Casey Stoner - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Casey Stoner sent out an ominous message to the MotoGP field with a stunning lap time on the final day of the Malaysia test. The world champion was the only man to go under the two minute barrier after easing the chatter issues on his RC213V.

Kuala Lumpur’s famously torrential rain returned in the afternoon, preventing anyone from bettering Stoner’s time and Jorge Lorenzo was forced to make do with second, half a second adrift. The Spaniard was nevertheless happy with the session overall and is already looking forward to the next test in three and a half weeks’ time.

The top two were followed by their respective teammates with Dani Pedrosa and Ben Spies third and fourth while Valentino Rossi was fifth to bring an encouraging debut run for the GP12 to an end. The Ducati star was optimistic at the end of the day that the front end problems with the bike may finally be a thing of the past.

Hector Barbera confirmed the GP12’s improved pace with sixth while the Tech 3 Yamahas of Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso were seventh and eighth. Alvaro Bautista was ninth for San Carlo Gresini while Nicky Hayden battled through shoulder pain to take tenth.

Stefan Bradl’s solid start to his MotoGP career continued with 11^th while Karel Abraham completed the regular 1000cc riders. Test riders Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Franco Battaini were next up while Colin Edwards got a 2:04.722 out of his Forward Racing Suter-BMW, comfortably outpacing fellow CRT runners Avintia Racing who were a full eight seconds off the pace.

Testing resumes at the Sepang circuit for three more days of running, starting on February 28^th.

MotoGP Testing – Malaysia (Day Two Result)

Alvaro Bautista - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Alvaro Bautista feels he is growing with confidence on the new 1000cc Honda RC213V after riding it for the second time in testing at Sepang. The San Carlo Honda Gresini rider concentrated on improving his consistency over longer runs on Wednesday and was happy to see the lap times come down, ending up ninth quickest.

“The second day of the test has seen us improve our lap times slightly but above all put together a consistent pace over a series of outings. Today I had more confidence with the bike and I was able to push with more conviction, which I am particularly pleased about. We have tried some things with the electronics and some setting solutions that will give us an idea of what we need to do tomorrow. I am sure that we can improve the bike and my riding significantly. Obviously I need to get used to riding a ‘thousand’ because it has different characteristics to an 800, mainly in that it has more power and you have to use that in a different way.”

The Spaniard also complimented his new team who are operating at the Kuala Lumpur circuit for the first time since Marco Simoncelli’s tragic death in October.

“I have been able to see how professional this team is. They are doing a great job so that gives me confidence for tomorrow, when we will try to take another step forward,” he commented.

Ben Spies - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Yamaha Factory riders Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo were satisfied with the progress being made after finishing day two of the Sepang test in second and third respectively. Spies topped the timesheets for much of the day before being usurped by Casey Stoner but remained happy with his day’s work.

“We got going pretty well in the morning, then even when the track started to slow down the pace was still really good. We started to mess with the balance of the bike a little today and played with the electronics to find a good foundation with the bike. At Valencia we compared some stuff and got in the right direction. Now we’re here and taking the next step, trying some things to see how it affects the set up. There’s definitely some room for improvement and some areas we’re not struggling with at all.”

Teammate Lorenzo was the fastest man on track yesterday and trailed Stoner by less than two tenths on Tuesday. The Spaniard admitted he didn’t feel as fresh in the sweltering heat but nevertheless was pleased with the performance of the new YZR-M1.

“Today I was much more tired than yesterday so it was tough to finish with a good pace but we managed it. We didn’t find any big improvements but some small details. Tomorrow we hope to make one big step. We improved our lap times a lot in the morning but in the afternoon when it was even hotter we managed to go faster which is very positive.”

Casey Stoner - Photo Credit: Repsol Honda Team

Casey Stoner says the Repsol Honda team still have plenty to work on despite setting the pace on day two of the Official MotoGP test in Malaysia. The World Champion could only manage four laps due to a strained muscle in his back yesterday but was back to full fitness today, completing 29 laps aboard the RC213V.

Stoner admitted he would like to have completed more mileage but feels there is plenty to look forward to, and to work on, with the new Honda.

“It was great to be able to ride today and everything went pretty well, although I would have liked to have done a few more laps. We spent most of the day on the new chassis comparing it back to back with the one we had in Valencia and we found a good direction and where we want to go. As usual it would be great to take some elements from one chassis and some from the other, but at least we found the direction we are happy to follow. We used the hard front tyre this afternoon but found we had more chattering with it so we have to work on this, there is still room for improvement. We didn’t get a chance to use the new spec tyres that Bridgestone have brought here, we’ll try them out tomorrow and go from there”.

Teammate Dani Pedrosa was fourth fastest, six tenths down on Stoner and was also cautiously optimistic with one day of the test remaining.

“Today we started to work well from the beginning; the track conditions were better than yesterday and it was hotter out there. We’ve been working on the setting of the bike, focusing mainly on the braking and reducing chatter, to improve the stability on the entry of the corners, that’s our main target right now. We made some comparisons between the two chassis’ and we will keep working with the bike and see what can we do before choosing. We have one more day, so we’ll try some other things with the shocks, this could help, and also different tyre pressures, we will see. I didn’t do many laps during the day, but now it’s time to test as much as possible and sometimes you have to spend more time in the garage, it’s normal. The new Bridgestone tyres are working ok, I just tried one hard on the rear but I didn’t have much grip and the soft ones are working better, even for the endurance they don’t look so bad”.

Casey Stoner - Photo Credit: Repsol Honda Team

Casey Stoner took over at the top of the timesheets as testing ahead of the new MotoGP season continued in Malaysia. The reigning world champion strained a muscle in his back yesterday and completed just four laps but returned to action today, beating Yamaha duo Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo.

Stoner shaved three quarters of a second off Lorenzo’s benchmark time from yesterday as he carried out a chassis comparison between his two RC213V machines. Spies and Lorenzo were both within two tenths of Stoner’s time while Dani Pedrosa was fourth quickest after having chattering issues on his bike.

Cal Crutchlow’s impressive start to 2012 continued, ending the day in fifth place and outpacing new teammate Andrea Dovizioso for the second day running. Hector Barbera was sixth fastest on the leading Ducati GP12 while Valentino Rossi improved on his Tuesday time by half a second to take seventh.

Alvaro Bautista also made improvements as he got to grips with the 1000cc Honda, ending the day in eighth, with Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden completing the top ten. MotoGP rookie Stefan Bradl outpaced Karel Abraham once again to take 11^th with Yamaha and Ducati’s test riders following them in the pecking order.

The Claiming Rules teams were well off the pace again although Colin Edwards did find over two and a half seconds on his Tuesday best. Avintia Racing continued to have a tough baptism, with pace and reliability continuing to desert them.

MotoGP Testing – Malaysia (Day Two Result)

Jorge Lorenzo - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies were both impressed with the performance of the new YZR-M1 on the opening day of testing in Malaysia. Between them, the pair 58 laps of the Sepang circuit, finishing first and fourth respectively.

With the number one plate having switched to Casey Stoner’s Honda, Lorenzo is keen to give him a run for his money in 2012 and sees plenty of room for improvement in his new bike.

“I’m very happy with today. For the first ride on the bike in some time, it’s been very positive. Yamaha has worked very hard over the winter for this M1. I can see very easily where I have to adapt my riding style for the bike and I can see a lot of potential. We have many areas where we can improve so I’m looking forward to beginning again tomorrow. I’m also very happy that my finger is fine and doesn’t affect my riding at all!”

Teammate Spies was equally impressed and paid tribute to the Yamaha team for their effort in producing the new motorcycle.

“I’m happy, it was fun to get back on the bike today, I haven’t ridden any type of motorcycle since Valencia. It didn’t take too long to knock the rust off, we tried a few things in set up and every step we did made small improvements. We have a lot to do in the next couple of days and a lot more in the second test. It’s been a confidence inspiring start, Yamaha have put in a lot of effort for this season so we’ll work day by day to be even better.”

Alvaro Bautista - Photo Credit: Gresini Racing

Alvaro Bautista had great cause for optimism after the opening day’s testing in Malaysia after finishing ninth quickest. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s new signing rode the 1000cc Honda RC213V for the first time and completed over two full race distances around the Sepang circuit.

Bautista commented that he felt at home on the new bike immediately and expects to make great strides as he continues to improve the machine over the next two days.

“This was my first day on the RC213V and I am very pleased with it because I instantly felt comfortable riding a ‘thousand’. Obviously after a three-month break from racing it is not easy to get back out there because you have to reset your mind and body to the task and rediscover your pace. We have worked on adapting the bike to my riding style and I have just tried to get confident without worrying about lap times at this early stage. I am satisfied because I am working well with the team and everybody is putting in a lot of effort. Over the next two days we will work on general set-up and the electronics but I am already feeling positive because we are not too far off the fastest times and we haven’t started pushing yet.”

The Italian team had good news to report off the track too with the announcement of a technical collaboration with Showa, a revival of a previously successful partnership. The Japanese company will provide technical support to Gresini’s MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 squads and team owner Fausto Gresini has welcomed the news.

“To link up again with an important technical partner like Showa is a source of pride and great satisfaction for Team San Carlo Honda Gresini. We have enjoyed significant success together in the past and we hope to recreate that winning feeling again with this new deal. The technical support of a partner such as Showa is fundamental in MotoGP but especially so with additional projects such as CRT, Moto 2 and Moto3. We are sure that we can create a positive technical synergy with Showa that translates into top results on the track.”

