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HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Valencia Grand Prix, Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia
Race day, Sunday November 8 2009

Crowd: 94,177
Weather: sunny, cool and windy
Ambient temperature: 19 degrees
Track temperature: 29 degrees

PEDROSA AND HONDA WIN FINAL 2009 MotoGP RACE, AOYAMA AND HONDA MAKE 250 HISTORY

Honda enjoyed a great 2009 season finale at Valencia today with Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) winning the MotoGP race in dominant style and Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) securing the last-ever 250 World Championship. It was a fitting climax to the season that marked Honda's 50th anniversary of Grand Prix racing.

Pedrosa was in awesome form. He led from start to finish, leaving his rivals struggling to match his pace during the 30 lap event run in cool, windy conditions. Starting from the front row of the grid the local hero took just three laps to open a 2.1 second gap over his pursuers, using the speed of his RC212V to maximum advantage (Pedrosa was fastest through the start/finish speed trap at 316.6km/h). At one stage he was 4.4 seconds in front of closest challenger Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), finally crossing the line 2.6 seconds ahead of the Italian who just bettered team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.

Pedrosa's second victory and 11th podium of the year gave him third in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship. The only man who could have beaten him to third overall was Casey Stoner (Ducati), but the Australian didn't even make the start after sliding off during the warm-up lap. Cool conditions made the track quite treacherous throughout the weekend.

Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) took a hard-fought sixth-place finish, just behind Nicky Hayden (Ducati). Elias made a lightning fast start from the third row of the grid to complete the first lap in second place. The Spaniard didn't quite have the pace to stay there, however, and gradually slipped back to spend much of the race battling with Hayden. Nevertheless Elias did enough to secure seventh place in the championship, just in front of team-mate Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini).

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) started from the fourth row after a difficult qualifying session but wasn't daunted by the task ahead of him. The Italian was 14th after one lap, and then he started working his way through the pack, even though Valencia isn't the kind of track that makes overtaking easy. During the mid-stages of the race he was in a five-man group fighting for seventh position. Eventually Dovizioso fought his way to the front of that group and spent the last third of the race battling back and forth with recently crowned World Superbike Ben Spies (Yamaha). Spies prevailed, crossing the finish line just sixth tenths ahead of Dovizioso who finished less than six seconds off fourth place.

De Angelis and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) took 11th and 12th. De Puniet ran well during the early stages, holding sixth place between Colin Edwards (Yamaha) and Hayden, but began to have some rear-grip issues in left-handers; a real problem on an anti-clockwise racetrack. De Angelis also found the going quite slippery, but chased Mika Kallio (Ducati) all the way, finishing less than a second behind the Finn.

Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) had a tough race, finishing 16th, less than three seconds off final points scorer Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki).

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SEASON ENDS WITH CONTRASTING FORTUNES FOR STONER AND HAYDEN AT VALENCIA

The Ducati Marlboro Team concluded its 2009 MotoGP World Championship with contrasting fortunes for its two riders, as Nicky Hayden ended the season on a high with a hard-fought fifth place but Casey Stoner was left empty handed following a crash on the warm-up lap. Stoner came into the race with back-to-back wins and was a strong contender to make it a hat-trick following a dominant performance in practice. However, the grid strategy used by the team for the last two years proved to have a weak point today and the Australian's tyres were not up to the right temperature, leading him to crash.

"Obviously this is a frustrating and disappointing way to finish the season. There have been plenty of highs and lows throughout the year and we have ended on a low, but with another lesson learnt for next season. We have had this strategy for two years and not had a problem until today so I guess it is better it happened here than in the first race of next season in Qatar! The important thing is that after back-to-back wins in Australia and Malaysia we have shown our pace here at Valencia and we know we have everything in place to be competitive next season if we do the job right over the winter. Now I am looking forward to working on the bike over the next three days and then spending a couple of months building up my physical fitness, which I haven't been able to dedicate myself 100% to for such a long time. We know it will be hard next year but we are confident that we can be back and fighting again. I want to give my personal thanks to everybody in the team - to Filippo and everybody at Ducati Corse for giving me a bike that was competitive even when I wasn't and for working to make sure it was firing on all cylinders when I came back. I also want to thank Livio Suppo, who is leaving the team, for all the support he has given me since I joined Ducati and especially during the difficult moments this season."

