Casey Stoner closed the 800cc era with his tenth victory of his title-winning season, edging Ben Spies across the finish line by just 0.015s as Andrea Dovizioso claimed the final podium spot and with it third place in the final Championship standings. The race was declared dry at the start but light rain fell for much of the 30 lap duration, making conditions difficult for the riders.
Repsol Honda rider Stoner launched from pole position and into the lead off the start of the Gran Premio Gernerali de la Comunitat Valenciana, the final race of the season. Although the race was declared wet, the field all sported slick tyres in the difficult conditions that claimed the first casualties in the very first corner.
In the rush for the first corner Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki), Pramac Racing’s Randy de Puniet and both Ducati Team riders, Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi were all involved in a crash, ending the races of all four prematurely and bringing a disappointing end to the season for each.
Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa managed to avoid the incident, and with Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) – the Spaniard again absent due to injury – already holding first and second in the Championship, the scrap for third between the team-mates remained to be decided this weekend. Neither of the Repsol Honda riders showed any sign of giving way to the other as the two fought for the second spot on the podium, as well as the final Championship position, until the final laps of the race when the Spaniard slowed slightly as the slight rain fall picked up.
Ben Spies rode behind the Honda men as they battled, and on lap 23 the Texan made his move on Pedrosa for third, then put on the afterburners and closed in on Stoner, passing Dovizioso on the way to the front.
With three laps left, Stoner ran wide, letting the American through to take over the head of the race and Spies then pulled an immediate one-second gap at the front. The Yamaha man looked set to take the win, until in the very last corner of the race when the World Champion rocketed out of the final turn and passed the line just in front to claim his tenth win of the season.
The chase for the Rookie of the Year award between Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) and Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) also went down to the very last lap, with the Czech rider poised to take the honour until he fell, handing Crutchlow the title and also fourth place in the race. Abraham was able to rejoin the race to finish in eighth, ahead of Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing), who concluded the final race of his career with a ninth place having carried Marco Simoncelli’s number 58 in honour of the late Italian rider.
Fifth place went to Pedrosa, with Lorenzo’s replacement Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Yamaha Factory Racing) claiming sixth ahead of Colin Edwards’ substitute on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team, Josh Hayes. Toni Elías (LCR Honda) completed the top ten, with Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) and Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) the final race riders to complete the race.
Earlier in the day, after the MotoGP warm-up session, riders from all three categories completed a lap of honour of the circuit and then congregated on the grid for two minutes as a tribute was made to Marco Simoncelli, who lost his life in the Malaysian GP two weeks previously.
Members of the MotoGP paddock also amassed on the grid, as the 24 year-old Italian was remembered fittingly at the final round of the 2011 World Championship by a Valencian Mesclatà (firecracker) display and huge banner.
Pole position starter Michele Pirro claimed his first ever GP win in the final round of the season at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, crossing the line over six seconds ahead of Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing) who scored his first podium of the season. The result for the Gresini Team was a fitting tribute to their late MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli, and was a welcome finish to an emotional weekend.
Pirro’s team-mate Yuki Takahashi had joined him on the front row of the grid, the Japanese rider starting well and holding the lead until lap five when an unfortunate crash in the slippery conditions put and end to his race. With Pirro inheriting the lead, the battle for second between Kallio (Marc VDS Racing), Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP) ensued, with the Finn claiming second ahead of the Swiss rider Aegerter when Hernández ran off the track.
A four-way battle for behind the leaders between Anthony West (MZ Racing), Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2), Kenny Noyes (Avintia-STX) and Xavier Simeon (Tech 3 B) went to the line, with Australian West coming out on top of the pile to take fourth position ahead of American rider Noyes in fifth.
Hernández returned to the track and took sixth, with Mike di Meglio (Tech 3 Racing) seventh ahead of Simeon. Max Neukirchner (MZ Racing) and Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) completed the top ten, while World Champion Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) fell from seventh position early in the race.
Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) crossed the line 11th to claim third place in the Championship, beating De Angelis who followed the Italian across the line in 12th.
Maverick Viñales claimed his fourth victory of his rookie season in the 125cc race as Nicolas Terol was crowned the 2011 125cc World Champion by finishing second in the 24-lap race.
The final race of the two-stroke era got underway at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit with the Championship still to be decided. Danny Webb (Mahindra Racing) got a great start off his first ever pole position, holding the lead until lap two when Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar) took over from the British rider, but all eyes were on the fight for the Championship between leader Terol (Bankia Aspar) and challenger Johann Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo).
Zarco started well off the front row as Terol rode cautiously from his ninth place start, the Spaniard needing only to finish 11th or better to claim the title regardless of the Frenchman’s result. But after finishing every race in the top six this season, Zarco’s Championship hopes were dashed as he crashed out on lap three while pushing to get to the front on the race.
With first and second in the Championship decided with Zarco’s retirement, the battle for third between Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany) and Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing) was on, though it was decided before the conclusion of the race when the German rider crashed and retired at the halfway point.
The race for top three positions was then down to Viñales, Faubel and Terol, as the new Champion made his way to the front to join the fight for the win, the three trading order as they stretched the gap to the rest of the field to over five seconds. Viñales moved to the front with six laps to go, and crossed the line first to score his fourth win of his remarkable debut GP season, with Terol second and Faubel third as Terol claimed the last-ever 125cc crown which he will receive on Sunday evening along with Stoner and Bradl at the FIM Awards Ceremony.
Fourth place went to Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo), with Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) claiming fifth ahead of Alberto Moncayo (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica) in sixth. RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom placed seventh from his second row start, Finnish rider Niklas Ajo (TT Motion Events Racing) was eighth with Luigi Morciano (Team Italia FMI) and Matteoni Racing’s Louis Rossi completing the top ten.