2011 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix explained

The 2011 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix was the last round of the 2011 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 4–6 November 2011 at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo. It was the first race after the death of Marco Simoncelli in Sepang. It was the final race for the current formula in the premier (MotoGP) and lightweight classes (now known as Moto3). In the premier class, the 800cc engines would be replaced by 1000cc engines. Honda also would change motorcycles at the end of the season, as the Honda RC212V that débuted at the 2007 Qatar Grand Prix would be replaced by the RC213V for the following season. In the lightweight class, the 125cc two-stroke motorcycle formula would be replaced by 250cc four-strokes for 2012. This was also the final race for Suzuki as a factory team until their return in 2015.

On Saturday, Stefan Bradl officially became Moto2 World Champion after his only rival, Marc Márquez, could not go on the track during the free practices and the qualifying session, because of injuries sustained in Malaysia.^{[4] [5]}

MotoGP classification

Colin Edwards had an injured shoulder and was replaced by 2011 AMA Pro Superbike champion Josh Hayes on the Yamaha Tech 3^[6] and Jorge Lorenzo was replaced for the second time by test-rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga.^[7] Loris Capirossi retired from motorcycle racing following the race.^[8]

Although Gresini Racing originally pulled out of the Valencia race after Simoncelli's fatal accident,^[9] it was later decided that the team would race.^[10] As tribute to Marco Simoncelli, Loris Capirossi, in his final MotoGP race, participated wearing Simoncelli's racing number 58 instead of his usual racing number 65,^[11] although on the official reports he was still listed as #65. All riders from MotoGP, Moto2 and the 125cc races participated in a parade lap on Sunday morning after the warm-up session with 1993 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz riding Simoncelli's bike.^{[12] [13]} Valentino Rossi wore a tribute helmet.^[14]

The finish was one of the tightest in MotoGP history as already crowned World Champion Casey Stoner came from a long way back on acceleration out of the last corner to leapfrog Ben Spies at the finish line by just 0.015 seconds.^[15]

Pos.	No.	Rider	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	27	Casey Stoner	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	30	48:18.645	1	25
2	11	Ben Spies	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	30	+0.015	3	20
3	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	30	+5.936	8	16
4	35	Cal Crutchlow	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	30	+8.718	11	13
5	26	Dani Pedrosa	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	30	+9.321	2	11
6	89	Katsuyuki Nakasuga	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	30	+23.818	15	10
7	41	Josh Hayes	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	30	+33.118	16	9
8	17	Karel Abraham	Cardion AB Motoracing	Ducati	30	+37.952	10	8
9	58	Loris Capirossi	Pramac Racing Team	Ducati	30	+48.953	12	7
10	24	Toni Elías	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	30	+52.501	13	6
11	8	Héctor Barberá	Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP	Ducati	30	+1:06.519	9	5
12	7	Hiroshi Aoyama	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	30	+1:08.760	14	4
Ret	14	Randy de Puniet	Pramac Racing Team	Ducati	0	Collision	4
Ret	19	Álvaro Bautista	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	0	Collision	5
Ret	46	Valentino Rossi	Ducati Team	Ducati	0	Collision	6
Ret	69	Nicky Hayden	Ducati Team	Ducati	0	Collision	7
Sources: [16] [17] [18]

