MotoGP championship title already in the bag, but the Australian is still hungry for wins as he showed it this afternoon at Valencia, when he blazed to his 12th pole position of the season, equalling the record set by five-time 500cc world champion Mick Doohan.

The weather conditions were mixed in this last ever qualifying session with the 800s, with a few drops of rain falling occasionally, but that didn’t stop the Repsol Honda rider from killing the rest of the field with a stunning and entertaining lap of 1’31.861 which left team mate Dani Pedrosa - who has won in every category at this Spanish circuit - a very distant second, and more than a massive second adrift, the alien on two wheels would later tell journalists at the parc ferme he could have gone even faster!

Ben Spies came back from his ache and pains to qualify third, just 0.182s slower than Pedrosa, but he also pipped an incredibly consistent Randy de Puniet from the front row in the final minute. This was the Pramac Ducati’s rider best qualifying session this season.

Alvaro Bautist put the wheels of his Rizla Suzuki ahead of Valentino Rossi’s and Nicky Hayden’s factory Ducatis to finish in fifth. Andrea Dovizioso in his last qualifying session with Repsol Honda crashed out on final flying lap, but he was eighth. Dovizioso is reported not to have suffered any fractures, but has problems with his thumb.

Hector Barbera had technical problems with his Aspar Ducati early in the session, but nonetheless qualified 9th and he was followed by Cardion AB Ducati rider Karel Abraham, who closed out the top ten.

Loris Capirossi will start his final MotoGP race - riding with Simoncelli’s #58 - in 12th ahead of Toni Elias and Hiroshi Aoyama. This was the last qualifying session for both Honda riders, as they’ll be leaving the MotoGP series.

Continue reading: Casey Stoner kills the field in Valencia qualifying to take his 12th pole position

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Since our post on the FP3 results disappeared, we’ve decided to post it again.
It was sunny and dry, but cold this morning during the final MotoGP free practice at Valencia and this made most of the riders happy after yesterday’s treacherous and wet conditions, and the happiest of all was Casey Stoner who dominated the session with a blazing lap of 1.32.619 and he was only rider to dip under the 1.33 mark.

Repsol Honda team mate Dani Pedrosa was second and a big 0.633s adrift. The Spaniard is looking to beat Andrea Dovizioso for third in the standings, while an amazing Randy de Puniet took third, confirming his feeling with the Ricardo Tormo circuit, both in wet and dry conditions.

An aching Ben Spies dislocated his shoulder in yesterday’s crash in FP2. Spies’ shoulder was reduced in the medical center and today was back on his factory Yamaha and was able to finish fifth.

Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden were sixth and eighth respectively, with yesterday afternoon’s pace setter Alvaro Bautista sandwiched between the two Ducatisti.

Hector Barbera and Hiroshi Aoyama closed out the top ten, but were a massive two seconds off pace.
Josh Hayes who is replacing recovering Colin Edwards, who finished tenth yesterday in the wet, today got his first taste of the Yamaha M1 in the dry, coming to grip with slick tires and carbon brakes, and he finished last, but less than four tenths of second from Toni Elias.

Continue reading: Casey Stoner dominates FP3 at Valencia

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According to Sportmediaset Premium commentators and confirmed by Andrea Iannone, the Speed Master Moto2 rider will be testing Gresini’s RC213V Honda on Tuesday during the post-season MotoGP official tests.

With Marco Simoncelli’s untimely death, Fausto Gresini has been forced to find another rider and Iannone ,who was to stay in Moto2 for another season, is now being called up to see how he handles a 1000cc bike. An Italian rider would also satisfy sponsor San Carlo. Iannone tested a Pramac Ducati GP11 at the Mugello test last July.

Other rumors coming from the Valencia paddock has Suzuki staying in MotoGP in 2012 with Alvaro Bautista as their rider with the team fielding only one bike, the same as this year and Randy de Puniet moving to LCR Honda.

More news and gossip when we hear it.

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Valentino Rossi’s AGV tribute helmet to friend Marco Simoncelli arrived yesterday afternoon and he’ll be wearing it for the rest of this Valencia GP weekend.

The graphics are sombre, with Simoncelli’s racing #58 on the front in the same red and white colours as the late Gresini’s rider helmet, while the back has the usual Rossi graphics.

Photo Source | UccioYellow46

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