Lorenzo wins MotoGP finale in Valencia

Jorge Lorenzo has ended his Yamaha tenure with an emphatic victory in the Valencia season finale.

The pole-sitter led for all 30 laps while 2016 world champion Marc Marquez salvaged second after a poor start.

Andrea Iannone’s powerful Ducati took the Italian to third ahead of Valentino Rossi.

Lorenzo, who will join Ducati next year, led the field out of the first corner while Iannone made a demon start from the third row to file in behind #99 Yamaha.

Marquez, on the other hand, did the exact opposite in dropping from second to seventh.

The Repsol Honda rider ran fifth by the end of the opening lap, just behind fellow front row starter Rossi (Yamaha), leaving Lorenzo free to gap the field.

Rossi and Marquez passed Suzuki’s Maverick Viñales on Laps 5 and 6 respectively but faced a far more formidable task in overhauling Iannone.

Rossi overtook his compatriot on Lap 7 but the Yamaha was no match for the Ducati up the main straight.

The two Italians traded blows for several laps before Iannone had to then fend off Marquez, allowing Rossi a reprieve.

However, Iannone re-took second place again on Lap 17, before Marquez put Rossi out of the podium placings two laps later.

The Spaniard aggressively overtook Iannone on Lap 20 and then set after Lorenzo.

While Marquez made major inroads on the man he dethroned as world champion this year, Lorenzo had enough in his pocket to end his nine-year relationship with Yamaha on a high.

“I can relax, I can sleep deep because I had a perfect end with Yamaha,” said the 29 year old, who now joins Ducati after three world championships with the Japanese manufacturer.

“All these nine years, (it’s) very emotional.”

Viñales finished in fifth and Pol Espargaro (Tech 3 Yamaha) a distant sixth after passing a fading Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) on the penultimate lap.

Dovizioso, Aleix Espargaro (Suzuki), Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Yamaha), and Alvaro Bautista (Gresini Aprilia) rounded out the top 10.

Jack Miller (LCR Honda) finished a mixed season with another championship point in 15th, while compatriot Remy Gardner was 18th in Moto2.

KTM’s premier class debut, ahead of a full campaign in 2017, ended in a mid-race retirement for test rider Mika Kallio with a technical issue.

Dani Pedrosa (Honda) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) both crashed out of contention.

Movistar Yamaha claimed the Teams’ Championship and Honda the Constructors’ Championship.

Riders will return to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo for two days of post-season testing from Tuesday, with the 2017 season proper starting in Qatar in late March.

Result: MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	45’54.228
2	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	+1.185
3	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	+6.603
4	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	+7.668
5	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	+10.610
6	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	+18.378
7	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	+18.417
8	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	+18.678
9	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	+25.993
10	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	+35.065
11	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	+36.425
12	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	+42.415
13	Stefan BRADL	GER	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	+49.823
14	Scott REDDING	GBR	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	+52.035
15	Jack MILLER	AUS	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	+55.625
16	Eugene LAVERTY	IRL	Pull & Bear Aspar Team	Ducati	+58.254
17	Tito RABAT	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	+58.555
18	Loris BAZ	FRA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	+1’06.164
DNF	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	11 Laps
DNF	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	LCR Honda	Honda	14 Laps
DNF	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	24 Laps
DNF	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Pull & Bear Aspar Team	Ducati	26 Laps

Championship Standings

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Points
1	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	278
2	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	236
3	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	208
4	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	191
5	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	162
6	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	155
7	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	141
8	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	124
9	Hector BARBERA	SPA	97
10	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	96
11	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	85
12	Eugene LAVERTY	IRL	77
13	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	76
14	Scott REDDING	GBR	72
15	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	71
16	Stefan BRADL	GER	60
17	Jack MILLER	AUS	56
18	Bradley SMITH	GBR	55
19	Michele PIRRO	ITA	36
20	Loris BAZ	FRA	35
21	Tito RABAT	SPA	29
22	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	20
23	Katsuyuki NAKASUGA	JPN	5
24	Alex LOWES	GBR	3
25	Hiroshi AOYAMA	JPN	1
26	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	1
27	Mike JONES	AUS	1