Jorge Lorenzo - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Jorge Lorenzo set the pace on Tuesday in Malaysia as the MotoGP teams kicked off the first official test of 2012. At such an early stage, it’s dangerous to read too much into the quickest times but the Spaniard will surely have been encouraged to be within two tenths of last year’s pole position time on his 1000cc Yamaha.

Dani Pedrosa was the nearest competition in second for Repsol Honda while two more YZR-M1s completed the top four in the shape of Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow and Ben Spies on the second factory bike.

Ducati fans will have been nervously waiting to see where Valentino Rossi placed on the opening day and the initial signs were positive. This time last year, the Italian was the thick end of two seconds away from the pacesetters but the gap was only 0.735s this time, and his 2:02.392 was faster than he went at any stage at this track during October’s GP weekend.

Hector Barbera took his Pramac Racing GP12 to seventh place, just behind Andrea Dovizioso while Alvaro Bautista ended up ninth after his first day on the Honda RC213V. The fit-again Nicky Hayden was tenth quickest ahead of Moto2 champion Stefan Bradl and Cardion Ducati’s Karel Abraham but Casey Stoner was only 14^th after an injured muscle whilst warming up restricted him to four laps.

Unsurprisingly, the three ‘CRT’ runners brought up the rear as they continued preparations for their debut MotoGP seasons. Forward Racing were the quickest thanks to Colin Edwards, albeit six seconds down on Lorenzo, while Jordi Torres and Ivan Silva were even further back on Avintia Racing’s BQR-FTR machine.

MotoGP Testing – Malaysia (Day One Result)

Dani Pedrosa - Photo Credit: Repsol Honda

Dani Pedrosa is preparing himself for a voyage of discovery when the first official MotoGP test of 2012 gets underway in Malaysia on Tuesday. The Repsol Honda team launched the 1000cc RC213V in Kuala Lumpur today and have set their sights on retaining the rider’s, constructor’s and manufacturer’s titles they clinched last year.

With the engine capacity changing for 2012, Pedrosa expects the first test to be a learning experience as the team gets to grips with the new spec of motorcycle.

“It’s nice to be back with the team for the first Sepang test. I’m really excited to get on the bike again after the test we did in Valencia in November. Sepang is a good track for testing and we have still many things to discover out about the new bike. It’s been a long time since we were last riding and at the first test it’s always important to get the feeling back, the first sensations.”

“We will have three long days here to work with the team and HRC and it’s necessary to be very focused in order to get good information to move forward for the second test. I guess the main target in this test will be to know the bike and the new Bridgestone tyres”.

Casey Stoner - Photo Credit: Repsol Honda

Casey Stoner is fully expecting his chief rivals to be back to their best in the coming season after he waltzed to the 2011 MotoGP World Championship. The Australian took the title by 90 points as Yamaha and particularly Ducati struggled in the final year of the 800cc bikes.

But it’s all change for 2012 with the introduction of 1000cc machines and speaking at the launch of the Honda RC213V, the World Champion doesn’t expect to have it all his own way this time around.

“We know there will be a lot of serious competition out there, Ducati have been putting a lot of effort in as have Yamaha so it will be interesting to get out on track and see what everyone’s got. However, it’s early days and I think we’ll have to wait until the race in Qatar before we really know our competitors true pace and the package they have for 2012, but we’re ready for it.”

2012 also promises to be a special year off the track for Stoner with wife Adriana expected to give birth to their first child in the coming weeks.

“The off season has been really good, we got to go back home and spend some time with family and friends in Australia over Christmas which was great”, he said. “Then we came back to Switzerland to get everything in order for the baby’s arrival, Adriana’s due in just a few weeks and so we’ve been preparing, as best possible! After such a strong season in 2011, we remain focused and don’t expect to be in top form immediately. I am sure Honda have done a fantastic job with the new 1000cc machine over the winter break and I’m really looking forward to getting back on the bike and seeing what we can do, hoping to start strong again.”

The launch of the Repsol Honda RC213V - Photo Credit: Repsol Honda

Honda Racing Corporation’s Executive Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto has promised that his team will not be taking their feet off the gas as they prepare to defend their MotoGP World Championships. The Japanese outfit claimed the manufacturer’s crown with Casey Stoner and the Repsol Honda team clinching the Rider’s and Constructor’s crowns respectively.

And speaking at the launch of the 1000cc RC213V, Nakamoto has stressed that nothing less will be seen as satisfactory in 2012.

“We start this new 2012 season with a clear target: to work stronger than ever to defend our MotoGP World titles in this new 1000cc category. We finished the 800cc era winning the triple crown and we will fight to win this again in 2012. We fully trust in our riders Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa to deliver this big challenge and we will give them all our technical and human support. The RC213V is an evolution of the last version of the RC212V based on the same concept. The machines we have brought here to Sepang are basically the same machines we tested in Valencia back in November with only a few differences. In fact, Casey and Dani will have one machine the same as Valencia, and the other one with a slightly different chassis, based on their own requests.”

This week, the MotoGP fraternity are testing at Sepang in Malaysia, the first time they’ve visited the circuit since Marco Simoncelli’s tragic death there in October. Nakamoto has spoken of the emotional tribute the team paid upon arrival.

“This is the first time back to Sepang since we lost Marco Simoncelli last October, on Sunday we visited the scene of his accident and laid some flowers and said a final ‘Ciao’ to him. I believe by starting this season strong will be a fitting tribute to Marco”.

The MotoGP race gets underway at Misano - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Grid numbers in MotoGP will be at a four year high in 2012 after the FIM’s provisional entry list revealed 21 riders for the upcoming season. Not since 2007 have this many riders entered the opening race and the boost in competitors is largely down to the introduction of Claiming Rules Teams.

Nine of the bikes will be running to CRT regulations, with a number of teams entering the premier class for the first time. BQR, running under the Avintia Racing banner, will have two FTR-Kawasakis for Ivan Silva and Moto2 graduate Yonny Hernandez while Ioda Racing Project will run Danilo Petrucci with their own chassis powered by an Aprilia RSV4 engine. Speed Master, another outfit with a proven track record in the support series, will also have Aprilia power supporting Anthony West. Moto2 squad Forward Racing were one of the first to announce a CRT plan and will have the best possible rider for the new adventure in the ultra-experienced Colin Edwards.

The CRT project has also given British fans an extra name to cheer with Paul Bird Motorsport joining the Grand Prix fraternity. Their rider is no stranger to the paddock although James Ellison will have his work cut out after five years away.

Existing teams have also gone the CRT route with Aspar joining forces with Aprilia to provide two bikes for Randy de Puniet and Aleix Espargaro while Gresini will field Michele Pirro on an FTR-Honda.

Gresini will also have a 1000cc challenger with Alvaro Bautista entrusted with the Honda RC213V originally assigned to Marco Simoncelli prior to his tragic death but the title fight looks set to be between the big three manufacturers and their works outfits.

The entry list confirmed that Casey Stoner will wear the number one plate on his Repsol Honda and will just have one teammate this time in Dani Pedrosa. Yamaha retain Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies while the under-pressure Ducati team will be expected to provide Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden with better machinery this time.

The satellite teams see some rider changes with Andrea Dovizioso joining Cal Crutchlow at Tech 3 Yamaha, Hector Barbera staying on a Ducati although this time in Pramac colours, and Moto2 champion Stefan Bradl replacing his predecessor at LCR Honda. Karel Abraham completes the line-up on the fourth GP12 Ducati.

The season starts in Qatar at the Losail International Circuit on April 8th.

MotoGP 2012 – Provisional Entry List

No.	Rider	Motorcycle	Team
1	Casey Stoner	Honda	Honda Team
4	Andrea Dovizioso	Yamaha	Yamaha Tech 3
5	Colin Edwards	ART*	Forward Racing
6	Stefan Bradl	Honda	LCR Honda MotoGP
8	Hector Barbera	Ducati	Pramac Racing Team
9	Danilo Petrucci	Ioda*	Ioda Racing Project
11	Ben Spies	Yamaha	Yamaha Factory Racing
13	Anthony West	ART*	Speed Master
14	Randy de Puniet	ART*	Aspar Team MotoGP
17	Karel Abraham	Ducati	Cardion AB Motoracing
19	Alvaro Bautista	Honda	Honda Gresini
20	Aleix Espargaro	ART*	Aspar Team MotoGP
22	Ivan Silva	BQR-FTR*	Avintia Racing
26	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	Honda Team
35	Cal Crutchlow	Yamaha	Yamaha Tech 3
46	Valentino Rossi	Ducati	Ducati Team
51	Michele Pirro	FTR*	Honda Gresini
68	Yonny Hernandez	BQR-FTR*	Avintia Racing
69	Nicky Hayden	Ducati	Ducati Team
77	James Ellison	ART*	Paul Bird Racing
99	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	Yamaha Factory Racing
*CRT (Claiming Rules Entrant)

Rea (centre) after winning the World Supersport race at Brno last year (Photo Credit: WSBK)

Britain will have three riders on the grid in Moto2 next year after the news that Gino Rea will ride for Gresini Racing in 2012. The Londoner tested for the Italian team in November and will make his debut in the intermediate class after being named on the FIM entry list today.

While Rea gets to grips with Grand Prix racing, Bradley Smith and Scott Redding will have their eyes on the top step of the podium. Redding’s Marc VDS team have swapped the Suter chassis for the Kalex which won the championship last year and the 19 year old will hope it leads to an upturn in fortunes after a tough season in 2011.

