Stoner Wins 2011 Finale With Dazzling Drag-Race Finish

World Champion Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC212V) won a thrilling, last-gasp victory at rain-dampened Valencia this afternoon, passing rival Ben Spies (Yamaha) just one metre before the finish line to score his tenth success of the season by just 0.015s. Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) completed the podium in third place to take third overall in the 2011 MotoGP series ahead of team-mate Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) who finished the last race of MotoGP’s 800cc era in fifth position.

This last weekend of the 2011 season was a sombre affair, with the entire paddock honouring the memory of MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli who lost his life at the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks ago. Motorcycles, riding gear and team trucks all carried Simoncelli’s famous number 58 logo, and many of the tens of thousands of fans present also wore tributes to the popular Italian. Following this morning’s warm-up session all three classes – MotoGP, Moto2 and 125s – honoured the former 250 World Champion’s memory by riding a lap together behind 1993 500 World Champion Kevin Schwantz, one of Simoncelli’s childhood heroes.

“We had all the bikes out there because Marco would’ve wanted all that noise and that’s what we wanted too,” said Schwantz who rode Simoncelli’s number 58 San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V.

The race itself was run in treacherous, changeable conditions and started with a four bike pile-up at the first corner that sidelined Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki) and Ducati riders Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden and Randy de Puniet. None of the fallers sustained anything worse than bumps and bruises.

Stoner – who was crowned World Champion at last month’s Australian GP – was out front from the moment the lights went out and kept building his advantage, despite drizzle falling around much of the track. By half distance he was already 9.9s ahead and victory seemed assured. But then the drizzle turned into rain and suddenly Stoner was being caught by Spies and Dovizioso. As leader of the race, it was more difficult for the Australian to judge the conditions than for the riders chasing him. In three laps his lead had shrunk to 2.5s and with three laps remaining he was a mere three tenths ahead of Spies. The Texan pounced on the penultimate lap when Stoner hit a neutral and it seemed like Spies was going to hold a slender advantage to the flag. But halfway through the final lap Stoner decided he wasn’t prepared to accept defeat, so he started pushing harder and taking risks. By the final corner he was right behind Spies and then used the awesome acceleration of his RC212V to out-drag his rival to the finish line.

The victory was his 16th podium finish from 17 races, equalling the record held by Rossi and 2010 World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) who is still recovering from a finger injury sustained at Phillip Island three weeks ago. It has been a mostly perfect season for Stoner, whose only non-podium finish came at the soaking Spanish GP where he was taken out by Rossi.

Dovizioso and Pedrosa went into today’s season finale separated by just four points in their contest for third overall in the series and spent the first two-thirds of the race disputing second place, swapping the position on numerous occasions, while Spies watched and waited just behind. Dovizioso knows that Pedrosa is faster round this track, so he did everything in his power to overtake the Spaniard and stay ahead. Their duel was finally decided when heavier rain arrived and Pedrosa eased off. Thus Dovizioso secured third overall in his final race with Honda.

Pedrosa crossed the finish line in fifth spot, after Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) came past him on the final lap. The Spaniard – winner of the 2007 and 2009 Valencia MotoGP races – didn’t feel as comfortable as usual today, especially when the rain got heavier. He thus eased his pace to ensure a safe finish and complete the series fourth overall.

Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP RC212V) made a fantastic start from the fifth row of the grid and was lucky not to get involved in the first-corner pile-up. He ran a good, consistent pace throughout much of the race, but like many riders he struggled to find grip when the rain intensified. He finished his last race with the LCR team in tenth place.

Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) had a challenging final race in the MotoGP class, coming home 12th and last after struggling all weekend to find confidence in the difficult conditions. Andrea-Dovizioso,Dani-Pedrosa,Repsol,racing,Grand-Prix,Italy]