Race Weekend - Valencia

Randy Krummenacher had a great race during the GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana. Almost the whole race the Swiss teenager was fighting for the 4^th position and finished at a very good 9^th place. Danny Webb couldn’t compete in the last race of the season and the DeGraaf Grand Prix due his broken left and right foot.

In the warm-up session in the morning Randy Krummenacher had already a very good and fast pace. In this session Krummenacher’s lap time was faster than his qualification time of the Saturday and ended the session on a very good 5^th position. Danny Webb had to go to the doctors to get a clearance for his start in the race. The doctor said that Webb could try it in the warm-up session and after 4 laps Webb came in. It wasn’t possible to race in this physical condition. It was a very hard decision for Webb not to start especially because it is the last race of the season and the last race riding for the DeGraaf Grand Prix Team.

Danny Webb (DNS):

“I really tried to ride the last race of the season and for the DeGraaf Grand Prix Team. It wasn’t possible. I didn’t have the strengths in my feet to control the bike and I got also dizzy on the bike. This is not the conditions you want to race. It’s a shame I couldn’t give the team a good result this weekend. I really enjoined the three years with the team and want to thank all team members. Especially I want to thank Arie Molenaar, Jarno Janssen, Hans Spaan, My mechanics Rob and Rick and Marlon Fluit. They made it possible to race for and I will never forget them. I still will see them in the paddock next season when I will ride for the WRB Jack & Jones Team. See you in 2010!”

This weekend it is already the last Grand Prix of the season. The GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana had a lot of sun today but was also very windy. The DeGraaf Grand Prix rider Randy Krummenacher was able to ride to a 18^th position in these circumstances. Danny Webb has to ride this weekend with a left broken foot but was able to ride the one hour practice and ended on a 24^th position.

During this session there was a lot of wind and the riders couldn’t ride the same lap times as in the pre season test. Both DeGraaf Grand Prix riders used the session to get a good set-up for the rest of the weekend. British rider Danny Webb used the session to find out how his broken foot would react on riding at the track. Webb has a lot of pain but the good thing is that the pain stays the same the whole session. This means Webb is able to ride the race in his full length.

Danny Webb (24^th, 1:44,705):

“Today I was curios how my foot would react riding on my bike. It is my left foot and I need this one to shift. The pain is awful but stays on the same level during riding. Halfway the session my foot started to shake and I couldn’t control that! I will visit Dr. Costa later and hope he can do something to reduce the pain. This weekend is going to be hard but I’m capable in these conditions to qualify on the first four starting rows.”

During the qualification session of the GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana the Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher brought his DeGraaf Grand Prix Aprilia to a 15th position. Team-mate Danny Webb crashed out already in the early stage of the session and wasn’t able to continue. Webb will start the last race for the DeGraaf Grand Prix Team form the 28^th position.  

The morning session was ridden in good weather circumstances without the strong wind from yesterday. Krummenacher used this session to finalize the set-up of his Aprilia. The Swiss teenager ended the session on a good 11^th position with only 0,8 seconds behind the fastest rider of the session Sergio Gadea. Danny Webb had this morning less pain on his foot and was able to ride faster lap times than the Friday session. Webb finishes the session on an 18^th position.  

In the afternoon when the qualification session started, the hard wind was back. After a delay of five minutes the session started and five minutes later Danny Webb crashed. On the TV it didn’t look good but it was for sure that the British rider couldn’t continue the session. After a medical check it was clear that, next to his broken left foot, there was a little fracture in his right foot. Luckily Webb was able to leave the medical centre walking and his a good feeling he will start in the last race of the season tomorrow. Webb qualified in the end on P28.

Danny Webb (28^th, 1:44,284):

“I don’t know what happened but I do know it was a painful crash! I’m already injured with my left foot but after a check in the medical centre it was clear that I also have a little fracture in my right foot. I just lost the control of my bike and I had the feeling I didn’t went fast. I still can walk so I’m not worried for riding the race tomorrow. After a good night sleep and a couple of pain killers, I try to grab some points in the race.”

Bradley Smith and Julián Simón were again involved in a final-lap battle for victory at the last Grand Prix of the year in Valencia, with the 125cc 2009 World Champion Simón coming out on top of the Englishman for the third successive race.

Taking their contest to the very last corner of the race, Simón managed to hold off Smith for another thrilling finish, as he eventually crossed the line just 0.220s ahead of the talented young Briton. World Championship runner-up Smith rode another fine race and held the lead for several laps, as he rounded off a great season with his sixth consecutive podium.