Meanwhile, Smith impressed in his rookie year which included a superb mid-season run of three consecutive podium finishes. His place on the 2013 MotoGP grid is already secured but this year, the Oxford youngster stays with Tech 3’s Moto2 squad and will look to start winning races.

Looking at the entry list, Marc Marquez has to go down as favourite given Stefan Bradl’s graduation to MotoGP. The Spaniard has the powerful support of Monlau Competicion and Suter and will be the man to beat, assuming he’s fully fit.

His greatest threat may also come from a Suter rider with 2010 champion Toni Elias making his return to the series with Aspar. Despite a nightmare year in the premier class, the 28 year old is a proven force at this level. The same can be said for Andrea Iannone and Alex De Angelis, who were third and fourth last year, but both have changed bikes for 2012. The Italian has reverted back to FTR after a year with Suter while De Angelis has gone the other way, joining the Suter-backed Forward Racing team after riding the Motobi last year.

As ever, the Moto2 grid is spiced up by newcomers from the 125cc class and many will be watching reigning champion Nicolas Terol who joins Elias at Aspar. Johann Zarco, his title rival from 2011, maybe a thorn in his side again after taking up the vacant seat at JIR. His teammate will be Eric Granado but not immediately as the Brazilian is still five months short of the minimum age of 16 and will not be allowed to race until Silverstone.

Another name that stands out from the 32-rider field is Elena Rosell who will get a full season after couple of wildcard appearances last year. She will partner Ricard Cardus at the QMMF Racing Team.

Moto2 2012 – Provisional Entry List

No.	Rider	Constructor	Team
3	Simone Corsi	FTR	Ioda Racing Project
4	Randy Krummenacher	Suter	GP Team Switzerland
5	Johann Zarco	Motobi	JIR Moto2
7	Alexander Lundh	MZ-RE Honda	MZ Racing Team
8	Gino Rea	Moriwaki	Gresini Racing Moto2
9	Kenny Noyes	TBA	Arguiñano Racing Team
12	Thomas Luthi	Suter	Interwetten-Paddock Moto2
14	Ratthapark Wilairot	Moriwaki	Gresini Racing Moto2
15	Alex De Angelis	Suter	Forward Racing
18	Nicolas Terol	Suter	Aspar Team Moto2
19	Xavier Simeon	Tech 3	Tech 3 Racing
24	Toni Elias	Suter	Aspar Team Moto2
29	Andrea Iannone	FTR	Speed Master
30	Takaaki Nakagami	Kalex	Italtrans Racing Team
36	Mika Kallio	Kalex	Marc VDS Racing Team
38	Bradley Smith	Tech 3	Tech 3 Racing
40	Pol Espargaro	Pons Kalex	Pons Racing
44	Roberto Rolfo	Suter	Technomag-CIP
45	Scott Redding	Kalex	Marc VDS Racing Team
47	Angel Rodriguez	FTR	SAG Team
49	Axel Pons	Pons Kalex	Pons Racing
57	Eric Granado	Motobi	JIR Moto2
60	Julian Simon	FTR	Avintia Racing
63	Mike Di Meglio	FTR	Speed Up
71	Claudio Corti	Kalex	Italtrans Racing Team
72	Yuki Takahashi	Suter	Forward Racing
73	Max Neukirchner	Kalex	Kiefer Racing
77	Dominique Aegerter	Suter	Technomag-CIP
80	Esteve Rabat	Pons Kalex	Pons Racing
82	Elena Rosell	Moriwaki	QMMF Racing Team
88	Ricard Cardus	Moriwaki	QMMF Racing Team
93	Marc Marquez	Suter	Monlau Competicion
n/a	TBA	FTR	SAG Team

Alan Techer tests his Moto3 machine at Valencia - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

The Moto3 class will have a strong field of competitors for its inaugural season after the FIM published a 32-man entry list on Friday. The 250cc four-stroke category replaces the old 125cc class and despite 2011 champion Nicolas Terol’s move up to Moto2, there are plenty of big names with their sights set on Moto3 glory.

Four Grand Prix winners are among the list with Hector Faubel the most successful, boasting eight victories while German duo Jonas Folger and Sandro Cortese also have GP wins to their name. Folger will be the sole entrant for German manufacturer MZ while Cortese will have the hopes of the returning KTM on his shoulders. The 22 year old will also face pressure from within as Danny Kent gets his chance on a factory-spec motorcycle with the Red Bull KTM Ajo team.

Avintia Racing’s Maverick Vinales is likely to start as favourite after a stunning rookie season last year. The BQR squad will run an FTR chassis with Honda power as they look to power the 17 year old to the title. The Spaniard will be joined on the 2012 grid by his older cousin Isaac Vinales while Miguel Oliveira will look to renew their rivalry after signing for Monlau Competicion.  Alex Rins, the man who succeeded Maverick as Spanish champion, will make his Grand Prix debut alongside him.

Danny Webb is back as Mahindra gear up for their second season at World Championship level but there is no place for Harry Stafford who impressed last year, not yet anyway, meaning just the two British riders appear on the current entry list.

In total, five rookies will line up on the grid with six others starting their first full seasons, ensuring the new junior class will retain its status as the proving ground for future Grand Prix stars.

Moto3 2012 – Provisional Entry List

No.	Rider	Motorcycle	Team
3	Luigi Morciano	Ioda	Ioda Racing Project
5	Romano Fenati	Ioda	Team Italia FMI
7	Efren Vazquez	Honda	Team Laglisse
8	Jack Miller	Honda	Techno Racing
9	Toni Finsterbusch	Honda	Racing Team Germany
10	Alexis Masbou	Honda	Techno Racing
11	Sandro Cortese	KTM	Red Bull KTM Ajo
14	Brad Binder	Kalex KTM	RW Racing GP
19	Alessandro Tonucci	Ioda	Team Italia FMI
23	Alberto Moncayo	Kalex KTM	Aspar Team
25	Maverick Viñales	FTR Honda	Avintia Racing
26	Adrian Martin	Honda	Team Laglisse
27	Niccolo Antonelli	Honda	Gresini Racing Moto3
30	Giulian Pedone	Oral	Phonica Racing
31	Niklas Ajo	KTM	TT Motion Events Racing
32	Isaac Viñales	Honda	Ongetta-Centro Seta
39	Luis Salom	Kalex KTM	RW Racing GP
42	Alex Rins	Honda	Monlau Competicion
44	Miguel Oliveira	Honda	Monlau Competicion
51	Kenta Fujii	Honda	Technomag-CIP
52	Danny Kent	KTM	Red Bull KTM Ajo
53	Jasper Iwema	FGR Honda	Moto FGR
55	Hector Faubel	Kalex KTM	Aspar Team
61	Arthur Sissis	KTM	Red Bull KTM Ajo
63	Zulfahmi Khairuddin	KTM	AirAsia-Sic-Ajo
77	Marcel Schrotter	Mahindra	Mahindra Racing
84	Jakub Kornfeil	Honda	Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta
89	Alan Techer	Honda	Technomag-CIP
94	Jonas Folger	MZ	MZ Racing Team
95	Miroslav Popov	Oral	Phonica Racing
96	Louis Rossi	Honda	Racing Team Gery
99	Danny Webb	Mahindra	Mahindra Racing

Jorge Lorenzo - Photo Credit: Yamaha

Jorge Lorenzo got his first taste of the new Buddh International Circuit on Wednesday, a possible venue for the MotoGP World Championship in the future. The Yamaha team leader took time out from meeting fans and media at the Auto Expo to visit the new facility, completing a lap on board a Yamaha R15.

The track, owned by the Jaypee Group, played host to its first Formula One Grand Prix last year and after sampling it for himself, Lorenzo thinks it would be a welcome addition to the MotoGP calendar.

“It’s been great to visit the Buddh circuit today. The track is very modern and wide. I think it is quite prepared and ready to be on the calendar. I believe it will be exciting to ride with many overtaking opportunities. The Indian people I have met have been very kind and gentle, I would like to see more of India in the future with more time; we didn’t get to see so much in just two days here. Now I’m very excited to go to Jakarta to see all my Indonesian fans there.”

Lorenzo will be joined in Jakarta by teammate Ben Spies this weekend and the pair will be eagerly anticipating the first test of 2012 in Malaysia on January 31^st.

Nine winners of 2011, and tributes to two who lost their lives aiming to join them

The twelve months of 2011 have been twelve months of contrasts, a twelve months packed with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Now, having looked back over the previous year the writers of The Checkered Flag look forward at what the 2012 racing season could bring with new driver line-ups and regulations.

Peter Allen

Intra-team battles ad Force India and Toro Rosso
The two midfield F1 squads have gone with potential over experience for their 2012 driver lineups. The stakes are potentially very high for the drivers at both teams, with Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg eyeing any seat that becomes available at Mercedes, while Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne will fight it out to become Mark Webber’s replacement at Red Bull. All four are highly-rated, and it will be fascinating to see what happens at both teams.

Toro Rosso teammates and F1 new boys Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne - one battle to watch in 2012

David Bean

Someone to match Vettel?
Sticking to F1, most fans will be looking for the emergence of a challenger to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull. Will one of the McLaren pairing, or even Fernando Alonso at Ferrari, be able to stop next season becoming as one-sided as it was in 2011? It will also be interesting to see how Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean do at Renault, and how the exciting young talent – the likes of Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Eric Vergne and Charles Pic – manage in their first full seasons as F1 drivers.

