Edwards looks to place his satellite Yamaha ahead
of Dovi's factory Honda in the championship
Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) may have sealed the MotoGP World Championship at Sepang, but there are still scores to be settled involving Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha), Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), and a host of other riders in the final round of the season. A ninth world title was wrapped up by Rossi in Malaysia, leaving the remainder of the MotoGP class to decide the final standings beyond first place for the 2009 season at Valencia. Team-mate Lorenzo pushed him the closest for the title this year, and now the 22 year-old looks primed to secure second spot in his second season in the premier class. With a 25-point margin between him and Stoner in third, it would take a non-point scoring finish from the Spaniard and a race win for the Australian to dislodge Lorenzo from the runner-up position.
Far likelier for Stoner, who comes into round 17 in a rich vein of form having won his last two races at Sepang and Phillip Island, is third place to round off a season interrupted by illness. Speculation will linger as to how the final standings could have looked had the 2007 World Champion not missed Brno, Indianapolis and Misano due to fatigue, but the focus is now on preventing Pedrosa from regaining third place. With victory last year and second the season before, the 24 year-old Australian has a strong pedigree at Valencia. Pedrosa is 11 points adrift in fourth, and needs a strong showing at a track where he won in 2007 and finished second last time out.
The competition for fifth place is still very much alive, with just six points the difference between Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Colin Edwards (Monster Tech 3 Yamaha). The Italian’s crash at Sepang was not largely capitalised on by Edwards, whose 13th-placed classification means that the fight for fifth will now go down to the wire at Valencia.
Seventh place, meanwhile, is still to be decided upon between no less than six candidates. Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Alex de Angelis and Toni Elías (both San Carlo Honda Gresini), Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) are all separated by just seven points from positions seven to 12. All have top-ten finishes at Valencia within the past two seasons, with Melandri’s fourth in 2007 the most notable recent result from the pack. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro), at a further eight points adrift of De Puniet, has an outside chance of challenging for seventh if he manages his second podium of the year and other results go his way.
Also riding at Valencia will be American star Ben Spies (Monster Tech 3 Yamaha), who will take to the track as a wildcard for Yamaha in preparation for his first full MotoGP season with the satellite Yamaha team 2010.
The Valencia circuit, named after Spanish rider Ricardo Tormo, has been a fixture on the World Championship calendar since 2002, having been used for the first time in 1999. Measuring 4.005km, it is an unusual circuit, built within a stadium style complex that makes it possible to see virtually any part of the circuit from any seat in the house. Whilst on the one hand this makes it a great venue for the fans, the track layout is constantly forced back on itself, making for a series of tight corners separated by short straights that require plenty of low revs, short gear ratios and provide little opportunity to fully open the throttle. In fact, the short back straight and slightly longer front straight are the only two high-speed points on the circuit. Unlike most circuits, it also runs anti-clockwise.
Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha
I am very happy to be going to the final race with the championship won and the pressure off, now we can just enjoy ourselves. It's been a fantastic year and now we just have one more weekend before we start work for 2010. Valencia hasn't been a great track for me in the past and I've had some bad times there, but at the moment we're in great shape and our bike is working well everywhere we go, so I hope it will be the same at Valencia. It's a great place to finish and the atmosphere is amazing, so we will just do our best and hope for another good race to end off a great season. On Monday we will start working on the new M1 and I'm very excited to try it!
Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha
Valencia is an amazing place to finish the Championship, at home, with your fans. I've never got a victory here and I know that it's not one of the best tracks for Yamaha, but I am confident that I can try to change that and finish the championship in the best possible way. The last two races haven't been great for me and I really want to get over that. Furthermore, I need one point to become ‘vice-champion' and I would really like to do that with a podium or a win. That's my aim in Valencia. My best race here was in 2005, when I finished in second place but I think my best memory was in 2006 when I won the championship there. 2009 has been an amazing year for me and for Yamaha and I am looking forward to celebrating with my fans at a home race.
Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro
Valencia is a circuit I've always liked - it is tight and slow but surprisingly flowing and I think it's a good circuit for a MotoGP bike. Apart from anything it is a great viewing spectacle for the fans, who can follow the bikes around practically the whole circuit. My Ducati has always run really well there and I've been on the pace for the past couple of seasons - in testing and in the races - so obviously we're hoping that trend continues, even though we will have to make a few small adjustments to the bike. We're finally at the end of the season and already looking forward to the next one, so if we can win this race then great, if not we'll try and finish the year with a podium and then start working towards next year.
Nicky Hayden - Ducati Marlboro
I love Valencia and for obvious reasons it is a place that holds very special memories for me but I don't just like it because it is where I won the title in 2006 - I actually just like the circuit itself. I guess it will be my first 'Ducati anniversary' and it will be interesting to see how far we have come since that first test a year ago. I can't wait to get there - it is a great Grand Prix with a special, welcoming and party atmosphere. Hopefully I can have a good race and enjoy myself. If I can manage a good result there's a chance we can finish the season in the top ten, with ninth place just twelve points away. I won't be easy but we'll see what we can do.
Andrea Dovizioso - Repsol Honda
The atmosphere at Valencia is always incredible and that makes it a special way to finish the season. I'm really looking forward to the race, even though this is not actually one of my favourite tracks because the layout is quite slow and twisty. The grandstands around the track are always packed and the spectators can follow the action and see all of the race, so it's kind of like a stadium environment. I'm coming into this weekend with mixed feelings after the last race. I could have had a good result in Malaysia if I hadn't crashed so I'm really determined to do well here, for myself and for the team. I'd like to finish the year with a good result to thank my guys, and also Honda for all the work done this year. I had a decent result here last year so I'm determined to be fighting at the front this weekend again.
Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda
I always look forward to the Grand Prix here, and this year is no different. It's a circuit I really enjoy riding at, even though it's quite a tight layout, but what makes it really special is the way that you can feel the support from the fans all the way round the circuit. And of course, being a Spanish rider, I get a lot of positive attention here which gives you some extra motivation too. I've had some good results at Valencia in the past, and this weekend it would be great to finish off the year with a win - that's what I want. It's not been the easiest of seasons and we haven't been able to challenge for the championship so I’m even more determined to sign off on a high note. The result at the last race, where I got on the podium for the first time in wet conditions, has given me a lot of confidence too. We know it can rain at Valencia, so we're ready for anything this weekend.
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