Valencia MotoGP 2011: Perfect ten for Casey

TRIBUTE: Marco Simoncelli was remembered all weekend in Valencia

ON A tricky and poignant weekend for motorcycle racing, Casey Stoner produced the perfect finish to win the final round of the season in Valencia.  This weekend’s events were the first chance for MotoGP to remember the life of Marco Simoncelli, the charismatic Italian who lost his life at the last event in Malaysia.  Stoner produced a finish that Marco would have been proud of, by out accelerating the Yamaha of Ben Spies out of the final corner to snatch the win by 0.015seconds.  Third place for Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso saw the Italian wrap up third place in the point’s standings.

     This morning saw a fitting tribute to Simoncelli as all the riders from MotoGP, plus junior categories went out on a parade lap to pay their respects.  Former champion, Kevin Schwartz led them out on Simoncelli’s No.58 bike.  They met Marco’s family on the grid, before on the family’s request; a fireworks display was put on by the organisers.  In his final event after 22 years in the premier class, Loris Capirossi took the No.58 plate on his Premac machine.  Many of the other riders had tributes on their bikes and racing overalls to Simoncelli, who will never be forgotten in the paddock.

      However, the show must go on, but one thing that wasn’t required was a startline accident and that’s exactly what happened.  In tricky conditions, Alvaro Bautista dropped his Suzuki in the first bend and took out Randy de Puniet and both works Ducati’s of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden.  Bautista blamed Dovizioso for squeezing him into the first bend but more importantly, it was a relief that all four riders got up from the gravel and walked away unscathed after recent events.  For Rossi, it cements him in seventh place in the finishing positions; his worst championship position since moving into the premier form of motorcycle racing in 2000. 

      Having started from his 12^th pole of the season, equalling Mick Doohan’s record yesterday, Stoner opened up a massive lead.  The crowd were entertained by a thrilling dice for second place between Honda team-mates Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa and Spies.  Pedrosa backed out of the battle when conditions worsened, mindful of not picking up another damaging injury with testing for 2012 beginning on Tuesday.  Spies, nursing injuries from a spate of recent tumbles, moved into second place and closed in on the new world champion, who was taking it easy himself in the drizzle.  With three laps to go, Stoner selected neutral by mistake, ran wide and was passed by Spies.  However he had one final attack on the exit of the final corner and the horsepower of the Honda took him over the line just ahead of the American.  Dovizioso, who has been given his marching orders by Honda next season, came home in third, pleased to beat Pedrosa in the final standings.

       Not only did he take the rookie of the year prize, but Cal Crutchlow held off Karel Abraham and a slowing Pedrosa to take a career best fourth place finish.  In desperation to beat the fellow newcomer, Abraham crashed on the last lap, but still remounted to finish eighth.  An emotional Capirossi came through to finish ninth in his final motorcycling event, which has seen him finish with 329 Grand Prix, 99 podiums, 29 wins and 3 world championships, nine of those victories coming in MotoGP.

     For many personnel within MotoGP, 2011 will be a season that will never be forgotten, sadly for the wrong reasons.  Casey Stoner's dominance is my personal highlight and the struggles of Valentino Rossi surprised me.  However, it will be the legacy that Marco Simoncelli has left on motorcycling racing and his presence in the paddock will be sorely missed by everyone.  Hopefully, 2012 will produce a stronger and happier season for all.


Ciao Marco!

Australia MotoGP 2011: Super Stoner seals title on home soil

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 26^th 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.

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.

Aragon MotoGP 2011: Clinical Casey edges closer

ANOTHER Spanish event in the 2011 MotoGP championship happened at the weekend and it was another win for Casey Stoner.  The Australian’s eighth win of the season moves the Australian 44 points clear of the gallant Jorge Lorenzo, as he edges closer to his second title.

