Grand Finale MotoGP

For excitement and awesome overtaking maneuvers, nothing beats MotoGP racing.

And the last race at Valencia, Spain, did not dissapoint. Too bad that at the start of the race, as the field neared the first corner, which is a tight left-hander, Alvaro Bautista collided into Valentino Rossi and swept him of his Ducati, taking fellow riders Nicky Hayden and Randy de Puniet with him.
Rossi on the first lap incident, "I felt some riders coming up the inside really fast as we approached Turn 1. Then something happened and it was just the domino effect - race over in the first corner."

However, as the race neared the end it started to rain harder. American rider and 2009 World Superbike  champion, Ben Spies was riding a superb race and battled hard with Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso for second place. In the closing stages he secured this spot in a commanding fashion and set his sights on first place rider Casey Stoner. With three laps to go, as the rain drops intensified, Stoner made a mistake and went wide giving Spies the position. He recalls, "Followed him [Stoner] for a bit, then he made a mistake and I went by."

Since Ben Spies came over from "Superbike", I have been pulling for the him to win a race and I was quite happy when he won Assen earlier this year. Now he looked set to win in Valencia too.

Stoner at Catalunya

As he pulled away from Stoner, it looked as if the 2011 MotoGP champion had settled for second place. However, one doesn't get to be world champion without much experience and wisdom. And I couldn't believe my eyes for what I had been expecting came true. Since it was raining and the riders hadn't changed bikes yet, Stoner chose to stay behind Spies in order to gauge the track's condition in front of him. Spies commenting on the last 2 laps of the race, "It was still raining quite bad and without anybody in front of me it was hard to know how grip was on the track." As Stoner followed the american around the track he was staying safe and gauging Spies factory Yamaha's performance, and on the last corner of the last lap of the last race of the season, the world champion made his move. Casey Stoner focused on getting a good exit out of the corner and maximized his speed hitting his shift points just right every time. What a finish!

The margin of victory:just enough.

Casey Stoner beat Ben Spies by a mere 0.015 seconds at the finish line and stole the Valencian MotoGP. The man isn't world champion for nothing!

Sources: MotoGP.com, Crash.net
Pictures courtesy of: MotoGP.com, Crash.net