Valencia MotoGP Post-Race Report: Lorenzo World Champion!
The 2015 MotoGP World Champion is Jorge Lorenzo after a stellar victory at the Valencia Grand Prix yesterday after beating Valentino Rossi to the finish line with a five-point gap. The race was not shy of controversy once again as Valentino started at the back of the grid and criticised Marc Marquez as being Lorenzo’s bodyguard whilst some of the Italian riders failed to challenge Rossi even the slightest. It was Aleix Espargaro, Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith giving it their all in order to be ahead of the nine times World Champion. The race was intense from start to finish with Rossi making an incredible start. As the lights went out, Rossi went on to the outside of the track and gained at least seven positions to start with and then progressed from there to finish in the top five.
However, the Doctor did not have the pace to get close to Lorenzo, Marquez or Pedrosa and as a result had to settle for fourth place. The Championship bid was not over until the last corner on the last lap as Marquez and Pedrosa were definitely catching Lorenzo although not fast enough to get in front. Dani tried to pass Marquez and in doing so ran wide and lost the position that allowed Lorenzo to escape further at the front. There are fans out there stating that Marquez and Pedrosa were holding off deliberately. However, this is inaccurate information and just distasteful for the sport. Shuhei Nakamoto puts it simply as stated in the Repsol Honda press release: “We are sorry that Valentino doesn’t believe this is the case, but we are certain both Marc and Dani were pushing 100% to achieve the best result for the Repsol Honda Team and all our partners as always. We cannot accept that these accusations continue to surface time after time, as this is the perception of one person - which we respect - but it is not the reality.”
Without a doubt, this season has gone down in the history books as one of the best and will continue to be a talking point for generations to come. Jorge is a deserving Champion and worked hard all year to accomplish a third world title in the premier class. Lorenzo has joined the club of x3 World Champions in motor racing including Lewis Hamilton, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts Senior and Ayrton Senna. This is an incredible achievement for Spain and the entire team that surrounds, motivates and looks after a talented rider. The tears will be flowing and the smiles endless! Lorenzo stated in the Yamaha press release “I‘ve ridden with Valentino, Marc, Casey and Dani on the track. For me these are the best riders in the 21st century. The first championship title is the first one and thus very special, but to be in the championship with these four legends on track was very important to me.” In total, Lorenzo now has five championships and 2016 is looking to be superb with Lorenzo, Rossi, Marquez and Pedrosa going for the glory. Of course, Rossi fans will be feeling the burn of not having the Doctor grab his tenth world title. What happened in Malaysia will definitely haunt Rossi for a while as he reflects upon a mistake and what could have been. Things would have been different if Rossi did not force Marquez wide at the Sepang Grand Prix and started the Valencia race from a better position. Fans will be happy and angry. This is racing and why fan clubs exist because the support for every single rider on the grid exists in one way, shape or form.
In terms of the Australian riders, Anthony West had another great race finishing and gaining more data information for the team, Broc Parkes unfortunately failed to finish, Jack Miller celebrated his last race with the LCR Honda MotoGP Team, Remy Gardner looks to have a ride in the Moto2 class for 2016 and Mark Webber was cheering them on from the sidelines at the track.
Overall, one of the rides of the day was Cal Crutchlow’s ninth place finish after starting at the back of the grid due to engine problems minutes before the start of the race. Cal did an immense job to claw back and finish in the points. Results like these boost confidence and allow the final thoughts of the 2015 season to be positive all around. The same can be said for Danny Kent who became World Champion in the Moto3 category. The British rider fought off adversity to come through and win the title with the odds against him from the beginning of the race. He darted and diced with his teammate Ono whilst Oliveira went on to win the Valencia Grand Prix but not the title. Kent will be celebrating and his family very proud after sacrificing so much for their son to become a champion! With the season done and dusted, we now look to testing and the 2016 season of MotoGP. Ladies and gentlemen, who knows what could happen and where things will be when Qatar arrives next year for the first round. We have Michelin on board and Bridgestone celebrating a solid period of performance in the sport as they exit and the new arrive. Let the games begin again!
