Cal Crutchlow claims his best ever finish and is Rookie of the Year, Dani Pedrosa looks to 2012…
DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: 5th Championship Position: 4th
“I JUST WANT TO MOVE FORWARD...”
Before the last race of the 2011 MotoGP Championship all riders – across all classes in the racing community – paid their respects to Marco Simoncelli in a tribute lap led by MotoGP legend Kevin Schwantz, riding Marco's Gresini Honda '58' bike.
The race itself was tricky; the riders took to the grid with slick tyres and on the warm-up lap, some drops of rain began to fall. Casey Stoner pulled away from the start, distancing team-mates Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa, who were jostling for position until lap 23. Then on lap 24, a new race began when it started to rain more heavily; Spies overtook Pedrosa and Dovizioso, and with two laps remaining Stoner made a small mistake and Spies took the lead.
Stoner tracked him closely and then, taking a slightly different line coming out of the last corner of the final lap, Stoner's Honda RC212V drove him to the finish line first, just 0.015 seconds ahead. Dovizioso and Pedrosa enjoyed a tough and clean fight, but in the final laps, Dani rolled off a little as the conditions worsened, with one eye already on the testing schedule and 2012 Championship. Dovizioso took third, while Pedrosa succumbed to a hard-charging Cal Crutchlow.
“It wasn't an easy race. I did my best, trying hard but I wasn’t feeling good on the bike. But especially in the end with more water on the track, I struggled a lot as in Australia, so this is something I will try to improve with my riding in the future. I had a good battle with Andrea and in the last laps, I lost a place to Cal Crutchlow, but I couldn’t do any more. Andrea and I were on a soft front tyre and we were maybe struggling a little more than Ben or Cal who were on a hard front, but it’s not an excuse. I just want to move forward and think about next year and the testing we have. It has been a tough year, but we will try to take the positives from here and be optimistic for 2012.”
CAL CRUTCHLOW, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 4th Championship Position: 12th
“I AM OBVIOUSLY THRILLED!”
Cal Crutchlow ended the 2011 season in great fashion, claiming a career-best fourth position to win the coveted Rookie of the Year title. Starting from 11th, Crutchlow immediately found himself elevated into the top five when he avoided the collision at the first corner.
He then found himself locked in an exciting battle with Karel Abraham, who was riding an inspired race to try and deny Crutchlow from claiming the title; just one point split the pair going into the race and they were barely a second apart for the whole race. They exchanged fifth place several times but the battle became even more nail-biting when rain started to fall. Crutchlow, however brilliantly judged where he could push close to the limit, and took fourth place from Dani Pedrosa with a clinical overtake on the final lap.
“That was a pretty dramatic way to finish the season and I am obviously thrilled to win the Rookie of the Year title. But I’m equally happy to have finished in fourth place because that was an incredibly difficult race. I’m not sure what happened at the first corner but I came out of it in sixth place and just pushed. It was a really intense battle with Karel right to the end and both of us were giving it everything we had. The track was so greasy it felt like you could crash so easily, and when the rain started getting heavier I just got my head down again and kept pushing. I started to catch Dani really fast and wasn’t sure if he had a problem or whether I was pushing too hard. I slowed down because of that and Karel caught me back up, so it came down to the last lap and he obviously made a small mistake – he hit me from behind but I managed to stay on! This year has been an incredible learning experience and we have a lot to work on for next season, but I feel confident I can make the step to the next level.”
COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: DNS Championship Position: 9th
Colin Edwards was due to make his final appearance for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, but is still recovering from cartilage damage sustained in the incident with Marco Simoncelli and Valentino Rossi at Sepang.
NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: DNF Championship Position: 8th
“WE COULD HAVE PUT UP A DECENT FIGHT AND HAD SOME FUN…”
Nicky Hayden was involved in the four-bike pile-up in Turn 1 off the start, and had to sit out the race along with team-mate Valentino Rossi.
“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. I’m okay other than my hand being pretty sore. It’s unfortunate. One of our bike’s strengths is generating heat in the tyres, and that’s what you need on a cold, wet track like this. Already on the warm-up lap, the bike felt good. It’s easy to say now, but I honestly feel like we could have put up a decent fight and had some fun.”
Hiroshi Aoyama bought his San Carlo Honda Gresini home in 12th and finishes the year 10th overall; he heads for the World Superbike Championship in 2012 riding for Castrol Honda. Karel Abraham crashed his Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati in the closing stages, but remounted to finish 8th. He remains 14th in the Championship.
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