Moto2 classification

Pos.	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	51	Michele Pirro	Moriwaki	27	46:22.205	1	25
2	36	Mika Kallio	Suter	27	+6.150	3	20
3	77	Dominique Aegerter	Suter	27	+6.363	7	16
4	13	Anthony West	MZ-RE Honda	27	+8.843	22	13
5	9	Kenny Noyes	FTR	27	+9.229	23	11
6	68	Yonny Hernández	FTR	27	+9.926	20	10
7	63	Mike Di Meglio	Tech 3	27	+10.115	9	9
8	19	Xavier Siméon	Tech 3	27	+10.385	8	8
9	76	Max Neukirchner	MZ-RE Honda	27	+13.018	24	7
10	60	Julián Simón	Suter	27	+13.685	21	6
11	29	Andrea Iannone	Suter	27	+14.686	25	5
12	15	Alex de Angelis	Motobi	27	+15.200	5	4
13	16	Jules Cluzel	Suter	27	+18.428	19	3
14	44	Pol Espargaró	FTR	27	+19.177	13	2
15	71	Claudio Corti	Suter	27	+20.356	26	1
16	4	Randy Krummenacher	Kalex	27	+26.031	27
17	12	Thomas Lüthi	Suter	27	+27.160	6
18	18	Jordi Torres	Suter	27	+33.813	15
19	25	Alex Baldolini	Moriwaki	27	+46.003	18
20	54	Kenan Sofuoğlu	Suter	27	+49.635	29
21	40	Aleix Espargaró	Pons Kalex	27	+1:12.187	11
22	64	Santiago Hernández	FTR	27	+1:14.567	31
23	38	Bradley Smith	Tech 3	27	+1:15.394	12
24	39	Robertino Pietri	Suter	27	+1:16.767	33
25	82	Elena Rosell	Suter	27	+1:19.893	35
26	6	Joan Olivé	FTR	27	+1:22.339	32
27	95	Mashel Al Naimi	Moriwaki	26	+1 lap	37
28	61	Óscar Climent	MIR Racing	26	+1 lap	34
29	96	Nasser Al Malki	Moriwaki	26	+1 lap	38
30	45	Scott Redding	Suter	26	+1 lap	14
Ret	35	Raffaele de Rosa	Suter	25	Accident	28
Ret	3	Simone Corsi	FTR	25	Retirement	10
Ret	53	Valentin Debise	FTR	20	Retirement	30
Ret	14	Ratthapark Wilairot	FTR	13	Retirement	36
Ret	75	Mattia Pasini	FTR	10	Accident	17
Ret	34	Esteve Rabat	FTR	6	Retirement	16
Ret	72	Yuki Takahashi	Moriwaki	5	Accident	2
Ret	65	Stefan Bradl	Kalex	4	Accident	4
DNS	80	Axel Pons	Pons Kalex		Did not start
WD	93	Marc Márquez	Suter		Withdrew
OFFICIAL MOTO2 REPORT

125 cc classification

Pos.	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	25	Maverick Viñales	Aprilia	24	41:44.138	8	25
2	18	Nicolás Terol	Aprilia	24	+3.216	9	20
3	55	Héctor Faubel	Aprilia	24	+7.460	6	16
4	7	Efrén Vázquez	Derbi	24	+14.560	13	13
5	94	Jonas Folger	Aprilia	24	+18.451	10	11
6	23	Alberto Moncayo	Aprilia	24	+36.472	14	10
7	39	Luis Salom	Aprilia	24	+52.614	4	9
8	31	Niklas Ajo	Aprilia	24	+1:00.138	19	8
9	3	Luigi Morciano	Aprilia	24	+1:00.253	22	7
10	96	Louis Rossi	Aprilia	24	+1:03.258	2	6
11	60	Manuel Tatasciore	Aprilia	24	+1:09.892	20	5
12	77	Marcel Schrötter	Mahindra	24	+1:12.741	23	4
13	19	Alessandro Tonucci	Aprilia	24	+1:18.337	17	3
14	71	John McPhee	Aprilia	24	+1:18.434	25	2
15	30	Giulian Pedone	Aprilia	24	+1:20.580	30	1
16	50	Sturla Fagerhaug	Aprilia	24	+1:21.155	21
17	52	Danny Kent	Aprilia	24	+1:27.770	18
18	56	Péter Sebestyén	Aprilia	24	+1:33.406	28
19	34	Daniel Ruiz	Honda	24	+1:34.593	31
20	53	Jasper Iwema	Aprilia	24	+1:34.832	27
21	40	Marco Colandrea	Aprilia	23	+1 lap	33
22	10	Alexis Masbou	KTM	23	+1 lap	5
23	86	Kevin Hanus	Honda	23	+1 lap	32
24	84	Jakub Kornfeil	Aprilia	23	+1 lap	24
25	63	Zulfahmi Khairuddin	Derbi	21	+3 laps	15
NC	26	Adrián Martín	Aprilia	24	+2:16.952	11
Ret	17	Taylor Mackenzie	Aprilia	18	Accident	26
Ret	14	Brad Binder	Aprilia	17	Accident	34
Ret	28	Josep Rodríguez	Aprilia	15	Retirement	16
Ret	11	Sandro Cortese	Aprilia	11	Accident	7
Ret	99	Danny Webb	Mahindra	11	Accident	1
Ret	21	Harry Stafford	Aprilia	7	Retirement	29
Ret	8	Jack Miller	KTM	3	Retirement	12
Ret	5	Johann Zarco	Derbi	2	Accident	3
DNS	13	Juan Francisco Guevara	Aprilia		Did not start
DNQ	22	Emil Petersen	Honda		Did not qualify
OFFICIAL 125cc REPORT

Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)

Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round eighteen has concluded.^[19]

Riders' Championship standings

	Rider	Points
1	Casey Stoner	350
2	Jorge Lorenzo	260
3	Andrea Dovizioso	228
4	Dani Pedrosa	219
5	Ben Spies	176

Constructors' Championship standings

	Constructor	Points
1	Honda	405
2	Yamaha	325
3	Ducati	180
4	Suzuki	73

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2011 Valencia MotoGP. 13 June 2017. Motorsportmagazine.com. 22 May 2018.
2. Web site: 2011 MotoGP Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project. www.progcovers.com.
3. Web site: Valencia Ricardo Tormo | The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project. www.progcovers.com.
4. News: Márquez team confirms Valencia GP withdrawal . motogp.com . 5 November 2011.
5. News: Pirro on pole in rain hindered qualifying, Bradl claims Moto2 title . motogp.com . 5 November 2011.
6. News: Josh Hayes to join Monster Yamaha Tech 3 in Valencia . motogp.com . 31 October 2011.
7. News: Jorge Lorenzo to miss season finale at Valencia . motogp.com . 2 November 2011.
8. News: Final GP for Capirossi in Valencia . motogp.com . 2 November 2011.
9. News: Gresini Racing pull out of Valencia GP after Marco Simoncelli's death. 25 October 2011. Guardian. 6 November 2011.
10. News: Gresini decides to race at Valencia in tribute to Marco Simoncelli. 31 October 2011. Matt. Beer. Autosport. 6 November 2011.
11. News: Loris Capirossi to race Marco Simoncelli's number 58 in Valencia. 3 November 2011. Matthew. Birt. MCN. 6 November 2011.
12. News: MOTOGP: Schwantz To Lead Simoncelli Tribute. 5 November 2011. Colin. Young. Valencia. Speed. 6 November 2011.
13. News: World championship field to take part in tribute parade for Marco Simoncelli. 5 November 2011. Autosport. 6 November 2011.
14. News: Rossi Wearing Special Simoncelli Tribute Helment at Valencia. 5 November 2011. RoadracingWorld. 6 November 2011.
15. Web site: Stoner wins dramatic Valencia GP at the line, Dovizioso seals third in the Championship. Dorna Sports. 6 November 2011. 25 November 2017.
16. Web site: 2011 Valencia MotoGP | Motorsport Database. Motorsport Database - Motor Sport Magazine.
17. Web site: motogp.com · GP GENERALI DE LA COMUNITAT VALENCIANA · MotoGP Race Classification 2011. www.motogp.com.
18. Web site: Cheste. 6 November 2011. GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana - Race Classification after 30 laps = 120.15 km. General GP of the Valencian Community - Race Classification after 30 laps = 120.15 km. live. 2021-05-04. resources.motogp.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20111111193212/http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/2011/VAL/MotoGP/RAC/Classification.pdf. 2011-11-11.
19. Web site: Standings . 2011. resources.motogp.com . PDF. 2019-08-25.