Dani Pedrosa took his second win of the 2017 MotoGP championship in the season finale at Valencia on Sunday afternoon after taking the lead from Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rider, Johann Zarco, who had led for the majority of the 30 lap race. However, it was his third placed teammate, Marc Marquez, who secured the 2017 title, despite a moment that almost saw him in the gravel and out of the race.
โToday our riders and team did a perfect job,โ said Tetsuhiro Kuwata, HRC Director - General Manager Race Operations Management Division. โThe race was very tense for everybody, but the final result was amazing! Marc was brave and pushed hard as always, managing to get on the podium despite a big scare! Dani finished the Championship with a victory, so I don't think we could have asked for more today. I would like to thank the riders, everyone in the Repsol Honda Team, and HRC at home. We'll keep giving our 100% to continue in this way.โ
It was always going to be a long shot for Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso to take the crown, the Italian rider c0oming into the season finale with a 21 point deficit to Marquez, but sadly, it wasn't made any easier by his teammate Jorge Lorenzo who continually refused to follow team orders and allow his teammate through to hunt down the leading riders.
Dovi started from ninth on the grid and went quickly into fifth place, right behind Lorenzo, with both Honda riders and Johann Zarco ahead of them. Several times Dovi attempted to pass Lorenzo however the #99 would shut the door on every attempt. The team were sending repeated messages to his dashboard telling Lorenzo to let his teammate pass, even putting out his pitboard with the number 1 and an arrow facing down, meaning drop a p-lace, but still no response.
Eventually, as he was catching Pedrosa, Lorenzo slid into the gravel and out of the race leaving the way clear for Dovi to charge. At this stage Marquez was behind the Italian after he went off trying to pull out a lead over Zarco, but he managed to keep the bike upright. Sadly however, while viewers thought they were watching a replay of Lorenzo going off, it was actually Dovi's race and title chances coming to an end as he too ended up in the gravel.
โToday we experienced some really strong emotions, an epilogue with a dramatic turn of events that concluded an extraordinary season for Ducati and Andrea Dovizioso,โ said Claudio Domenicali (CEO of Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A.). โMarc Marquez deservedly won the 2017 world championship and we offer our congratulations to him. But also in this last race Andrea demonstrated that he had the pace, the speed and the determination on a track that in the past had seen him often in difficulty. Then two errors in a few seconds saw both Jorge and Dovi end the season with a retirement, but the great satisfaction remains for what the squad has done this year.โ
Emotions ran high as Dovi returned to his garage knowing his challenge was over. Oh well, there's always next year!
GP of Valencia โ Race:
1. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team - 46'08.125
2. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - +0.337
3. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team - +10.861
4. Alex RINS, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - +13.567
5. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - +13.817
6. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - +14.516
7. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - +17.087
8. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda - +17.230
9. Michele PIRRO, Ducati Team - +25.942
10. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - +27.020
11. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - +30.835
12. Maverick VIรALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - +35.012
13. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing - +38.076
14. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - +41.988
15. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing - +47.703
16. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing - +47.709
17. Michael VAN DER MARK, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - +52.134
Not Classified
Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 5 Laps
Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team - 5 Laps
Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team - 6 Laps
Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 8 Laps
Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 16 Laps
Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing - 26 Laps
Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 27 Laps
Mika KALLIO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 28 Laps
2017 MotoGP World Championship
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Honda - 298
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati - 261
3. Maverick VIรALES, Yamaha - 230
4. Dani PEDROSA, Honda - 210
5. Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha - 208
6. Johann ZARCO, Yamaha - 174
7. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati - 137
8. Danilo PETRUCCI, Ducati - 124
9. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Honda - 112
10. Jonas FOLGER, Yamaha - 84
11. Jack MILLER, Honda - 82
12. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Ducati - 75
13. Andrea IANNONE, Suzuki - 70
14. Scott REDDING, Ducati - 64
15. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia - 62
16. Alex RINS, Suzuki - 59
17. Pol ESPARGARO, KTM - 55
18. Loris BAZ, Ducati - 45
19. Tito RABAT, Honda - 35
20. Karel ABRAHAM, Ducati - 32
21. Bradley SMITH, KTM - 29
22. Hector BARBERA, Ducati - 28
23. Michele PIRRO, Ducati - 25
24. Mika KALLIO, KTM - 11
25. Sam LOWES, Aprilia - 5
26. Katsuyuki NAKASUGA, Yamaha - 4
27. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Suzuki - 1
Constructor World Championship
1. Honda โ 357
2. Yamaha โ 321
3. Ducati โ 310
4. Suzuki โ 100
5. KTM โ 69
6. Aprilia โ 64
Team World Championship
1. Repsol Honda Team โ 508
2. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP โ 438
3. Ducati Team โ 398
4. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 โ 258
5. Octo Pramac Racing โ 188
6. Team SUZUKI ECSTAR โ 130
7. EG 0,0 Marc VDC โ 117
8. LCR Honda โ 112
9. Pull&Bear Aspar Team โ 107
10. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing โ 84
11. Reale Avintia Racing โ 73
12. Aprilia Racing Team Gresini โ 67
