The Australian of the Repsol Honda Team wins by only 15 thousandths. Andrea Dovizioso, third, accompanies him in the podium and Dani Pedrosa finishes fifth.
The MotoGP World Championship finished in the same way it started, with a victory for Casey Stoner. The Australian of the Repsol Honda Team finished an excellent season with a well-deserved victory at the Comunitat Valenciana Grand Prix. The third step of the podium was for his team mate Andrea Dovizioso, who this way secured the third position in the final classification, while Dani Pedrosa reached the finish line in fifth.
He started the year winning the first Grand Prix, Qatar’s, and today he succeeded again in the last round of the season. Casey Stoner, the 2011 MotoGP World Champion was able to match his own personal most victories record in one year —10 in 2007— at the Ricardo Tormo. Starting from the first position of the grid, Stoner was able to built some advantage in the first laps. His pace could not be matched by his team mates, Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso, the two first riders to try to catch him. His advantage increased up to ten seconds.
In the last part of the race, the rain started to fall on the Valencian track and differences were reduced. The Aussie saw 3 laps from the end how a brave Ben Spies, who arrived from the fourth position, overtook him and led the last laps. Stoner was at his wheel, keeping a sensible distance despite Spies attempts to escape and finally overtook the American in the finish line, with a difference of only 15 thousandths.
His team mates, Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa, had one of the most thrilling duels of the race. From the second lap, both riders overtook each other all the time, and only the rain prevented to see the battle last until the end of the race. The Italian gathered his second consecutive podium and secured the third place in the final classification of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship.
This morning, the three riders of the Repsol Honda Team participated in the lap of honour and the minute of roar that the World Championship organized as a tribute to Marco Simoncelli. The Repsol rider Marc Márquez did not want to miss that tribute that all the motorcycling family wanted to give to the Italian rider at the Valencian track.
With this Comunitat Valenciana Grand Prix, the Repsol Honda Team puts an end to an excellent season where the whole team, together with Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso, achieved three World Championships, the riders’, the constructors’ and the teams’. From Tuesday, and also in Cheste, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa will start to prepare the 2012 season with the new 1000cc RC213V.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
5th at 9.321 sec.
“It wasn’t an easy race. I did my best, trying hard but I wasn’t feeling good on the bike, I was rigid and didn’t ride very well. But especially in the end with more water on the track I struggled a lot as in Australia, so this is something I will try to improve with my riding in the future. I had a good battle with Andrea [Dovizioso] and in the last laps I lost a place to Cal Crutchlow, but I couldn’t do any more. Andrea and I were on a soft front tyre and we were maybe struggling a little more than Ben or Cal who were on a hard front, but it’s not an excuse. I just want to move forward and think about next year and the test we have on Tuesday. It has been a tough year, but we will try to take the positives from here and be optimistic for the 2012”.
Andrea Dovizioso >> Audio
3rd at 5.936 sec.
“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 [Simoncelli] and in the end I succeeded here on a track where I have always struggled. Marco helped me in this challenging mission, Ciao Marco”.
Casey Stoner >> Audio
1st – 48:18.645
“My heart was in my throat! 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 [Spies] 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”.