DOMINANT: Stoner took another victory to edge closer

      Stoner took his ninth pole position of the season in qualifying, but made a poor getaway and was overwhelmed by Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa and the second Yamaha of Ben Spies.  Further back, Karel Abraham had a nasty looking accident, as his bike flipped and hit his back.  Luckily, Abraham walked away from the gravel pit, whilst the unlucky Randy de Puniet did extremely well to miss the flying machinery.  Unfortunately, his evasive action meant a trip through the gravel, which ruined his race efforts.

     However, Stoner was back in the lead by the end of the first circuit and a silly error from Spies in the final corner handed Pedrosa second spot.  Meanwhile, the third Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso crashed out early on; his first retirement since another Spanish event, in Jerez back in March.  The early passing was produced by Marco Simoncelli, who seems to have calmed down from his early season antics.  He overhauled Nicky Hayden, Lorenzo and Spies in quick succession to snatch third position.  However, his good work came to nought two laps later, when the Italian ran wide and allowed both Yamaha’s past him.  After a fairly lacklustre race, Lorenzo woke up and finally got on terms with his team-mate Spies to claim third place with ten laps to go.  However, it was too late to get on terms with the dominant Honda’s. 

     Having announced his retirement from motorcycling at the end of the season, the enigmatic Loris Capirossi certainly wants to leave the sport on a high, but he is having a nightmare swansong.  He crashed into the back of Toni Elias and took both riders out.  In the process of crashing out, Capirossi picked up a shoulder injury, which rules him out of next weekend’s rescheduled MotoGP event in Motegi, Japan.

     Having started from the pitlane following an engine change, Valentino Rossi fought upto ninth position, but was passed by Britain’s Cal Crutchlow in the closing stages.  It left Rossi down in tenth; his worst finish of the season.  Despite his pitlane start, he will be disappointed to finish behind team-mate Hayden, who was seventh and the customer Ducati of Hector Barbera in eighth. 

     Out infront, Stoner cruised to another victory, seven seconds clear of Pedrosa.  Lorenzo finished third, ahead of Spies and Simoncelli.  However, he knows victory in Motegi is now imperative if he wants to maintain any hope of producing a remarkable comeback as this MotoGP season enters the finishing straight.

San Marino MotoGP 2011: Lorenzo keeps the battle alive

OFF: Lorenzo speeds into the distance from the go in Misano

WORLD champion Jorge Lorenzo showed supreme quality to defeat the Repsol Honda's and win Sunday's round of the MotoGP season, at Misano.  Held under the title of San Marino, Lorenzo took the lead from the start and was never headed to lead home Dani Pedrosa and championship leader Casey Stoner in a fairly processional race.

     Stoner started on pole position for the eighth time this season and looked odds-on favourite for a fourth successive win, which surely would put any thoughts of back-to-back championships for Lorenzo out of any thought.  However, recent races seemed to take their toll on the Australian, who produced his weakest race since finishing a distant third in Portugal at the beginning of May.  The build-up to the weekend was dominated by the news that Colin Edwards is to leave the Tech 3 Yamaha team at the end of the season, whilst the likeable Loris Capirossi will stop racing altogether at the end of the season.

     At the start of the race, Lorenzo jumped straight into the lead, with Stoner backing off, clearly thinking of championship implications.  Pedrosa made an average start and only just held off a forceful Ben Spies on the opening lap.  Meanwhile, Marco Simoncelli began to recover from a poor start, as he produced a rude pass on 'The Doctor,' Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso to take fourth place.  At half-distance, Lorenzo started to pull away, with a series of blistering fast laps to pull away from Stoner.  

     By now, Stoner was struggling with his fitness levels and a dodgy tyre choice.  Pedrosa reeled him in and last year's Misano winner went through with six laps to go.  With the top three positions sewn up by the closing stages, the fans were thrilled to watch a three-way dice for fourth between Simoncelli, Dovizioso and Spies.  They were three abreast at one point on the final lap, with Simoncelli hanging onto fourth.  Seventh place was the best Rossi could achieve on one of his home circuits and Cal Crutchlow got another much-needed finish.  Crutchlow finished tenth, three places ahead of team-mate Edwards.

