MotoGP 2015 Valencia Results

The record books will show thatJorge Lorenzo’s win today, together withValentino Rossi’s 4th place finish, gave the 2015 championship to Lorenzo by five points. There will be documentation attesting to the fact that Valentino Rossi passed 20 riders in the first 10 laps, ultimately making it up to 4th place on the grid, at which point he was spent.

There will be no explanation, visual or otherwise, why either of theRepsolHondasdidn’t give Lorenzo a serious go on the last two laps; the term “team orders” has ceased to exist. The three points given Rossi by Race Direction after Sepang were, in the end, decisive.

The bells are not ringing in Tavullia tonight.

Everyone know Rossi would be starting from the back row. Everyone had done the math about where Rossi would arrive when. Lorenzo knew, as we all knew, that winning the race meant Rossi’s eventual placement was less of a concern; anything outside of second would put the Italian in 2nd place for the season.

Thus, on a Honda-friendly track, in front of a sellout crowd and millions watching on TV around the world, Jorge Lorenzo exerted his will upon the field and his top competitors to win in Valencia. In a must-win situation he showed us his mental toughness and again brings into question why he bothered to get involved in the Rossi/Marquez tiff. Had he floated above the controversy, his title would shine a lot brighter than it does. He reminds me of my wife’s strong suggestion that I never resist an opportunity to keep my mouth shut.

…The Usual Suspects took their places, Lorenzo followed closely by Marquez, Pedrosa trailing and, eventually, Rossi occupying fourth, unable to do anything about the action so far in front of him. For Rossi to claim the title, he needed both Marquez and Pedrosa to treat Lorenzo rudely, going through to put the Mallorcan in third place.

Amazingly, Lorenzo led Marquez and Pedrosa at the end of Lap 1 and at the end of Lap 30, without having to withstand a serious challenge of any import along the way. This oddity, which also resulted in an all-Spanish podium, is a little fishy. The casual observer, if the top three wore the same livery, might deduce that #93 and #26 were protecting the back of #99. The world will never know.

The worst part of all of this, as we know, is that the specific sanction imposed upon Rossi by Race Direction after Sepang had a direct bearing on the outcome of the season. What if Race Direction had, in its wisdom, assessed Rossi a two point penalty, slapping him on the wrist but allowing him to qualify? Is it that hard to see him finishing second from a second row start on a day the factory Hondas were not getting froggy?

And with triple world champion Lorenzo in effect criticizing the penalty as too lenient, is there any reason to suppose the team won’t be building a wall down the middle of the garage again in 2016, the way it did in 2009? No warm and fuzzies here.

Pol Espargarolashed hisMonster Tech 3Yamahato the line three seconds in front of teammateBradley Smithto capture fifth place for the day, Smith just showingAndrea Doviziosoand hisDesmosedicithe shade.Aleix Espargarobrought his factorySuzukiacross the line in eighth, withCal CrutchlowandDanilo Petruccibringing theLCR Hondaand thePramacDucati, respectively, to the flag filling out the top ten.

Farther down the food chain,Maverick Vinales,Michele PirroandYonny Hernandezended their year in the points. Vinales will continue with Suzuki in 2016, Pirro will continue to test for Ducati, and Hernandez moves to theAsparteam but will remain on the junior class Ducati, teaming up withEugene Laverty. Today, in his last MotoGP start, AmericanNicky Haydenfinished 17th and out of the money, but he finished, as has been declared a MotoGP Legend, with three career wins and a championship to show for his body of work in the premier class. I hope one of the genuine nice guys in the industry can find a competitive team and win a title inWSBK.

阿尔瓦罗·包蒂斯塔andStefan Bradlfinished 14th and 18th today, and will begin practicing on the newApriliaMotoGPbike on Tuesday in Jerez. BritScott Reddingended his generally fruitless association withMarc VDS Hondaand will be suiting up for Pramac Ducati alongside Petrucci. (Scott, wouldn’t it have been easier just to lose 15 pounds?) Marc VDS will, in 2016, be bringingTito Rabatup fromMoto2to ride alongsideJack Miller.Loris Bazwill join top open class riderHector BarberaatAvintia Ducati.

So, Lorenzo edges Rossi for the title, with Marquez third and Pedrosa fourth; the Aliens remain unchallenged.Andrea Iannoneoutpoints Smith by seven to claim fifth, with Brit the top satellite rider in sixth. Dovizioso slips to seventh place for the year, ahead of Crutchlow in eighth. AndPol Espargaropips Petrucci by a single point in the race for ninth place. The two Suzukis finish 11th and 12th, Espargaro outpointing his rookie teammate by eight.

The Marquez-Rossi flap this season has exposed some weakness in the relationship between teams and sponsors, with some sponsors seizing upon the opportunity to back out of agreements going forward. Repsol is having a terrible year, courtesy of cheap crude oil prices, and was offended by the event, as was Honda, as was Movistar, as was Yamaha. There is no reason to expect that these types of incidents won’t continue to occur in the coming years.

Indianapolisis gone from the calendar, replaced byAustria, and the calendar is lengthened by a week. Testing this week atJerezmarks the beginning of next season, new bums on new seats. New tires. New electronics.

Each year, we try to find a quote that summarizes the season we’ve just seen. Without even doing the research, I recalled a statement from a movie several years ago that I believe sums up 2015 for Jorge Lorenzo. Heading into the season, there was faint hope that he would be able to compete with Marquez. As Marquez faltered, Rossi rallied, and Lorenzo was in a season-long dogfight.

There were plenty of points in the season where Lorenzo could have given up. In response to one, he went on a four race win streak. He kept it close until the very last week of the season, and had enough left to seize the day when the opportunity presented itself. He kept the faith.

It could have been Jorge Lorenzo that the young proprietor of theBest Exotic Marigold Hotelwas speaking about when he observed,

We look forward to bringing you MotoGP again next season.