THE race for the 2011 MotoGP championship is over and it ended in style for Casey Stoner. On home soil, he took the race win in Australia to seal his second title, four years after his last success on a Ducati. It is his sixth victory in Phillip Island, giving him an unassailable lead over former champion, Jorge Lorenzo in the standings.
Lorenzo didn’t race and will also miss this weekend’s event in Malaysia, after a nasty crash in the closing stages of Sunday’s warm-up session. He came off his Yamaha at high speed, badly injuring his hand and was declared unfit to start. With Ben Spies missing the event too, after he crashed heavily during qualifying on Saturday, the works Yamaha team had little to do for the race. Lorenzo’s forced non-participation meant sixth or better was good enough for Repsol Honda rider Stoner, the class of the field in 2011 and that never looked in doubt.
On his 26th birthday, he cleared into the distance from pole position. Attention quickly turned to a fierce battle for second place between Nicky Hayden, Marco Simoncelli, Alvaro Bautista’s Suzuki and Andrea Dovizioso. Simoncelli eventually won this dice, before a bright sunny day turned into a damp event, as the unpredictable Phillip Island weather once again made sure all riders would have to keep their wits about them. One who didn’t was Valentino Rossi, who passed Bautista, then promptly fell off to record his second successive DNF in what has been an incredibly frustrating season for The Doctor. Later on, Bautista also became a victim of the tricky conditions, throwing away a certain fourth place.
Ahead of them, Dani Pedrosa, who’d, had a very quiet weekend by his high standards, started to pressure Dovizioso for the final podium spot. Eventually, Dovizioso, who is off to Tech-3 Yamaha for next season pulled clear of his team-mate and homed in on Simoncelli. The pair entertained the excited crowd, having a clean and fierce fight in the dying stages for second. By this stage, Stoner was already coasting towards another victory, his ninth of a dominant season to join a prestigious list of riders to have won two MotoGP titles. Simoncelli held off Dovizioso’s late attack to finish second on his Gresini Honda; his best ever finish in the series. Pedrosa trailed in a distant fourth, whilst both Colin Edwards and Randy de Puniet made the most of the unpredictable Australian micro-climate to finish fifth and sixth respectively.
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| CLASS: Stoner has shown himself to be the main man in 2011 |
Australia and the motorcycling world has to hail Casey Stoner, who has shown this season, that with the top machinery in the paddock, he can win races and take titles for fun and I’d be surprised if this wasn’t his last championship. The Repsol Honda team has been the class act and Yamaha and Ducati can’t make up any excuses. They must respond in style over the winter, or Stoner and Honda will crush the opposition again. Congratulations to Casey on a deserved 2011 MotoGP championship.
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