"I thought it might be possible to do a little better than that today but I didn't get the best start. The clutch was slipping a little bit down the first couple of straightaways and I lost some positions. After that I managed to pull myself up again and from there it was a case of doing my best to try and bridge the gap to Colin (Edwards). The bike was working quite well but every time I closed a tenth or two he had an answer and pulled it back out. Towards the end I had some issues in a couple of left-handers and my pace dropped too much. Anyway, I had an enjoyable race, going back and forth with a few guys at the beginning especially. It's not a spectacular result but we've end the season with two top fives and we know we have a direction to work in over the winter. It hasn't been a great season for me in terms of results but the improvements we have made since the start are huge and I'm excited about the future. We're thirteenth overall, which looks awful on paper, but we are only eleven points off seventh and I had three first-lap incidents that weren't my fault - just one of those could have made the difference. Next season starts tomorrow and I can't wait to get back to work! There will be some changes in the team and a few guys leaving who I will miss. I want to thank them because even though it's on old saying it really is true that Ducati is like a family. All I can say is good luck to them and I'm looking forward to welcoming the new guys in."

"Unfortunately after a virtually perfect weekend Casey was denied the opportunity to finish it with a good race today. We've been using this grid strategy for the past two season, but the only risk is that the tyres are colder than they should be for the "warm-up lap". We obviously need to change this for the future and make sure there is enough temperature in the tyre. It is the first time it has happened in two years but once is already too much so we will look to improve on that. We have some ideas already and we will have something different in place for the first race of next season. Nicky picked up another solid fifth place, ending the season running comfortably within the mid-pack towards the front and that is a positive sign for next year, even though we need to take another step forward. We start testing with him and with Casey tomorrow with three days of testing here at Valencia. Finally a big hug to Livio and good luck for his future".

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Double podium sees Fiat Yamaha seal triple crown in Valencia as Edwards scores fourth and Spies seventh place.

Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo finished second and third in the season-ending Grand Prix of Valencia this afternoon, the ninth time the pair have shared the podium this season. It ensured that Yamaha won the Triple Crown for the second year running after Rossi took the Riders' title, Fiat Yamaha the Teams' and Yamaha the Constructors'. Today's result also sealed Lorenzo the runner-up spot in the Championship in just his second year in MotoGP. Between them the Italian and the Spaniard have taken ten wins and a further seventeen podiums, Yamaha's most successful year ever in MotoGP.

With pole-man Casey Stoner crashing on the warm-up lap the first corner shuffle saw Dani Pedrosa take the lead followed by Toni Elias, Rossi and Lorenzo, who quickly passed Rossi to re-take third. The first few laps were a mini battle between the Yamaha team-mates as Lorenzo fought to hold off Rossi and look for a way past Elias at the same time. He passed his fellow Spaniard in the last sector of lap three and Rossi followed quickly in his footsteps, overtaking Elias on the brakes into turn one on the fourth lap. A huge slide by Lorenzo soon after however left the 22-year-old unbalanced and shaken up and Rossi went through, leaving Lorenzo to take a bit of time to find his rhythm again. The World Champion set off after Pedrosa and for a little while looked like he was gaining but Valencia is a notoriously tricky track to make up ground on and in the end he was content to chase home the Spaniard for second place, his best result at Valencia since 2004. Lorenzo finished just three tenths off Rossi but was delighted to seal second in the championship in front of his home fans.

As well as Yamaha sealing the Triple Crown and filling the first two spots in the championship, a brilliant performance from Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards today saw him take fourth and ensure fifth place in the championship, the top non-factory rider. Yamaha wild-card Ben Spies finished a brilliant seventh in his first MotoGP race on the M1 and James Toseland finished 12th in his farewell race for the team.

