Lorenzo ends season with victory
Added on Sunday, November 7th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Lorenzo ends season with victory
Jorge Lorenzo ended his perfect season in the ideal manner at Valencia this afternoon, with the new champion taking victory.
As expected, the finale MotoGP race of the 2010 season was a thrilling affair, with the usual suspects keen to end their season on a high. As the race got underway, Stoner immediately transferred his pole position into lead position, as everyone else slotted in behind.
Despite starting eighth, and still struggling with injury, Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa rocketed through the second place on the opening lap, whilst the FIAT Yamaha duo, Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi slipped backwards slightly.
As the opening laps developed, Nicky Hayden decided to join his Ducati teammate at the head of the field, leaping passed Pedrosa for second place. Meanwhile, after enjoying his strongest qualifying session in his MotoGP career, Marco Simoncelli held onto a strong position, fending off 2010 champion Lorenzo for the privilege.
Before long, Lorenzo made steps to progress on his position, with the young Spaniard having a look at Simoncelli. Despite catching the rear of the latter’s San Carlo Honda Gresini machine, Lorenzo managed to rescue his Yamaha. Shortly afterwards, drama struck once again, when Hayden crashed off from second place, leaving him to watch from the side lines.
After losing four places at the start of the outing, Rossi soon clawed his way back through the field. Before too long the Italian was up to third place, and soon set about chasing down Pedrosa and Stoner. Still on a charge, Rossi made up ground on his third place, when he slipped passed a seemingly struggling Pedrosa for second place. Not wanting to waste any time of his teammate, Lorenzo followed him through, quickly demoting Pedrosa to fourth place.
An in-house battle was still on the cards for the FIAT Yamaha outfit, and despite Rossi’s best efforts, Lorenzo soon battled his way through before chasing down Stoner. As the top three closed in on one another, the second half of the race became even more exciting, when the battle for honours grasped the attention of the already enthralled crowd.
With just eight laps of the 2010 season remaining, Stoner and his failing tyres became prey for Lorenzo, as the Spaniard charged passed for the lead. As the youngster soon extended his lead over Stoner, Rossi held onto third place.
Behind, the battle for fourth took over as the fight to watch, with Simoncelli, Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa scrapping for the same piece of tarmac. Before long, Ben Spies latched onto the back of this, as Pedrosa began to drop back slightly. The closing stages set the tone for the final few laps, when Spies managed to sneak passed both Simoncelli and Dovizioso for fourth, leaving the latter duo to fight over fifth and sixth.
Dovizioso eventually cemented his fifth place, ahead of Simoncelli, with Pedrosa holding onto a lonely seventh place. The battle for eighth was another bout of excitement, with a five way fight for the position being decided by the chequered flag.
Hector Barbera held onto the place, ahead of Alvaro Bautista and Randy De Puniet, with Aleix Espargaro just missing out on a top ten spot in eleventh. Colin Edwards completed his season with a twelfth place finish, whilst Marco Melandri dropped back to thirteenth. Hiroshi Aoyama and Carlos Checa completed the field, with the Spaniard struggling all weekend.
Loris Capirossi joined Hayden on the side lines, when the izla Suzuki rider returned to the pits seventeen laps from the chequered flag.
Lorenzo’s final points tally was a new record for the most points earned in a single season, with 383 points ensuring his claimed a strong championship title. Testing is due to begin in the next few days, with riders finally sampling their new bikes for the 2011 season. A podium finish gave Rossi a good yet emotional send off from his Yamaha machine, as he prepares for a new challenge at Ducati next season.
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