World MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo was denied a victorious season finale on home soil when he crashed out while leading an incident-packed Valencia Grand Prix on Sunday to hand victory to fellow-Spaniard Dani Pedrosa.
Yamaha rider Lorenzo, who clinched his second world title two weeks ago at Phillip Island, lost control of his machine with around 17 laps remaining and catapulted off the track to leave Honda’s Pedrosa with a comfortable lead over Briton Cal Crutchlow in third.
Lorenzo was able to walk away from the accident and did not appear to have sustained any injuries.
Photo: Reuters
Crutchlow crashed with seven laps left and Pedrosa cruised to victory, almost 40 seconds ahead of Japanese Yamaha rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga in second.
Pedrosa’s Honda teammate Casey Stoner, in the Australian double world champion’s final race before retiring, pipped Yamaha’s Alvaro Bautista to third a further 23 seconds back.
In a chaotic start to the 18th and final race of the season, several riders including Pedrosa had to change to bikes with slick tires after they realized on the warm-up lap that the track was quickly drying out after a damp morning.
Lorenzo already had his slick tires and raced into an early lead before Pedrosa, who had started from the pit lane after the tire change, climbed more than 15 positions in only seven laps and hauled him in.
“It was quite exciting at the start as some riders had slicks and others had wet tires,” Pedrosa said in an interview with Spanish television.
“When we did the warm-up lap I realized I needed the slicks,” he said. “I have never started from the pit lane before and I was full of doubts.”
“I made a mistake when I was right behind Jorge and then he made one himself. It’s fantastic to win the last race,” he said.
The Honda mechanics paid tribute to Stoner as he crossed the line and hung out a sign reading “Going fishing” for the 27-year-old, a possible hint of how he may fill some of his time after falling out of love with the sport.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to