barrygrussell
Senior Member
The last year of the 800s in MotoGP has not been a good one. In a season which has seen processional races, too many tyre-related crashes, painful injuries and the tragic loss of Marco Simoncelli at Sepang, most of us look forward to a year of renewal with the 1000cc rules in 2012 and hope for a return to competitiveness of Valentino Rossi to stop fans drifting away from the dour dominance of Honda and Casey Stoner in the premier class.
While it feels as though the only purpose of the last round at Valencia is for the MotoGP family to pay a noble and noisy tribute to SuperSic, with the one-minute all classes rev-fest proposed by his father, there are still scores to be settled. In the Repsol Honda garage the outgoing Andrea Dovisioso will be determined to hold onto third place in the championship from Dani Pedrosa, while Ben Spies will return from injury to try to keep fifth place in the championship out of the clutches of factory Ducati duo Rossi and Hayden. The injured Colin Edwards will be replaced by AMA champion Josh Hayes, while Jorge Lorenzo, who has already clinched second place in the championship is ruled out he continues to recover from surgery to his finger injury. Yamaha’s exit from World Superbikes means that there are no obvious competitive riders to step in for the Spaniard, though many have been willing Marco Melandri’s return as a replacement.
If you are looking for excitement in the premier class you are most likely to see it in Valentino Rossi’s response to the loss of his “little brother”, while there will be still more emotion as Loris Capirossi lines up for his 328th and final world championship race.
Stefan Bradl has already clinched the Moto2 title thanks to Marc Marquez’s Sepang practice crash injuries, which prevented him from racing there and the continuing problems with his vision which rule him out of the last round. However, expect a scrap between Andrea Iannone and Alex de Angelis who are separated by just two points in the fight for third place. In the last ever 125cc championship race Nico Terol should have no problem defending his 20 point lead over Johann Zarco by 20 points, though the Frenchman will want to make a point and will be ready to capitalise on any misfortune that befalls his Spanish rival. Third place in the championship is wide open, with Sandro Cortese holding third place by two points from Maverick Vinales.
The race weekend will be followed by the traditional Valencia test which will see the manufacturers wheeling out their 1000cc prototypes as they continue their 1000cc development programmes for 2012.
While it feels as though the only purpose of the last round at Valencia is for the MotoGP family to pay a noble and noisy tribute to SuperSic, with the one-minute all classes rev-fest proposed by his father, there are still scores to be settled. In the Repsol Honda garage the outgoing Andrea Dovisioso will be determined to hold onto third place in the championship from Dani Pedrosa, while Ben Spies will return from injury to try to keep fifth place in the championship out of the clutches of factory Ducati duo Rossi and Hayden. The injured Colin Edwards will be replaced by AMA champion Josh Hayes, while Jorge Lorenzo, who has already clinched second place in the championship is ruled out he continues to recover from surgery to his finger injury. Yamaha’s exit from World Superbikes means that there are no obvious competitive riders to step in for the Spaniard, though many have been willing Marco Melandri’s return as a replacement.
If you are looking for excitement in the premier class you are most likely to see it in Valentino Rossi’s response to the loss of his “little brother”, while there will be still more emotion as Loris Capirossi lines up for his 328th and final world championship race.
Stefan Bradl has already clinched the Moto2 title thanks to Marc Marquez’s Sepang practice crash injuries, which prevented him from racing there and the continuing problems with his vision which rule him out of the last round. However, expect a scrap between Andrea Iannone and Alex de Angelis who are separated by just two points in the fight for third place. In the last ever 125cc championship race Nico Terol should have no problem defending his 20 point lead over Johann Zarco by 20 points, though the Frenchman will want to make a point and will be ready to capitalise on any misfortune that befalls his Spanish rival. Third place in the championship is wide open, with Sandro Cortese holding third place by two points from Maverick Vinales.
The race weekend will be followed by the traditional Valencia test which will see the manufacturers wheeling out their 1000cc prototypes as they continue their 1000cc development programmes for 2012.
