THE 2011 MotoGP season came to a conclusion in Valencia during last weekend and for many, it will be a season to forget. Casey Stoner’s sensational domination will be remembered, as will the surprising struggles of Valentino Rossi at Ducati, but it was tragedy that will sadly be the overriding memory of the season.
 |
| LOST: The life of Marco Simoncelli will not be forgotten |
Marco Simoncelli’s death at the penultimate race in Malaysia brought worldwide shock to the paddock and the whole of motorsport. His accident was a freakish one and it is a sight that no-one will want to see again for a long time. The Italian was a flamboyant rider, a charismatic man who was full of flair and nothing was the ordinary for him. He was coming into his prime within the sport, putting together a string of consistent finishes. Let’s be honest, he didn’t do quiet. His first podium in Brno was one of the highlights of the season and his ride to second place in Phillip Island a week before the fateful events in Malaysia underlined his quality. The early season madness of Jerez, Estoril and Silverstone was nothing more than a distant memory. The sport has been denied one of its greatest talents, but Marco’s legacy will remain for a long time. Ciao Marco!
However, sport moves on and a broken Gresini team have gone onto name Alvaro Bautista as Simoncelli’s replacement for next season. Bautista has ended a two year stint at Suzuki, which was plagued by far too many injuries and accidents. When he stayed on the bike, he showed his potential as a young talent coming through, underlined by a fifth place finish at Silverstone, but he made too many rash mistakes this campaign. Bautista wasn’t the only rider to end up disappointing this campaign. The Premac Ducati team had a nightmare season, with Randy de Puniet often finishing in the gravel and Loris Capirossi sadly soldering on through his final season in motorcycling. At times, Hector Barbera outperformed the works Ducati’s with some excellent qualifying performances, but at other occasions, he disappeared into thin air. Ultimately, his campaign will have to go down as a major disappointment.
To be honest, Ducati had a miserable season altogether. The team only managed two podiums all season. Nicky Hayden came a fortunate third in the rain-affected Jerez event, whilst Valentino Rossi benefited from a controversial clash between Dani Pedrosa and Simoncelli in Le Mans to also net a third place result. Their season ended miserably; both riders in the gravel in turn one in Valencia and Hayden missing the final season test through a fractured wrist. Hayden’s season was a struggle, but he outqualified Rossi more often than not and got the bulk of Ducati’s strongest results, as third in Jerez and fourth at Silverstone would underline. I was very surprised by Rossi’s struggles this season. The Ducati is a very hard machine to set up and riders such as Marco Melandri and Hayden have struggled in the past, but Rossi really couldn’t seem to adapt as much as I thought he would. Taking Stoner down in Jerez was one of the most dramatic moments of the season, but showed the issues he had with the frontend of the bike. Plus, similar incidents later in the season would point that fact out. Seventh place in the final standings is his worst performance since 2000 and The Doctor has a lot of soul searching to do over the course of the winter.
Rossi’s replacement at Yamaha was the American, Ben Spies. Spies produced a dominant performance in Assen to register his first MotoGP victory. He also was a fine third at his home event in Indianapolis and nearly recorded another triumph in the final event at the weekend, but for poor traction off the final corner. However, he will be glad for the break, having been battered and bruised throughout. Spies crashed out in Portugal, Silverstone and Jerez and practice accidents ruled him out of the Australian and Malaysian events. On his day, he proved his worth as a top rider, but was missing the consistency that Yamaha required. Defending champion Jorge Lorenzo put up a brave fight throughout the season, on a bike that was nowhere near the fastest. He won three times in 2011 and although he inherited the Jerez win, when Stoner and Simoncelli crashed, he put in some memorable performances to win against the odds, most notably in Mugello, on a Honda powered circuit. However, his crash in the rain of Silverstone saw him lose the early advantage he built up in the championship and he would never regain it. A nasty crash in warm-up for the Australian event saw Lorenzo’s finger needing surgery to prevent amputation and ended his charge three races early. His class in 2011 did show through, and he will be keeping his remaining fingers crossed that Yamaha produce a better package for him next season. On the customer Tech-3 bikes, Colin Edwards claimed a memorable podium at Silverstone, only eight days after breaking his collarbone in a practice accident for the Catalunya round. Sadly, he was involved in the accident that claimed Simoncelli’s life and only time will tell next season to see how the Texan Tornado has been affected. Rookie Cal Crutchlow was another rider to have his fair share of spills, but raced brilliantly at the final event in Valencia to secure fourth place, his best finish of a solid year, even if his promise was at times, unfulfilled.
This leaves us with the Repsol Honda riders. Dani Pedrosa suffered another injury-hit season and mysteriously disappeared from the action when he tangled with Simoncelli at Le Mans. He broke his collarbone, but seemed to take longer than what was needed to return to racing. Then, it was the same old story from Pedrosa, producing some stunning performances which brought victories in Portugal and Germany, along with times where he didn’t look interested such as Australia. Although he didn’t win a round, Andrea Dovizioso produced a very consistent season, with many podiums and very few accidents. He might have been the slowest of the works Honda riders, but fully deserved third place in the championship. He has been dropped for 2012, but Honda’s loss will be Tech-3 Yamaha’s gain and Crutchlow will know that he must raise his game against the talented Dovizioso next season.
However, the final word belongs to the dominant champion. Casey Stoner left Ducati behind, as he was convinced that they didn’t have the necessary equipment to fulfil his needs. The way Rossi has struggled to handle the bike suggests that the Australian must have been doing minor miracles in recent seasons. On a Honda, he looked totally at ease and incredibly formidable. From the moment he cruised to victory in the Qatar season opener, there was never any doubt he was going to end up as the no.1 at the end of the season. When he could win, he would win and when the points were needed, he took the points such as second in Assen and third places in both Mugello and Portugal. He is a deserved champion and a brilliant rider and the rest have a lot to do if they are to match him in 2012.
FINAL POINTS
 |
| Casey Stoner - The 2011 MotoGP world champion |
Casey Stoner 350, Jorge Lorenzo 260, Andrea Dovizioso 228, Dani Pedrosa 219, Ben Spies 176, Marco Simoncelli 139, Valentino Rossi 139, Nicky Hayden 132, Colin Edwards 109, Hiroshi Aoyama 98, Hector Barbera 82, Cal Crutchlow 70, Alvaro Bautista 67, Karel Abraham 64, Toni Elias 61, Randy de Puniet 49, Loris Capirossi 43, Katsuzuki Nakasunga 10, Josh Hayes 9, Kousake Akiyoshi 7, John Hopkins 6, Shinchi Ito 3
No comments:
Post a Comment