Josh Bell

Formula One 2012
I have two, so forgive me for being greedy. The battle at Toro Rosso between their new driver line up of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne will be extremely intense, particularly as one of them may land themselves a Red Bull seat if Mark Webber departs at the end of 2012. Secondly, I am optimistic of five teams challenging for the Formula One World Championship next season. Or maybe I am just a romantic? Merry Christmas readers!

James Broomhead

NGTC comes of age
Nationally I think the BTCC is headed for another superb year. The second half of the year was the NGTC-spec cars coming out party, and in 2012 it will be interesting to see some more of the potential of the new cars when Honda roll out the new Civic. How their efforts – with Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden compare to the teams with a whole year of NGTC trouble-shooting behind them – is just another facet in a year that could bring even more manufacturers in even bigger grids.  

Andy Champness

Challengers to Team Vodafone
The V8 Supercars has again shown it’s the best touring car series in the world, so more of the same please! Team Vodafone dominated the 2011 season, but I think teams such as Stone Brothers Racing and Ford Performance Racing will up their game and close the gap in 2012. Look out for the likes of Tim Slade, David Reynolds and in particular Shane van Gisbergen who this year won his first race at his home event in New Zealand and backed it up in Darwin to finish fourth in this year’s championship. These are the sport’s new generation, young drivers who showed in 2011 that they have the talent and ability to pose a genuine threat to the more established stars.

Mark Foley

The Young(er) Blood
Formula Renault 2.0 champion Alex Lynn and the imaginatively named Carlos Sainz Jr. join the ranks of British Formula 3 for 2012, and both could be potential headaches for the more experienced British F3 runners cracking their knuckles as they eye the 2012 title. Lynn has BRDC and FIA Excellence Academy support behind him, whilst Sainz Jr. comes ominously armed with Red Bull backing, adding pressure, removing excuses and drawing plenty of keen eyes onto the youngsters tipped for future stardom.

Formula Renault UK champion Alex Lynn - one of the drivers set to make the 2012 British Formula Three Championship a year to remember

Chris Gurton

What To Look For Next Year – National racing and beyond
For me there are a number of things to look for next year. After the teething troubles of the new NGTC cars in the BTCC, a more level playing field next season and a big field should lead to an exciting championship. On the subject of touring cars, it will be interesting to see how Arena Motorsport and Special Tuning Racing cope with the step up to WTCC.

After an extremely close fought title battle in British GT, next seasons Championship will no doubt be an equally exciting and close fight. Look out for the new look Ginetta G55 GT3 and the Aston Martin V12 Vantage adding to the array of stunning cars throughout the field. For fans of endurance racing, the new World Endurance Championships should be something to look out for too.

Also, with driver moves and deals still being confirmed within Formula One, an exciting new driver to keep an eye out for is Jean Eric-Vergne. The Frenchman showed true class in the 2010 British F3 Championships on his way to the title and runner up at the end of a season in formula Renault 3.5 has shown his ability. With the backing and support of Red Bull, could he be the new Sebastian Vettel? 

Leigh O’Gorman

What To Look For In 2012 – The World Endurance Championship
The emergence of the World Endurance Championship may not just be “the thing to look for in 2012”, but rather the biggest motorsport news of the decade. Since the WEC was announced at Le Mans, manufacturers have either thrown their hat into the ring or are weighing up future participation in a series that may – realistically – have far more relevance to the automotive industry than Formula 1 could ever dream of. Also, a nod to Tony Fernandes, who continues to raise the profile of motor racing in Asia, by organising national and club championships in emerging territories.

Simon Paice

What to look for in 2012 -Ginetta Juniors
In 2012, I’m really excited for the Ginetta Junior Championship. 2011 saw the teenage racers once again produce superb racing and while Seb Morris dominated, the likes of Niall Murray, Charlie Robertson, George Gamble and Sennan Fielding emerged as top talent. With some of them returning to join the usual influx of exciting new rookies, it is sure to be a fascinating, must watch 2012 season in the G40′s.

Also something I’m really looking forward to seeing is Petter Solberg in a Ford in the WRC, taking it to the Citroens and hopefully picking up a second world title.

Vince Pettit

British Superbikes
The 2012 season in British Superbikes looks set to be another great championship battle, defending champion joined by Isle of Man record breaker Ian Hutchinson, the Swan Yamaha team will be hard to beat. Although with that said that the PBM squad have assembled a strong team with the likes of Shakey Byrne and Stuart Easton. TAS Suzuki will also feature with Alastair Seeley looking to continue his momentum in the main class after securing the National Superstock 1000 and British Supersport titles in 2009 and this season respectively.

Louis Suddaby

A New Era Begins
2012 sees the introduction of CRT (Claiming Rule Teams) in MotoGP and a glimpse into the future of the premier class of motorcycle racing. Don’t expect too much too soon but this new philosophy had to happen, if anything to give us more bikes to look at. Moto3 will replace the 125cc class and unpredictability is the only certainty while EVO rules will now effectively be standard in the British Superbike Championship, surely producing another open season. 2012 will also be a huge year for Valentino Rossi. Surely Ducati will get it right this time?

Scott Wilkes

New regulations in BTCC and MotoGP
In the BTCC, the NGTC cars that started to make a surge to the front of the pack at the end of this season should be a preview of what’s to come this season, and it should be an even better season for close racing than we have just seen.

In MotoGP, the withdrawal of Suzuki and the arrival of the CRT machines should herald the start of an interesting shakeup in the sport. With the addition of the new standardised Moto3 series replacing the 125cc Championship, I am expecting the same level of competition as we saw in the spectacular Moto2 championship this year.

As for a rider/driver to look out for, it has to be Marc Marquez. After a poor start to last season, I wasn’t expecting much more from the young Spaniard. However, as happens most times with myself, I was proved wrong, and Marquez started a brilliant resurgence which left him a position to possibly win the championship at the final race, only to be ruled out by injury.

Andrea Dovizioso - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Andrea Dovizioso may miss the opening test of 2012 after breaking his right collarbone in a motocross accident. The 25 year old confirmed the news on his personal Twitter account and has just over three weeks to be fit for the three-day test at Sepang which starts on January 31^st.

Dovizioso has signed to ride for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad alongside Cal Crutchlow and the team are yet to comment on the estimated recovery time, or whether their testing plans have changed.

The Italian joins Nicky Hayden on the injured list after the Ducati rider broke his shoulder while training for the new season in Kentucky. With both injuries taking place during the off-season, riders’ activities during the winter have come under scrutiny.

Dovizioso himself raced a Ford Fiesta RS at the Bologna Motor Show in December, losing to Petter Solberg in the final of the Memorial Bettega rally, while he also joined the likes of Valentino Rossi, Andrea Iannone and Claudio Corti at the Monza Rally Show a month earlier.

But Bradley Smith, who will race for Tech 3 in Moto2 this season, responded via Twitter, pointing out that riders take part in these activities not just for enjoyment and adrenaline, but also to keep themselves sharp during the winter break from competitive racing.

“Do you really think Racers would ride Motocross if we didn’t feel it was of “Benefit” to us. I have ridden some form of Motorcycle from 5years old. You just can’t take that away. If you don’t ride, you don’t understand.”

Alan Techer's Technomag-CIP Moto3 bike fires up at Valencia - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

For 2012, the FIM’s New Year’s resolution must be “out with the old, in with the new.” Since the very first Grand Prix World Championship in 1949, the 125cc class has been an ever-present, setting the likes of Alex Criville, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo on the road to stardom. But as Nicolas Terol joined them on the list of champions, the history book of 125GP racing closed behind him. Enter Moto3.

There was no doubting the 125s’ popularity but as MotoGP Director of Technology Corrado Cecchinelli admitted to MotoGP.com, “for the majority in the real world, nobody is interested in two-stroke engines.” While some may see this as an exaggeration, the popularity and appeal of the two-stroke motorcycle has been in decline over the years. The reason for change doesn’t simply lie with the bike’s popularity though, worldwide financial developments have necessitated the change in philosophy.

MotoGP must move with the times and make sure it is prepared for economic difficulties rather than simply waiting for the harsh reality to smack them in the face and react accordingly. It must also prove it is taking environmental issues seriously. Motorsport will never be 100% green but with the four-stroke’s dedicated lubrication system they are certainly more efficient than the gas-guzzling two-strokes.

The MGP30, Mahindra's Moto3 challenger, but will the new formula work? - Photo Credit: Mahindra

Grid numbers in the premier class have been falling for a while and the junior class hasn’t proven immune either.

The early part of the 21^st century saw Honda, Gilera, Aprilia, KTM and Derbi do battle for superiority but the manufacturers have steadily filtered away. Gileras had all but disappeared by the start of 2006 while there was hardly a Honda in sight by 2008. KTM and Derbi were still around as recently as last year but were distinctly in the minority.

Of the 30 bikes that lined up on the grid in Qatar last year, 23 of them were Aprilias and even fewer represented factory-spec machinery. Ajo Motorsport ran a trio of Derbis with Caretta Technology populating the midfield with a couple of KTMs but that was it, besides the newcomers Mahindra whose entry was all geared towards a Moto3 project. The big hitters simply weren’t building 125cc two strokes any more.

