Spain’s Dani Pedrosa took advantage of a Casey Stoner crash on the warm-up lap to win the Valencia Grand Prix on Sunday, his second victory of the season securing third place in the MotoGP world championship.
Ducati rider Stoner was due to start on pole and was bidding for a third straight win in the final race of the year, but was unable to make the start after he flipped high into the air off the bike on the warm-up lap.
Pedrosa led the charge from the front row and never relinquished the lead. The victory at his home race lifted the Honda pilot above the Australian to third in the standings behind compatriot Jorge Lorenzo and champion Valentino Rossi.
Italian Rossi, who clinched his second successive MotoGP title in Malaysia last month, finished second, almost three seconds behind Pedrosa, and Yamaha team mate Lorenzo was third.
Hiroshi Aoyama of Japan clinched the last ever 250cc world title when he recovered from running off the circuit to finish seventh earlier on Sunday.
The Honda rider needed to come in 11th or higher to secure his first championship and the final 250cc title before the category is replaced by the new Moto2 class beginning next year.
He went off the track on lap nine and dropped to 11th, but his task was made easier when title rival Marco Simoncelli crashed out while leading with seven laps left.
Spaniard Hector Barbera won the race, making sure of second place in the championship standings ahead of Gilera rider Simoncelli. Barbera’s compatriot Alvaro Bautista was second and Italy’s Raffaele De Rosa third.
Alex Debon, another Spaniard, was quickest in qualifying on Saturday but crashed late in the session and suffered a suspected broken rib that meant he was unable to race, so Simoncelli started from pole.
In the 125cc category, champion Spaniard Julian Simon just managed to hold off Bancaja teammate Bradley Smith of Britain on the final corner to win by 0.220 seconds, his fourth win in five races.
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