Meanwhile, having qualified in ninth place, Gloucestershire’s Scott Redding saw his afternoon end in disappointment as he crashed with his Blusens Aprilia team-mate Esteve Rabat on the sixth lap.

Danny Webb missed the race due to a foot injury sustained on Saturday, but there was good news from the Kent rider on Friday as he announced his signature with the successful Jack & Jones sponsored WRB team in the 125cc class for the next two years.

In the 250cc class there was drama as Hiroshi Aoyama nearly threw away the title when he ran off track with seven laps to go, but an eventual seventh place finish and a later crash for his rival Marco Simoncelli secured him the title. Local rider Hector Barbera won the race ahead of Alvaro Bautista and Raffaele de Rosa.

In the MotoGP class Dani Pedrosa ended the season on a high, as he enjoyed a start-to-finish win and Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo completed the podium. The drama started before the race had even commenced, as pole position holder Casey Stoner’s high-side crash on the warm-up lap meant he was unable to take his place on the grid. That allowed Pedrosa to lead the grid from second position on the front row, and after taking the hole shot he did not look back, sealing third spot in the overall standings in the process.

Race Results

1 Dani PEDROSA SPA HONDA 46'47.553
2 Valentino ROSSI ITA YAMAHA 46'50.183
3 Jorge LORENZO SPA YAMAHA 46'50.466
4  Colin EDWARDS USA YAMAHA 47'20.068
5  Nicky HAYDEN USA DUCATI 47'22.138
6 Toni ELIAS SPA HONDA 47'22.441

2009 Championship Results

1 ROSSI Valentino 306 points
2 LORENZO Jorge 261
3 PEDROSA Dani 234
4 STONER Casey 220
5 EDWARDS Colin 161
6 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 160

Bradley Smith relishes his last chance of beating his team-mate and World Champion Julian Simon at the final round of the 125 cc World Championship at the Generali Grand Prix of Valencia in Spain on Sunday.

Simon and Smith have already clinched first and second places in the 16 round Championship. They clash for the last time on Sunday after two furious battles at the previous two rounds in Australia and Malaysia.

Simon came out on top in those hard fought encounters and moves up to the Moto2 class next season while Smith looks likely to remain to spearhead the Aspar team’s efforts to retain the 125 cc crown.

The Oxfordshire teenager has re-written the history books this season and is the first British solo rider to finish runner-up in any class of the Grand Prix World Championship since the late Barry Sheene in 1978.

It’s been a much tougher year for the other two British teenagers in the very competitive 125 cc World Championship. Despite a brilliant third place in the British Grand Prix, Gloucestershire-based Scott Redding has been demoralised by an unbelievable series of mechanical problems that have totally wrecked his season. The winner of the 2008 British Grand Prix is 14th in the Championship having being forced out of five of the last six races since his Donington success because of mechanical problems.

Kent teenager Danny Webb hopes to be fit for Valencia after a big crash on the first lap of the Shell Advance Malaysian Grand Prix. Webb injured his foot when he high sided from the DeGraff Aprilia after qualifying on the second row of the grid. He lies 17th in the World Championship but a good result on Sunday could lift him three places.

It will be a sad day on Sunday for Yorkshireman James Toseland as he bows out of the MotoGP World Championship after two years riding for the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team. It’s been a tough year for the former World Superbike Champion which started with two big crashes in pre-season testing. Toseland is 14th and has struggled with the bike set-up but is determined to go out with a bang before returning with Yamaha to the World Superbike Championship next year.

QUOTES

Bradley Smith

“Julian has beaten me on the last lap in the last two races because he is such a great late braker. I really want to beat him in this last race but I need to break away if I can and not leave it to another head to head on the last lap. It’s been a great year for me and the team and another grand prix win would be the perfect finish for me.”

Scott Redding

“We are working hard on securing a ride for next season and I so want to finish the season with a decent result. Since Donington it’s been a disaster but I hope I can put that all behind me on Sunday.”

Danny Webb

“I’ve just been to the hospital and they have found I’ve broken two not one metatarsal bones in my left foot in the Malaysian crash. I’ve got a special boot on and I’m able to walk and so I will be out there on Sunday. It’s been a hard year and I really want to do well to thank the team for all their support.”

James Toseland

“I was doing my absolute best and trying my hardest but it was impossible for me to go any faster with the feeling I had with the bike in Malaysia. It was another tough weekend but I'll look to bounce back and finish the season strongly in Valencia for my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3."