To entice these names back into the sport, a Grand Prix entry needed to be cost effective and that is what Moto3 intends to be. The 250cc, single cylinder, four-stroke engines must cost no more than €12,000 with crankshaft speed limited to 14,000rpm. Any manufacturer looking to provide engines must be prepared to supply up to 15 riders per season. Not only does this encourage the manufacturers to enter, it also gives independent teams the chance to purchase a powerplant to go with their own chassis relatively cheaply. Each bike will have a six-speed gearbox with two ratios allowed per speed, although these must be declared before the season starts.

Crucially, any updates or developments brought by an engine manufacturer during the season must be made available to all customers, eliminating the possibility of an arms race giving the works teams a money-driven advantage.

Looking at the entry list for 2012, the plan seems to have worked with 21 teams planning to field a total of 32 riders between them. KTM have a factory squad involving Sandro Cortese and British youngster Danny Kent while Honda will also heavily involved. The Japanese manufacturer was the first to unveil its 2012 challenger with Alex Criville putting it through its paces at Catalunya in June. Mahindra followed suit on the weekend of last season’s final race and a number of existing 125cc teams have experimented with chassis-engine combinations in testing so far.

KTM are back with a works Moto3 squad which spells good news for Britain's Danny Kent - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Teams from the upper echelons have also bought into the Moto3 project with Gresini preparing a Honda-powered bike for Italian teenager Niccolo Antonelli and Moto2 regulars Technomag-CIP fielding a two man squad. The new technical challenge has also enticed chassis designers such as FTR, Kalex and TSR to prepare a 2012 model, ensuring the first ever Moto3 grid should have nothing if not variety.

The most exciting entry of all comes from Monlau Competicion. The name may not seem immediately familiar but when I tell you they ran in Moto2 under the CatalunyaCaixa Repsol banner last year, almost guiding Marc Marquez to the title, you realise how strong this outfit is. In fact, Emilio Alzamora’s team have led the Moto3 revolution in the Spanish domestic championship.

While leading Alex Rins to the CEV Buckler 125cc title, Monlau also fielded Portuguese sensation Miguel Oliveira on a Moto3-spec bike (legal in the 2011 Spanish championship) and even tasted victory late in the season. Both Rins and Oliveira will represent Monlau this season and in a year where everything is unknown, perhaps they have already stolen a march.

Miguel Oliveira became the first man to win a CEV Buckler race on board a Moto3 bike at Valencia in November - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Turn the clock back two years and uncertainty surrounded the debut of Moto2, the replacement for the 250cc class, but what followed was sensational racing, healthy grid numbers and as many as 20 bikes covered by a single second on the stopwatch. Moto3 will hope to replicate this and has taken steps to keep the competition close.

Dunlop will supply a control tyre, as they have in Moto2, while Dell’Orto will provide electronic control units for the entire field. eni will be the sole fuel and lubricants provider, also fulfilling the role they already have in the intermediate class. The bike/rider combination will weigh a minimum of 148kg and with the changes to the engines used in 125, the importance of a riders’ weight will reduce. No longer will tiny riders gain a speed advantage over their taller rivals, again levelling the playing field.

The hope is that this new series will close the gap between the three classes, giving the stars of tomorrow a greater chance of advancing all the way to MotoGP. It is also intended to reduce the cost of competition while negating the advantage of those who have the most money. The FIM and Dorna are hoping that Moto3 will become the future of Grand Prix racing in more ways than one. Time will tell as to whether they’re right.

Nine winners of 2011, and tributes to two who lost their lives aiming to join them

Peter Allen

Huff beats Muller in Porto
Rob Huff chases down and catches Chevy teammate Yvan Muller, pulling alongside and past the Frenchman into one of the tight Portuguese street track’s chicanes. Huff attempts to turn in ahead, but there is contact. Huff goes across the inside of the chicane and keeps the lead to score his sixth win of the year. The momentum certainly seemed to be with Huff at the halfway point, but Muller would come back from this incident bigger and better to overhaul the Brit and win a third world title.

Rob Huff beat Yvan Muller in Porto (among other places) but still lost the title.

David Bean

Sky’s F1 deal
From a personal view there was the excitement of Nick Heidfeld’s car catching fire and exploding in front of us in the Hungarian Grand Prix, and the mix of exhaustion and contentment that I felt as the top three Britcar 24 Hours runners came to a stop beside me under the Silverstone podium, signalling the end of a busy 24 hours of reporting for this site. From a wider perspective, however, the moment someone from Sky Sports put their signature on a contract to show Formula 1 is one of the most significant of the year. This deal marks a radical change in how the sport is transmitted to some of its most dedicated fans, and it could have huge implications for the future of F1.

Josh Bell

Alonso’s start at Monza
There have been many in 2012, some sadly more disconcerting. The standout moment that provided me with the most emotion was Fernando Alonso‘s extraordinary start at his home Grand Prix, storming to the front of the field from fourth on the grid in the Ferrari. I was stunned in disbelief, a moment perhaps written in the storms. It was a brief, yet brilliant, high point in the race for Fernando but it was incredible nonetheless.

Jason Plato's Chevrolet Cruze before, and after, the RML run team's miraculous resurrection

James Broomhead

Moment Of The Year – RML’s Donington Rebuild
Jason Plato has just barrel rolled out of the second BTCC race at Donington Park, he physically and mentally battered by the accident at the thought of ending his weekend a race early and facing not scoring on an unhappy weekend. Cue a miraculous rebuild from the Silverline Chevrolet team in time for a superlative recovery drive almost forgotten during the rest of the season. Every possible panel on the car was replaced, a new aerial taped to the door, the entire team involved, including Plato’s father polishing the buckled roof. Enough cannot be said for the team, you wonder how many teams would even contemplate attempting the task.

Andy Champness

Moment Of The Year – Tom Boardman’s “Great” Silverstone
Moving away from Australian V8 Supercars to British Touring Cars, my moment of the year was provided by Special Tuning Racing’s Tom Boardman (and not just because I help out with their PR!) Most of you will be thinking I’m going to say the win at Knockhill, but it was actually the final two races at Silverstone. After his move on Plato at Knockhill, Tom got a bit of needless grief, so to watch him storm through to finish race two in sixth after starting from 23rd and then finishing the final race in third on his own merit was special. Tom was ecstatic afterwards, telling me: “That has to be one of the best races I’ve had all season! I know my win at Knockhill was good, but that felt great!” It was a poignant moment, knowing how hard the team had worked to get the cars fighting at the front and for Tom to show he can genuinely cut it with the best of them.

Tom Boardman took a maiden BTCC win at Knockhill, but it's his performance at the season finale that is Andy Champness' moment of the year

Mark Foley

British Formula 3 Paul Ricard, Final Corner, Final Lap
An edgy, race-long tussle between key championships contenders, Felipe Nasr and Kevin Magnussen, apparently wasn’t interesting enough for feisty Portuguese series-hopper Antonio Felix Da Costa, who made his presence felt throughout his guest appearance at the Paul Ricard weekend from the first corner to the last…Magnussen, Da Costa and Nasr ran nose-to-tail throughout, with a resilient Magnussen looking set to hold off strong opposition and claim a much needed win for his stuttering championship campaign. But, with the chequered flag in sight, an all-too-late lunge at the last corner from Da Costa saw the young Dane flicked off the circuit, allowing Nasr through to take yet another win. It not only sent pulses racing, but also managed to define each protagonist’s season in some respects – Da Costa’s wild racecraft, Nasr’s consistency and Magnussen’s awful luck.

Chris Gurton

Mark Webber’s pass at Eau Rouge
I’ve been fortunate enough to witness and be part of a number of great moments over the past year within motorsport and will have many stories to tell my grandchildren. But one moment that I couldn’t let pass without mentioning was a real breathtaking moment which sums up just what it takes to be a great racing driver. I am of course talking about Mark Webber’s stunning overtake on Fernando Alonso during the Belgian Grand Prix. Having got a better exit from La Source, Webber was gaining on the Spaniard down the hill towards Eau Rouge tucked into the slip stream. Assuming he would wait for the run up to Les Combes and the DRS Zone to make his move, remarkably we witnessed Webber pull out and pass the Ferrari round the outside and through Eau Rouge in a move which would normally end in tears. It was a remarkable manoeuvre and one that many would never even consider but was executed with skill and precision by the Aussie.

Leigh O’Gorman

Dan Wheldon’s fatal crash
Sadly, this has to go to the death of Dan Wheldon – the ramifications of which may be felt in motor racing for years to come. Since the crash, noises for better cockpit protection for single-seater’s have grown louder, while IndyCar’s days at high-banked ovals may be numbered. With IndyCar struggling for ovals, Wheldon’s death – amongst all the pointless greed and bickering of the owners and organisers – may finally be what defines the future of IndyCar. That Wheldon was about to move to a new chapter as the driver of Andretti-Autosport’s Go Daddy car makes it all the more tragic. A true superstar was lost.

Whether be the future of open-wheel oval racing, or the closed cockpit concept the death of Dan Wheldon will be felt by the Indycar fraternity and beyond for years to come

Simon Paice

Teammates get it wrong
There are two moments that stand out for me, both being incidents that stunned me into silence when team-mates got it wrong on track. First was the Honda Racing mix-up at Oulton Park in the BTCC, when Matt Neal made a last lap, final corner lunge at Gordon Shedden and resulted in putting them both through the gravel, cueing shocked faces from everyone watching.

The other was in the Formula Renault BARC opener at Croft, when the Fortec Motorsport team had a disaster. Braking for the first corner on the opening lap, contact between three of the Fortec cars resulted in its two title contenders, Josh Webster and Archie Hamilton, ending their races in the gravel, to the disbelief of those in attendance. This proved decisive in Webster narrowly missing out on the title.