      With a 35 point lead and five races remaining, it is still Casey Stoner's championship to lose, but Jorge Lorenzo isn't giving up without a fight and Misano proved just why he is world champion. 

Indianapolis MotoGP 2011: Supreme Stoner marches on

CASEY Stoner continued his seemingly supreme routine march towards the 2011 MotoGP championship, with another dominant victory at Indianapolis last weekend.  It was his seventh win from 12 starts, his third in a row and extended his point’s advantage over his only title rival, Jorge Lorenzo to 44 points.

     On a baking day at the home of American motorsport, Stoner began on pole position and showed his supreme machinery advantage over the Yamaha of Lorenzo.  Unsurprisingly, he fell behind team-mate and traditional fast-starter Dani Pedrosa into the first corner.  Lorenzo briefly took second, but the first lap was a nightmare for American hero Ben Spies.  Spies, starting on the front row of the grid bogged down and got squeezed out of the first few bends, first by fellow American Nicky Hayden and then by Marco Simoncelli.  Spies dropped to tenth and his victory hopes were dashed from there.

     The Honda power of Stoner saw him coast past Lorenzo on lap three and four laps later, had reeled in Pedrosa, completing the pass into the first corner.  After that, it was a demonstration performance from the two Repsol Honda bikes.  Meanwhile, Spies provided most of the overtaking action as he recovered to produce forceful passes on Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso.  With 11 laps to go, the local man was fourth and closing in on a lonely Lorenzo.  Team-mates they may be and Lorenzo might be the one going for the championship, but nothing was going to deny Spies, as he overhauled the reigning champion to take the final spot on the podium.

DOMINANT: Casey Stoner continues his rich vein of form

    With pole position and the lap record to boot, Stoner secured his 30^th MotoGP victory to win by over four seconds.  Further back, both Hayden and Simoncelli fell back drastically with tyre problems.  Hayden had to retire, whilst Simoncelli slipped from a promising fourth to an unwelcome twelfth.  Dovizioso had a clean race on the third of the works Hondas to finish fifth and there was a very encouraging performance from Alvaro Bautista to record a sixth place finish for Suzuki.  Valentino Rossi finished a very distant tenth for Ducati and there was a long overdue finish for Britain’s Cal Crutchlow, who came home in eleventh.

     With only six events remaining, it is looking more and more difficult for Jorge Lorenzo to close the gap, which is becoming more like an avalanche.  Casey Stoner is looking impossible to beat, and now has one hand on the MotoGP crown.  Can anyone stop him in the remaining races?  On the evidence of Indianapolis, it’s hard to see how anyone can.

Dutch MotoGP 2011: Brilliant Ben dominates Assen TT

AMERICAN Ben Spies destroyed the opposition to win the famous Dutch TT at Assen on Saturday afternoon.  Spies took full advantage of another costly crash from Marco Simoncelli to record his maiden win in the premier class of motorcycling.  He is the first rider who came from World Superbikes to win a round of MotoGP since Troy Bayliss triumphed at the 2006 season finale in Valencia.

     Practice and qualifying was held in tricky weather conditions and all three Honda works riders had accidents in the early moments of qualifying.  Despite this, Casey Stoner still lined up on the front row, behind Simoncelli, who showed his raw pace against and Spies.  Yamaha were portraying a different colour scheme, to celebrate their 50^th year of Grand Prix racing.  Spies took off the startline fastest, but Simoncelli’s habit of crashing to the tarmac continued to haunt him at the third bend of the race.

     Like in Estoril, he pushed too hard on cold tyres and dropped his bike, taking out world champion Jorge Lorenzo.  Both managed to remount, but they lost loads of ground on the leaders.  The drama continued on the opening couple of circuits, with crashes from Karel Abraham and Randy de Puniet.  Abraham broke his little finger in his accident, whilst de Puniet’s tumble was the last thing the Premac team needed, as Loris Capirossi had crashed earlier in the weekend.  The veteran Italian fractured his shoulder, which ended his participation in the event early. 