THE FINAL SHOWDOWN - A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE

It’s a final showdown in Valencia on Sunday that gives us a glimpse of what to expect next season. Valentino Rossi arrives at the tight 2.480 miles Ricardo Tormo circuit on the outskirts of the Mediterranean City of Valencia with his ninth world title already secured at the previous round in Malaysia but already the predators are bearing their teeth. There is nothing more the likes of Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa would rather do than arrive in the 2010 battle zone with a victory in the last confrontation of 2009.

Twenty-four year old Australian Stoner chases a hatrick of wins on the Marlboro Desmosedici Ducati after convincing victories in the last two rounds in Australia and Malaysia. ’If only’ is a favourite saying in sport at any level but if Stoner had not missed three races and been weakened by the mystery virus before then, there is no doubt the Championship would have been very close but that’s all in the past. Stoner who won the Valencia race last year, holds an 11 point lead over Pedrosa in their battle for third place in the Championship.

If Stoner won the 30 lap race and Jorge Lorenzo failed to finish, the Australian would clinch second place in the Championship because he’d won more grands prix. Amazingly Lorenzo has never won in any class at Valencia and so a victory on Sunday for the Fiat Yamaha rider would be an enormous boost going into the close season. In complete contrast Pedrosa has a superb record at the circuit that staged its first grand prix ten years ago. The Repsol Honda rider has won in all classes including a MotoGP victory two years ago.

World Champion Rossi has mixed memories. The 30 year old Italian has won twice in 2003/4 but also lost the title to Nicky Hayden when he crashed three years ago. The master of mind games will want to end his Championship year with a victory just to let the chasing trio know what lies ahead in 2010.

Behind those leading four the battle could not be closer. Pedrosa’s team-mate Andrea Dovizioso is fifth but only four points in front of the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha veteran Colin Edwards who’s having a great year. Behind them it’s even tighter with just seven points separating previous Valencia MotoGP winner Marco Melandri in seventh place and 12th placed Randy De Puniet. Sandwiched between are the Rizla Suzuki pair of Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen and the San Carlo Gresini duo of Alex De Angelis and Toni Elias.

A number of riders will be bowing out of MotoGP on Sunday to seek fresh pastures. Chris Vermeulen and James Toseland return to the World Superbike Championship. Niccolo Canepa hopes to make his last appearance in the Pramac Ducati team despite his crash in Australia. Both Elias and De Angelis are leaving the Gresini team. De Angelis could stay in MotoGP on a Honda but Elias looks likely to compete in the new Moto2 class where he could well be joined by Scot Honda rider, former World 125 cc Champion Gabor Talmacsi.

A final glimpse into the future is provided by the wild card appearance of World Superbike Champion Ben Spies. The American will replace Toseland at Tech 3 next year and Yamaha have added spice to the final show down by supplying him with a bike to see exactly what he’s let himself in for although there is no doubt he already knows.

TWO-STROKE 250’S GO OUT WITH A BANG

It’s so appropriate the 250 cc two-stroke machines that have provided so much entertainment for nearly five decades bow out with the only Championship battle going all the way to the final round on Sunday.

Next year the 250 cc two-strokes will be replaced by 600cc four-strokes in the new Moto2 class but they are going down with a typical fight that has been the hallmark of their enormous part in the history of grand prix racing.

The 27 lap race on Sunday will be no exception. Hiroshi Aoyama’s nail biting win in Malaysia has given the Scot Honda rider a precious 21 point lead over current World Champion Marco Simoncelli. It was such an important win for the Japanese rider because Simoncelli had been closing the gap riding the Métis Gilera. Since failing to score in the opening two rounds, the Italian grabbed ten podium finishes including six wins but third place in Malaysia after a photo finish has handed back the advantage back to Aoyama.

The 125 cc Championship has already been decided but the 24 lap should provide another great battle between Aspar team-mates World Champion Julian Simon and runner-up Bradley Smith.

EVENT TIME SCHEDULE

Friday 6 November

12.40 – 13.40              125cc Free Practice 1
13.55 – 14.55              MotoGP Free Practice 1
15.10 – 16.10              250cc Practice 1

Saturday 7 November

09.00 – 09.40              125cc Free Practice 2
09.55 – 10.55              MotoGP Free Practice 2
11.10 – 12.10              250cc Free Practice 2
13.00 – 13.40              125cc Qualifying
13.55 – 14.55              MotoGP Qualifying
15.10 – 15.55              250cc Qualifying

Sunday 8 November

08.40 – 09.00              125cc Warm Up
09.10 – 09.30              250cc Warm Up
09.40 – 10.00              MotoGP Warm Up
11.00                           125cc RACE (24 laps)
12.15                           250cc RACE (27 laps)
14.00                           MotoGP RACE (30 laps)

Schedule is local time

Time Zone GMT + 1 hours