Vince Pettit

Seeing Liam Doran take X Games Gold was a definite highlight of my year. I’ve been a fan of the X Games for some years and the recent addition of Rallycross has been excellent. Seeing Liam Doran work his way through the heats to face a head to head with rally legend Marcus Gronholm was amazing. Who would have thought a British driver in Downtown Los Angeles could cause such an upset on his X Games debut.

Liam Doran flew to X-Games glory, defeating Marcus Gronholm in the LA final

Louis Suddaby

Faubel and Zarco’s Dead Heat in Germany
Even now, I look at the photo finish from that day and still can’t believe what I’m seeing! The 125cc class is no stranger to close finishes but this was incredible. Never in the history of Grand Prix motorcycle racing had we seen a dead heat and the winner decided by a tiebreak. The fastest lap of the race swung it Faubel’s way. On four wheels, the Honda implosion at the final corner at Oulton Park stands out as a jaw dropping moment from the BTCC while Jenson Button’s last lap win in Canada also had me shouting at the telly!

TCF's two-wheel regular Louis Suddaby on the end of the 125cc race in Germany "I look at the photo finish from that day and still can’t believe what I’m seeing!"

Scott Wilkes

0.006s.
It’s difficult to describe just how epic the final two laps of the British Superbike Championship were. As Shane Byrne ran away with the victory in the final race at Brands Hatch, the title contenders were locked in a titanic duel for second. As the laps counted down to the penultimate tour, John Hopkins and Tommy Hill. After swapping positions at practically every corner, it came down to a sprint for the line out of the final corner. In the end, Tommy Hill walked away from Brands with the British title, and the honour of being part of two of the greatest laps of racing ever witnessed.

Jorge Lorenzo - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Malaysian oil and gas corporation Petronas has concluded its three year partnership with the Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP team, despite a successful period together. The Japanese won the riders’ and manufacturers’ titles on two occasions (2009 &  2010) during the partnership but the news represents another financial blow after they competed in the 2011 season without a title sponsor.

This situation looks set to continue into 2012 but Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing responded to the news by thanking Petronas for their support.

“The relationship between Yamaha and PETRONAS has been a great success, we have enjoyed some major achievements together in the MotoGP class. Now that the partnership has reached its natural conclusion I would like to thank our friends at PETRONAS for the support during their time with us and wish them well for the future”.

Mohammad Medan Abdullah, Senior General Manager of Petronas Group Corporate Affairs Division, feels the partnership brought great benefits for both parties and hopes to see Yamaha return to the top in years to come.

“We are happy to have had this opportunity to work with the Yamaha Factory Racing team over the past three years. In that time, we have enjoyed the benefits of strong brand exposure through the privilege of being associated with a team that shares our values and passion. The team has achieved many successes through a high level of competitiveness and stretched performance standards and we wish the team continued success in the future“.

Nicky Hayden - Photo Credit: Ducati

Nicky Hayden is a doubt for the first test session of 2012 after injuring himself while training near his home in Owensboro, Kentucky. The Ducati rider was riding at a private indoor flat track facility, the first time he had climbed on a motorcycle since crashing out of the final race of 2011 at Valencia, when he made contact with another bike.

The subsequent fall caused a broken left scapula and two fractured ribs and Hayden will be reassessed next week by Dr. Arthur Ting in Fremont, California, to check on his progress. Testing for the new season begins in Malaysia on January 31^st and Hayden expects to know in the next few weeks whether he will be able to ride the new Ducati GP12 at Sepang.

“Obviously, injuries are never good,” Hayden said, “but it’s part of motorcycle racing. Just like at Valencia, it was kind of a freak accident. I was starting to train again, like I normally do during the winter, at a private track near my house. I came up behind another rider, and he went to move out of the way. I wasn’t going that fast, but he clipped my front wheel and I went down and landed pretty hard on my left shoulder, and that was it. It’s disappointing, but there’s nothing to do about it but heal quickly.”

“Anyway, this doesn’t change my expectations for 2012 which, fortunately, is just around the corner.”

Nine winners from 2011, and two who lost their lives trying to join them

The twelve months of 2011 have been twelve months of contrasts, a twelve months packed with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. In this, the first of four articles where the authors who brought these highs and lows to the pages of The Checkered Flag, look back at 2011 and pick their ‘Driver of The Year’ including a man who won two British GT races, an F3 runner-up and somebody called Vettel.

Peter Allen

Romain Grosjean
After seeing off the challenge of Jules Bianchi to win the four-race Asia Series in February/March, “Big John” was kept on his toes during the early rounds of the main series campaign. However, he found another gear mid-season as his early rivals faltered, claiming four races wins in as many race weekends before claiming the title at Spa. After never having been given a proper chance first time around, Grosjean has now earned himself a well-deserved return to Formula 1, getting the chance to go head-to-head against new teammate Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus.

GP2 champion Grosjean has earnt a well deserved second shot at F1

David Bean

Sebastian Vettel
Within Formula 1, to pick anybody other than Sebastian Vettel as Driver of the Year would be deeply unfair to the German. He may have had the best car, but it takes some skill to claim 15 pole positions, 11 race wins, and lead a ridiculously high percentage of racing laps over the course of a season. Fans of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso can rightly claim that their drivers had good seasons, but both finished someway behind the double world champion.

The youngest ever double F1 champion - Sebastian Vettel was a popular choice for driver of the year

Josh Bell

Sebastian Vettel
It has to be Vettel. It will be a very long time before we process his extraordinary achievements from 2011. The RB7, although still the fastest car on the grid, was not as dominant as its predecessor the RB6, but Vettel’s sheer pace in the car was sol destroying for the rest of the field. If I had to choose one stand out moment, it would be his breathtaking pass on Fernando Alonso at Curva Grande; simply phenomenal, as he was all year.

James Broomhead

Kevin Magnussen
Yes, he may have finished second to Felipe Nasr in the British Formula Three Championship, but Kevin Magnussen was the fastest driver whenever he got the chance. That speed, coupled with an aggressive streak made him scintillating watching – passing Nasr twice around the outside of Riches, for example. With better luck, fewer mechanical problems and fewer instances of that aggressive streak ending in accidents, I have no doubt that the Dane would have pushed Nasr all the way for the title – at least.

Kevin Magnussen, according to James Broomhead the fastest man from British F3's class of 2011

Andy Champness

Jamie Whincup
I’m a big Craig Lowndes fan, he put in some phenomenal drives to close the gap at the top of the standings this season – three wins out of three at the Ipswich 300, finishing sixth at Sandown after starting from 27th in a race that had other drivers screaming down the radio claiming conditions were too dangerous. But there’s no doubt that the class act of 2011 has been Lowndes’ teammate, Jamie Whincup – ten race wins, nine pole positions, a third championship win in four years, and for the fifth consecutive season he’s finished inside the top two – and for that Mr consistency, Jamie Whincup gets my vote.

Jamie Whincup took back the V8 Supercars title, and a driver of the year nod from the TCF team

Mark Foley

Sebastian Vettel
There’s certainly been no shortage of dominant championship campaigns across many disciplines this year, but Sebastian Vettel‘s has to stand out above the rest. His record-breaking season has been and will continue to be praised in detail for years to come, so there’s little to add – so for F1 fans and even Seb himself, 2011 was simply an awe-inspiring discovery of just how much talent the young German has.

Chris Gurton

Jonny Adam
Many names spring to mind in various race series but the driver who sticks out for me is Jonny Adam. Making the switch from BTCC to British GT with a seat in the Beechdean Motorsport Aston Martin he certainly took to the series like a duck to water. Quite literally, as his performances in the wet behind the wheel of the now aging DBRS9 proved as he was challenging the newer machinery at the front and claiming victory at a wet Rockingham. Adam certainly gave the Aston Martin a fitting farewell in its final season and with the teams switch to the new V12 Vantage Aston looks set to build on his impressive debut season in British GT next year.

As part of the Beechdean Motorsport team Jonny Adam won two British GT races with superb drives in the aging Aston

Leigh O’Gorman

Sebastian Vettel
This accolade can only be for Sebastian Vettel. For all his critics who claim he has the best car or isn’t action orientated enough, the World Champion continues to drag 110% from what he drives to ensure he doesn’t have to fight in the pack – the mark of a true great. His ability to drag a large gap before the DRS kicks in deserves a mention, as does his wheel-to-wheel fight with Fernando Alonso at Monza. Vettel’s pass on Lewis Hamilton in Korea was also brilliantly done and won him the race.

Canada apart, there were few errors, just pure brilliance. What more could you ask for?

Simon Paice

Dino Zamparelli
A class apart on and off track, 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Champion Dino Zamparelli is my driver of the year. Dino overcame a slow start to the year to control a competitive BARC series, a highlight being his dominate display at Thruxton, where he took pole by 0.6 seconds before winning both races, leading to a deserved championship title and finalist spot in the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award. Off track, Dino conducted himself professionally throughout the year, coping well with all the problems and pressure he faced to take the championship and restart his career.

"A class apart" - Formula Renualt BARC champion Dino Zamparelli in 2011

Vince Pettit

Jenson Button
He always seemed to be there bugging Vettel. Along with Alonso and Webber he was one of the few that actually took the fight to the defending World Champion. He stepped things up this year and made himself the lead driver for McLaren in a team that started the year in a very equal situation between himself and Lewis Hamilton.

