Pedrosa takes second win of season

From motogp.com

Dani Pedrosa doubled his race-victory tally for the MotoGP season in the final race of the year with a win at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit on Sunday, as Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo completed the podium.

It was a victory on home soil for Pedrosa at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, as the Repsol Honda man enjoyed a start-to-finish win.

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 charge from his position on the front row, and after taking the first corner in the lead the Repsol Honda rider never relinquished it, sealing third spot in the overall standings in the process.

The 24-year-old had stated in the run-up to the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana that he was desperate for a win to sign off his season, and after Stoner’s crash on the warm-up lap and subsequent non-start, Pedrosa led from the front row of the grid from start to finish.

“I’m very happy with this win because I really wanted it. All through the week I was thinking only about this race,” said Pedrosa. “In practice we struggled a lot, but the team did a great job and I want to thank them for the job they did. Also to all the fans that came to the track, they supported us and it’s unbelievable. I think they enjoyed the race.

“With Casey out of the race it was easier, but in the end we had a great race so thanks again to everyone around me."

World Champion Valentino Rossi followed the Spaniard home in second place, finishing 2.630 secs. 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 0.283 secs. behind as he took third, having already sealed second spot in the Championship by virtue of Stoner’s non-start.

The Australian 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.

Stoner was left in reflective mood after the high-side spill on his warm-up lap meant he was unable to take his pole position on the grid.

It was a frustrating end to the season for the 24-year-old, who had come back from an absence due to fatigue to score a second-placed finish and two wins in his last three races.

Aiming for a third straight win in Valencia after his triumphs at Phillip Island and Sepang, a problem with the tire temperature of the Ducati Marlboro rider’s Desmosedici GP9 saw him thrown from his machine, leaving him unable to start the 17th and final Grand Prix of the 2009 campaign.

“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,” said Stoner.

“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 per cent to for such a long time.”

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-place 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-10 finishes for Rookie of the Year Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini).

Hiroshi Aoyama was crowned 250cc 2009 World Champion after taking seventh position at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana on Sunday, following an eventful race which ended with Héctor Barberá (Pepe World Team) winning the last-ever quarter-litre Grand Prix in front of his home crowd.

Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar Team) and Raffaele de Rosa (Scot Racing) completed the podium, as Barberá won by a margin of 3.663 secs. and sealed second spot in the World Championship standings ahead of Marco Simoncelli.

Scot Honda rider Aoyama survived a run-off on lap 9, which dropped him down to 11th 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.

Julián Simón and Bradley Smith were again involved in a final-lap battle for victory at Valencia, with the 125cc 2009 World Champion coming out on top for the third successive race.

It was a third straight one-two for the Bancaja Aspar team-mates as the pair put on another engrossing display which went down to the last lap. Taking their contest to the very last corner of the race, Simón managed to hold off his rival for another thrilling finish, as he eventually finished 0.220 secs. ahead.

MotoGP Race Results
1. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team Honda 46:47.553 (154.062 km/h)
2. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha +2.630
3. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha +2.913
4. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +32.515
5. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +34.585
6. Toni ELIAS (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +34.888
7. Ben SPIES (USA) Sterilgarda Yamaha Team Yamaha +37.706
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +38.364
9. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Racing Ducati +42.491
10. Alex DE ANGELIS (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +43.689
11. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP Honda +46.018
12. James TOSELAND (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +50.226
13. Aleix ESPARGARO (SPA) Pramac Racing Ducati +57.168
14. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +1:06.877
15. Chris VERMEULEN (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +1:11.701
16. Gabor TALMACSI (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda +1:14.405
17. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki +1:33.425
Did Not Start
Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati

MotoGP Final Point Standings
1. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 306
2. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha) 261
3. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 234
4. Casey STONER (Ducati) 220
5. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 161
6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 160
7. Toni ELIAS (Honda) 115
8. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 111
9. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 110
10. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki) 108
11. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 106
12. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 106
13. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati) 104
14. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 92
15. Mika KALLIO (Ducati) 71
16. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati) 38
17. Gabor TALMACSI (Honda) 19
18. Aleix ESPARGARO (Ducati) 16
19. Sete GIBERNAU (Ducati) 12
20. Ben SPIES (Yamaha) 9
21. Yuki TAKAHASHI (Honda) 9