Quote from Lin Jarvis, Managing Director, Yamaha Motor Racing

Valentino Rossi - Position: 2nd Time: +2.630

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 3rd Time: +2.913

Davide Brivio - Team Manager

Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager
"This was a good end to the championship for us and a good way to celebrate a wonderful season with Jorge and the fantastic job the whole Yamaha team have done this year to win the triple crown. We've shown all season how strong Yamaha is and the job everyone has done has been fantastic. This is my last race with Yamaha so I want to take the chance to thank everyone here, it's been a great eight years and I wish Jorge and all the team all the best for the future."

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Jubilant Edwards claims fantastic fifth overall

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Colin Edwards produced a stunning final race in Valencia today to clinch a dramatic fifth place in the final 2009 MotoGP world championship standings.

Starting from fifth on the grid in front of 94,177 vocal Spanish fans, all eyes were on the Texan and his fight for fifth in the points-standings with Andrea Dovizioso.

In sunny but blustery conditions, the Texas Tornado held fifth place until lap seven when he passed Toni Elias to move into fourth. At the time, Dovizioso was back in 11th.

Edwards maintained an impressive pace to sit comfortably in fourth position and remain on course for fifth overall. But Dovizoso then produced a dazzling charge through the field to move into seventh position on lap 16.

That meant fifth place would go to Dovizioso with no further position changes. But there was one final dramatic twist in arguably Edwards' best ever MotoGP campaign, thanks to new Monster Yamaha Yamaha Tech 3 rider Ben Spies.

The Texan's brilliant Yamaha debut ended with him passing Dovizioso on lap 25, a move that secured Edwards his hard earned but thoroughly deserved fifth place in the final points tally.

British rider James Toseland produced a gallant ride in his final appearance for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team that saw him in contention for a top ten finish throughout the 30-lap encounter.

A stunning start and skilled overtaking on the first lap saw him climb into 11th position and he was lock ed in a thrilling dice with Spies, Dovizioso, Mika Kallio, Alex de Angelis and Marco Melandri in the first half of the race.

But a small rear tyre issue prevented Toseland from maintaining his fast and consistent pace and he slipped back to finish 12th.

Colin Edwards - Position: 4th Time: +32.515

James Toseland - Position: 12th Time: +50.226

Herve Poncharal - Team Manager

Spies takes well earned seventh in Valencia GP

Ben Spies made a good job of silencing any critics he may have today as he set about putting his mark on the GP field ahead of his racing year in 2010. Starting from ninth on the grid he had a good start to hold his position until Marco Melandri passed him towards the end of the first lap. As he got used to his race tires and settled into his pace he dropped further until lap eight where he held 12th behind Andrea Dovizioso. As lap 11 got under way the American wildcard tucked in and got down to business, taking Melandri for 11th and beginning to chase down Mika Kallio. He caught him on lap 17 to take 10th then swiftly dispatched De Angelis on the next lap for ninth.

By lap 19 Spies was turning in a 1'34.1 second lap, quick enough to be running with Colin Edwards in fourth. The speed enabled him to catch Randy De Puniet by lap 21 for eighth and close in on Dovizioso in seventh. With six laps to go, he capitalized on a mistake as the Repsol Honda rider ran wide, passing on the inside to take seventh and hold it to the line, claiming his first top ten MotoGP race finish for Yamaha.

Ben Spies Sterilgarda Yamaha Team - Position: 7th Time: +37.706

Massimo Meregalli, Sterilgarda Yamaha Team Manager

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Rizla Suzuki looking ahead following Valencian adversity

Rizla Suzuki will begin testing and preparations for the 2010 season tomorrow following a below par finish to this year's calendar for Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen.

Due to the cool weather conditions experienced here at Valencia all weekend and the disappointing qualifying from both riders yesterday, this afternoon's race was always going to be a difficult and demanding affair. Capirossi used the softer of the two Bridgestone compounds available to him for the 30-lap race, but was still unable to generate enough heat to give him the performance he required. He battled stoically throughout the whole race and his 14th place finish was scant reward for the hard work he has put in all weekend.

Vermeulen had hoped to leave the team with a good to result from his last appearance in Rizla Suzuki colours, but the Australian struggled as much as Capirossi to find the performance from his Suzuki GSV-R. Vermeulen crossed the line in 15th place to secure the one remaining point scoring position in the race and give him the small consolation of being the only rider to score points at every event this season.