Louis Suddaby

Marco Simoncelli
No review of 2011 would be complete without mentioning this man. Casey Stoner was the deserving champion but 2011 will always be Marco’s year. He showed front running pace all season and that maiden victory looked very close indeed. The tribute in Valencia two weeks after his tragic death will live long in the memory. In terms of who impressed me most in 2011, Maverick Vinales gets my vote for a sensational rookie season in the 125cc class. Three poles, four wins and just 52 points away from the eventual champion, all at the age of 16. You’ll hear his name a lot in the future.

Scott Wilkes

Marco Simoncelli
This isn’t just a posthumous “Honor” that I am bestowing on the fallen Italian for the sake of it. The gangly, afro haired nutter on two wheels captured my imagination a few years ago, but the way that Simoncelli exploded out of the blocks at the start of the season was a delight to watch. His, almost anarchic way, he would attack the field, going for overtakes that others branded as dangerous, made Simoncelli a fan favourite. He may have had his flaws, with many notable incidents, the most controversial of which was his coming together with Pedrosa at Le Mans, which left the tiny Spaniard with a damaged collarbone. After this incident, Simoncelli was almost treated like an outcast by many of the grid, with Lorenzo even saying he should be arrested.

This only made the fans love him more, and when Marco finished second at Phillip Island, there was a sense that a man already thought of as a legend by many, was on the verge of his maiden win. However, his untimely passing in Sepang has now left the sport with a massive hole on the grid, as riders like Simoncelli don’t come along very often.

"A joy to watch" - Marco Simoncelli

2012 Grand Prix of Spain start

Dorna and the city of Jerez have announced an agreement which will see the 2012 Grand Prix of Spain take place at the Circuito de Jerez.

Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta revealed his happiness that the deal had been done. “We are delighted to confirm that the 2012 Grand Prix of Spain will be held at the Circuito de Jerez, a very special locale for the MotoGP World Championship.”

“I’d like to thank the Junta de Andalucía and Jerez de la Frontera City Council for their support in working toward securing this iconic event,” added Ezpeleta.

With the deal done for 2012 the two parties continue negotiations to come to an arrangement for the next four years.  “We’ll now look ahead to the future of the event and focus on working together to reach an agreement up until 2016.”

Marco Simoncelli & Casey Stoner - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

When a man dominates a season in the style we’ve seen in MotoGP this year, the default response is to dub it boring but all motorcycling followers have been treated to sheer sporting brilliance from Casey Stoner. For someone to achieve such accolades in a world-class sport takes some doing and deserves nothing but acclaim but events in the back-end of 2011 have reminded us all that it is, at the end of the day, just a sport.

In Malaysia on Sunday 23^rd October, a charismatic, charming human being had his life tragically cut short. As you will soon find out, Marco Simoncelli would never be too far from the headlines in 2011 as his flamboyant style earned him countless admirers, and the odd critic, but when all is said and done, he did it all to fulfil his dream of racing motorcycles on the world stage. Here, The Checkered Flag looks back at how the world’s finest motorcycle racers, Marco included, produced another year to remember.

The 2011 season actually got underway on Monday 8^th November 2010, the day after the final race in Valencia. The Yamaha team had barely finished sticking the number one on the front of Jorge Lorenzo’s bike when testing for 2011 got underway and hardly anyone was paying attention to the new world champion with his rivals hogging the headlines.

For Italian motorcycling fans, the dream combination had finally come together as Valentino Rossi climbed aboard a Ducati for the first time. The sight of packed spectator stands for a test session said it all. The initial lap times weren’t exactly eye-catching with Rossi still feeling the aftereffects of his injured shoulder but no-one cared. The sight of the no.46 on a Ducati was good enough for the legion of fans.

Further up the pitlane, another high-debut took place as Casey Stoner kicked off his Repsol Honda career. There wasn’t quite the same fanfare for the 2007 world champion but in true Stoner style, he let his riding do the talking and set the pace when testing concluded 24 hours later. The first warning shot had been fired ahead of a potentially thrilling three-way title fight with Lorenzo matching him on the Yamaha.

Testing resumed in February with two sessions in Sepang and the overall picture was becoming a little clearer. It didn’t make pretty reading for Ducati as Rossi and Nicky Hayden languished down in 11^th and 12^th respectively, over 1.8 seconds away from the ultimate pace, set once again by Stoner.

Along with Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso, the factory Hondas were threatening to wipe the floor with the opposition but Yamaha’s new signing Ben Spies raised hopes of an even contest by going third quickest in the final test at Losail.

British eyes were focused on the satellite Yamaha’s as Cal Crutchlow geared up for his MotoGP debut at Tech 3. His pace was encouraging to say the least but an accident on the final day of testing saw him lose the tip of his left little finger. Despite the pain, the 2009 World Supersport Champion was ready for his first taste of Grand Prix racing. Colin Edwards is no stranger to the paddock and the ultra-experienced American would provide the perfect benchmark as teammate for the 2011 season.

Although testing didn't go to plan, Crutchlow was ready for his MotoGP debut (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

Toni Elias is another familiar face but the Spaniard had spent a year away from the premier class as he went in pursuit of the Moto2 title. That mission was accomplished with three races to spare and the former MotoGP race winner was back in the big time with LCR Honda, replacing Randy de Puniet. The Frenchman formed half of an all-new line-up at Pramac Ducati with Loris Capirossi who embarked upon his 22^nd Grand Prix season.

Capirossi’s departure left Alvaro Bautista as Rizla Suzuki’s sole entrant while Mapfre Aspar and Cardion AB Motoracing also fielded one rider each, Hector Barbera and MotoGP newcomer Karel Abraham, both on satellite Ducatis. Completing the grid was Hiroshi Aoyama at San Carlo Honda Gresini and although he rode alongside Simoncelli, ‘Hiro’ had to make do with a satellite RC212V.

The phoney war ended in Qatar and the same floodlights would provide the backdrop for the season’s opening race but before the first qualifying session had even started, the injury curse struck. Rizla Suzuki were the victims with Bautista breaking his left femur in a practice crash. No replacement was immediately available and the team were forced to sit out the race.

The qualifying session itself went smoothly for Repsol Honda whose riders had a private battle for pole, won in the end by Stoner, but Jorge Lorenzo was arguably the star of the show to drag his Yamaha onto the front row ahead of Simoncelli and Spies. Against pre-season expectations, a Ducati did make it onto row two but surprisingly it came in the form of Hector Barbera, with Rossi a miserable ninth. Cal Crutchlow stunned everyone by outqualifying the nine-time champion, as well as teammate Colin Edwards in eighth.

Lorenzo seemed to relish his underdog status and stormed past the Hondas to lead the opening lap of the season. Once Stoner and Pedrosa got up to speed, they would fight it out at the front and Casey capped a memorable debut with his fourth Qatar victory. Arm pump would severely handicap Pedrosa late on, costing him second to Lorenzo while Andrea Dovizioso beat Simoncelli to fourth from seventh on the grid. Ben Spies completed the Honda-Yamaha lockout of the top six after an entertaining tussle with Rossi who had to settle for seventh in his first race in Ducati red. Cal Crutchlow’s first Grand Prix yielded five points for 11^th after overtaking Barbera late on.

The first point of order ahead of round two in Spain was over the vacant seat at Rizla Suzuki. Bautista was still sidelined so Paul Denning brought in a familiar face, John Hopkins no less, and the American certainly wouldn’t let him down, qualifying a tenth of a second slower than the factory Ducatis.

While that achievement was impressive, it probably told us more about the Ducatis than the Suzuki as Hayden and Rossi set the 11^th and 12^th quickest times in qualifying and as in Qatar, one of their customers had managed to outpace them. Randy de Puniet was the giant killer this time in seventh. The front row mirrored that of Qatar although Lorenzo matched the Hondas on this occasion with Spies beating Dovizioso and Simoncelli to fourth. Yamaha had slashed the gap in the two-week break and went into race day full of hope.

As it turned out, the performance gap was closed for them as wet conditions greeted the riders on race day. Stoner led the early laps but Simoncelli scythed past Lorenzo before taking Casey for the lead on lap five. Unbelievably, the fastest man on track was Rossi with the GP11 Ducati transformed on the intermediate tyres. By lap seven, he was up with Stoner but his attempt to take second resulted in a low side, sweeping Stoner’s bike into the gravel with him. Rossi restarted to somehow salvage fifth but Stoner was furious at the lack of assistance he received from the Jerez marshalls. Rossi didn’t escape his anger either and upon receiving an apology from the Italian, Stoner cheekily suggested “your ambition outweighed your talent!”

Stoner and Rossi's collison provided one the season's great flashpoints (Photo Credit: Juan Carlos Toro Del Rio - MotoGP.com)

Lorenzo wasn’t complaining as he inherited second and Simoncelli would present him with victory two laps later when he highsided his Honda. A golden opportunity to win his first Grand Prix had gone begging for ‘Super Sic’ and it was left to Lorenzo to lead home Pedrosa. Nicky Hayden kept his head in the chaos to give Ducati a welcome podium although that owed a lot to Ben Spies’ late crash.

Stoner and Rossi weren’t exactly seeing eye-to-eye heading to Estoril for round three but another feud was emerging between Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli.  The Spaniard was particularly outspoken after the two came together in Valencia last year and was clearly concerned after taking pole position in Portugal when he found Simoncelli alongside him in second. The world champion warned Simoncelli that if something happened in the future “there would be a problem”. Marco, quick as a flash responded, saying “I will be arrested!” Even Jorge managed a smile.