MARGIN: Spies built up a healthy advantage throughout

     In all the confusion, Spies opened up a solid advantage over Stoner, enough to allow him to cruise through a dull second half of the event.  Stoner seemed content to settle for second, knowing that he was beating his title rival Lorenzo and extending his points advantage.  The only other incident of significance was a tyre problem for Cal Crutchlow.  Crutchlow, who qualified a tremendous sixth on the grid, despite having had major surgery on his collarbone earlier in the week, was a brilliant fifth when the rear Bridgestone tyre destroyed itself and forced him into the pits.

     Andrea Dovizioso continued his consistent run of points finishes, ending up third, whilst Valentino Rossi came up to fourth from a lowly 11^th on the grid, on a brand new Ducati bike.  Lorenzo did brilliantly to recover to sixth, behind the second Ducati of Nicky Hayden.  Colin Edwards was seventh, ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama, who had an unspectacular run on the third of the works Honda bikes.  Dani Pedrosa, still mysteriously missing is expected back in the saddle for the Italian round at Mugello this weekend.  A devastated Simoncelli came back to ninth, but faces a race ban, if he doesn’t calm down on his over-exuberant riding. 

    This was a deserved win for Ben Spies and it was nice to see a different winner in MotoGP, but ultimately, the big winner again was Casey Stoner, who extended his already healthy margin at the top of the championship.   

Catalunya MotoGP 2011: Another cruise and collect for Casey

SPRAYING: Stoner sprays the bubbly after a comfortable win

AUSTRALIAN Casey Stoner closed the gap on Jorge Lorenzo at the top of the MotoGP standings, after cruising to victory in Catalunya.  It is the Repsol Honda’s third win of the 2011 season from five starts, and he now only trails defending champion Lorenzo by seven points.

     Stoner dominated the entire weekend, but was pipped to pole position in the dying stages of qualifying by a fired-up Marco Simoncelli.  The charismatic Italian earnt his first MotoGP pole position, but was never a factor in the race.  Simoncelli was gobbled up on the rundown to the first corner and then rode a rather low-key ride to sixth place; probably best for him after all the controversy of the recent races.

     Once again, Lorenzo won the race to the first corner, but the power of the Honda saw Stoner overhaul the Yamaha rider on the start-finish straight at the beginning of the second lap.  Although Lorenzo was able to keep him in touch for the majority of the race, Stoner never looked like he was going to be beaten.  Injuries continue to decimate the field in the premier class of motorcycling.  Dani Pedrosa was declared unfit to ride following the clash with Simoncelli in Le Mans last month, which saw the frail Spaniard suffer a fractured collarbone.  Colin Edwards would join him on the casualty list.  The ‘Texan Tornado,’ went down heavily in practice, and despite being desperate to race, was told not to on medical grounds.  It was the first race the American missed since he broke into MotoGP in 2003.

     Behind Stoner and Lorenzo, Ben Spies earnt his first rostrum as a factory Yamaha rider.  2011 has been a tricky season for Spies, as he has struggled to provide consistency and a stern challenge to his highly-rated team-mate.  Hopefully, Barcelona is a turn in the right direction for him.  The second Honda of Andrea Dovizioso was beaten into fourth place, despite his best efforts to overcome his equivalent in the Yamaha team.  Ducati’s Valentino Rossi was a solid fifth, ahead of Simoncelli, Britain’s Cal Crutchlow and the sister Ducati of Nicky Hayden.  It was another bad day for Randy de Puniet.  The likeable Frenchman was taken out in the early stages by Hiroshi Aoyama.  Fortunately, both got up from the gravel pit unhurt.

     Already, the 2011 MotoGP season is starting to look like a battle between two men for the title.  Silverstone this weekend should be interesting. . .