Today's race was held in cool and very windy conditions at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Spain. Over 94,000 spectators witnessed a near faultless performance from home star Dani Pedrosa, as he led from start to finish to win his second Grand Prix of the year.

Rizla Suzuki will now regroup and restructure in time for a three-day test that begins at the Valencian circuit tomorrow, when new rider Alvaro Bautista will join the team to begin his career as a MotoGP rider.

Loris Capirossi:

"Before we got to Valencia our expectation was that it would be a bit tough here as the conditions would be quite cold and everything we expected seems to have come true. It was difficult in the practice as we tried to find a good setting, but just never got the feeling we wanted. I chose the softer tyre today, even though I didn't have a good feeling in that - so you can imagine how difficult the hard one would have been to use! At the start of the race when the tyre was new everything felt not too bad and I tried to follow some guys , but as the grip levels dropped down I didn't have complete control over the bike and struggled even more. I tried to defend my position but it felt like everyone could get past me, so all I did was try to make sure I finished the race. This result is not good for me, the team and Suzuki, because we try to work hard and we really want to have a result - so this feeling is not good. Thankfully, the good thing we have as a team is that we are strong inside and we know what our target is. We want to make sure we break everybody's balls so that we can get to the front and we have to do it next year, because like this is just not good enough!

"I also want to say I feel sorry for Chris that he had to finish with this result. I have worked with him for two seasons and he is a great team-mate and we have a good friendship. We work well together and we check data all the time to try to improve the bike, so for me this is not a nice day. After two seasons it will be difficult to look over and see a different guy in my box, but this is the way life goes and I want to say good luck and welcome to Alvaro and hope we can work together as well as Chris and I have done."

Chris Vermeulen:

"It has been a difficult weekend and the only positive I can take from it is that we definitely improved in the race from yesterday's qualifying and managed to pass a few guys out there today. I was catching Loris towards the end of the race and I could see that he was struggling with a similar sort of situation as I was. Suzuki has got a lot of work to do to get this sorted, but I really hope they are able to do that, especially for all my crew who work so hard to get things right. I want thank everyone at Suzuki and in the team for what they have done in the last four years, we've had some good times - sadly today was not one of them unfortunately. I hope the guys get a lot of work done in the winter and come out much stronger. I also want to wish good luck to Loris and Alvaro for 2010; I have enjoyed working with Loris and will miss the friendship and rivalry that we had together."

Paul Denning - Team Manager:

"I have nothing to say about today's race! The 2010 season starts tomorrow and our huge differential in performance in low-grip conditions is clear for all to see. To get the consistency in the bike is the highest priority and along with Alvaro taking his first steps as a MotoGP rider tomorrow, our target is very clear.

"I'd like to thank Loris for riding at 100% all season and for being such a fantastic team player, the team will be doing everything in its power to push the Suzuki factory to give him the bike in 2010 that his efforts deserve. As for Chris, he has also been a huge asset to Suzuki for four years and we all wish him well as he takes a new direction in his career. He has always been the consummate professional - both on and off the track - and we wish him and his family well. He'll always be welcome whenever he comes to visit."

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Pedrosa wins season finale on home soil using harder Bridgestone slicks

Round 17: Valencia GP - Race

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium.
Rear: Medium, Hard (asymmetric)

Pedrosa opted for the harder option Bridgestone slick tyres both front and rear, as in fact did the top four. World Champion Valentino Rossi finished second followed by teammate Jorge Lorenzo, with Yamaha stablemate Colin Edwards coming home fourth, equalling his second best premier class result on Bridgestone tyres.

Fifth-placed Nicky Hayden was the first rider using the softer front slick tyre to cross the line, finishing just ahead of Toni Elias who also used the soft compound front slick. Seven riders in total used the softer front tyre during the race, but only Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi chose to use the softer rear tyre. Overall, the harder compounds proved the faster option despite the cool and windy conditions.

Hiroshi Yamada - Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department

Tohru Ubukata - Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department

Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Race Winner

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