A smashing and crash ridden finale
to the 2018 MotoGP season, Ducati Andrea Dovizioso won the Valencia Grand Prix
turning out to be one of the few riders to actually complete the very wet race.
The rain drenched track made for a
spectacle at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, as the top riders were
pulled out of contention after back-to-back crashes. The race was even stopped
at half-point bringing with the red flag out, only to be started again for a 14
lap stint. Dovizioso ended the season just like he started it - with a win.
However, the race was a game changed for KTM, which saw rider Pol Espargaro
take his and the team's first ever podium in the sport. Suzuki's Alex Rins took
his fifth podium of the season, finishing behind Dovizioso.
The Valencia GP started out wet but
was drying when the race begun. However, it wasn't long before the clouds were
back over the circuit and the track was soaked again. Yamaha's Maverick Vinales
started on pole in a surprise qualifying session, but couldn't hold on to the
lead for long as Rins and Dovi were quick to pass the rider on Turn 2 of the
opening lap. Rins took the lead and was a good 2 seconds clear of Dovi. The
next few laps saw Rins extend his gap further to 4 seconds.
Bringing
an end to a legendary career, Honda's Dani Pedrosa completed his final MotoGP
race in fifth place, ahead of Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami. Tech3 Yamaha's
Johann Zarco and KTM's Smith finished at P7 and P8. Tech3's rookie rider Hafizh
Syahrin finished tenth behind Stefan Bradl, who was standing in for LCR Honda's
Cal Crutchlow. Aprilia's Scott Redding finished 11th, ahead of Ducati's Jorge
Lorenzo and a damaged Yamaha ridden by Rossi. Bautista, who also crashed,
re-mounted to finish 16th, behind Angel Nieto's Karel Abraham, who moves back
to WSBK next year and Jordi Torres.
No comments:
Post a Comment