As in Jerez, Simoncelli’s blinding speed would be followed by a disappointing crash as the Gresini rider fell on the opening lap, leaving Dani Pedrosa to take the fight to Lorenzo. After shadowing the Yamaha for most of the race, Dani hit the front five laps from home to become the third different winner in three races. Stoner was a subdued third while Dovizioso and Rossi scrapped over fourth on the last lap. In a finish reminiscent of five years ago when Toni Elias pipped Rossi to the chequered flag, Andrea got to the finish line first, 0.025s ahead of the Ducati.

The consistency of Lorenzo gave him the championship lead three races in but Honda’s pre-season superiority returned at Le Mans as the four factory machines headed the grid from the field’s four Yamahas. Stoner was back on pole while Simoncelli starred again to take second ahead of Dovizioso and Pedrosa. As expected, Lorenzo was the top Yamaha in fifth but he came within a tenth of being beaten by Cal Crutchlow who qualified a stunning sixth.

The disappearance of the red lights was Stoner’s cue to clear off himself, leaving Pedrosa to fend off Simoncelli for second. What followed was a key moment in the title race as Simoncelli swooped around the outside of the Spaniard at the end of the back straight. Contact was unavoidable from Pedrosa’s point of view and the resulting fall left him with a broken right collarbone, side-lining him until the summer. Marco was handed a ride through penalty for his troubles which didn’t promote Dovizioso or Lorenzo but Rossi into second after an excellent ride from ninth on the grid. For the second race running, Andrea would edge out his compatriot but third represented the first dry weather rostrum of Rossi’s Ducati career, made all the more impressive with Lorenzo a distant fourth.

The headline from Le Mans though was Pedrosa’s injury and Honda’s decision not to replace him for Catalunya to save engine mileage. The Spaniard would have company in the casualty room before long as Colin Edwards suffered a collarbone injury of his own in Saturday practice. The Tech 3 rider was desperate to maintain his uninterrupted record of starts in MotoGP but medics wouldn’t clear him to race.

While Edwards sat out the rest of the weekend, Marco Simoncelli set about making his piece of history by pipping Casey Stoner to pole position, his first in the premier class. The Italian wasn’t his usual self in the race though as he slipped to a quiet sixth. Whether he was lacking pace or had been becalmed by the controversy surrounding him, it was a disappointing result. A quiet race played straight into Stoner’s hands and he cruised to victory ahead of Lorenzo, Spies and Dovizioso. Valentino Rossi couldn’t match his Le Mans heroics, finishing fifth, but the gap of just seven seconds to the winner was a source for optimism.

Silverstone was next on the calendar but once again, the curse of the collarbone struck and for the home supporters, the worst possible rider had fallen victim to it. Cal Crutchlow was enjoying a sensation rookie season with seventh from sixth on the grid in Catalunya another result to be proud of but early in qualifying, the Briton fell heavily with a concussion and a fractured left collarbone the damage.

Torrential rain added to the misery for the Silverstone supporters, although Bradley Smith did his bit to change the mood in Moto2, but the horrendous conditions would provide another dramatic race. It saw a crucial turning point in the championship race as Jorge Lorenzo crashed for the first time all year, handing the victorious Stoner the lead in the standings. Dovizioso followed his teammate home in second but the third man on the podium was more of a surprise.

A rare sight as Lorenzo walks away from his crashed Yamaha at Silverstone (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

He wasn’t wearing red as Valentino Rossi endured an awful weekend, nor was he wearing light blue despite Alvaro Bautista’s excellent ride to fifth. Instead it was MotoGP’s iron man, Colin Edwards, who marked his return in the grand manner, seven days after his injury in Barcelona.

If that couldn’t inspire Crutchlow, nothing could, and he duly returned at Assen but Dani Pedrosa’s recovery was still on-going. Honda did at least call in a replacement this time as Hiroshi Aoyama moved up from the Gresini team, finally getting his hands on factory machinery. His place on the satellite bike was taken by test rider Kousuke Akiyoshi.

Aoyama’s debut in Repsol colours got off to a rather inauspicious start with a crash in opening practice but he needn’t have been too downhearted. Stoner and Dovizioso had crashed as well. For once, Simoncelli was the only factory rider to keep his Honda upright and when Friday came, he claimed his second career pole although Ben Spies pushed him close.

The two riders, understudies in their respective factories so far this season, had been the class of the field throughout the weekend and the Dutch TT looked set to be a shootout for their first victory. Unfortunately, the battle only lasted four corners as Simoncelli crashed for the third time in four races, only this time he’d taken Jorge Lorenzo with him, doing their fractious relationship no good at all. After recovering to finish sixth, Lorenzo jumped on the offensive, accusing Simoncelli of failing to learn from his mistakes, a criticism that certainly seemed to have some validity.

After steering clear of the mayhem, Spies did indeed break his victory duck with aplomb, forcing Stoner to settle for second. Under the circumstances, that was as good as a win for the Aussie who led the title chase by 28 points heading to Mugello. The Dutch TT hadn’t dodged the injury curse though as Loris Capirossi suffered damage to his shoulder and ribs, necessitating a call-up for Sylvain Guintoli.

The Assen race was also notable for a shift in development strategy from Ducati. After two podiums and not even a hint of a victory, the Italian squad took the decision that 2011 was a write-off and turned their attentions to 2012, bringing their new bike into play nine months early. With the 1000cc rules still in the future, Ducati fitted their 800cc engine into the GP12, giving it the catchy title of GP11.1 and effectively turning the rest of the season into a public test session. The next of those just happened to be on Rossi’s home turf and he could only qualify 12^th, 1.8 seconds shy of polesitter Stoner, and a sixth place finish in the race was as good as it would get for the local favourite.

All eyes were on Rossi at Mugello but the dream victory never looked possible (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

Stoner looked set for another straightforward waltz to the chequered flag but Lorenzo had other ideas, wiping out his 2.7 second lead before overhauling him in superb style. Victory against the odds was sweet for the defending champion, especially with Dovizioso beating Casey to second.

The tight twisty confines of the Sachsenring were next which Jorge hoped would play into his hands. Despite qualifying only third behind Stoner and the fit-again Pedrosa, he was right as the three fought out a fascinating battle for victory. Each of them took turns in the lead but the title contenders were forced to give best to a motivated Pedrosa who emerged triumphant. Dani had made a rather understated comeback in Italy but this felt like the return of the real Dani Pedrosa, a man capable of taking on the world. Lorenzo got the better of Stoner though with a wonderful last corner lunge to snatch second. Suddenly, the pressure was starting to build as Yamaha built up a head of steam. The task for them was to maintain it at Laguna Seca.

At the other end of the grid, Toni Elias was having a nightmare of a season. The Moto2 champion finished outside the points in Germany as his lack of comfort on Bridgestone’s control tyre showed. No sooner had he returned to the premier class than his place was under threat again. LCR Honda marked the U.S. Grand Prix by giving AMA Superbike rider Ben Bostrom a wildcard ride on Toni’s spare bike. Life wasn’t getting any easier for the Spaniard.

Jorge Lorenzo’s upturn in form looked like continuing as he dominated free practice in California but on Saturday morning, his world nearly came crashing down around him. On his way back to the pits, Jorge lost control of the YZR-M1 and landed awkwardly on his hip. After looking in agony initially, he returned to his feet and miraculously stuck his Yamaha on pole hours later. The performance of a champion and no mistake.

Sunday brought a reminder that he wasn’t the only champion in the field as Stoner piled on the pressure. Lorenzo fought valiantly but lost the win to a sensational piece of overtaking. With seven laps remaining, Stoner lined the Yamaha up down the main straight but with Lorenzo holding the inside, he looked safe. The Australian responded by braving it out around the outside of the high-speed first corner to take the lead, and the win. Pedrosa’s revival continued with a strong third with Spies, Dovizioso and Rossi completing the top six.

Marco Simoncelli’s United States GP came to a disappointing familiar conclusion as the Italian ended up in the gravel again. Although he continued to shine in qualifying, Marco still couldn’t climb the next rung on the ladder and step onto a MotoGP podium. His wait had gone on for long enough and his time would come in Brno.

Yet again, Casey Stoner would take maximum points despite seeing another rider dominate the weekend. This time, Dani Pedrosa would lead the way in practice, qualifying and the warm-up but his perfect weekend would end on lap three, handing the victory on a plate for his teammate. Yamaha’s summer pace deserted them on this occasion and the two other factory Hondas, ridden by Dovizioso and Simoncelli, would complete the top three, bringing Super Sic’s drought to an end at last.

Stoner was among the first to congratulate Simoncelli after ending his podium drought (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

In one of the quirks of the MotoGP calendar, Brno fell right in the middle of two trips to the States. The second race in the U.S.A took place at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Jorge Lorenzo knew he needed to act quickly to avoid his championship bid being consigned to history. Fourth was the best he could manage in the Czech Republic and he that would be as good as it got in qualifying at Indy as Ben Spies led the Yamaha challenge in his home GP.

Neither of them were anywhere near threatening the Hondas as the RC212V proved tailor-made for the Brickyard. Despite unbearable heat, Stoner coolly led from the front with Pedrosa unable to do anything but play a supporting role. Spies wasn’t in any mood to do the same in his camp and outraced Lorenzo to secure third. The temperature took its toll on the tyres as Simoncelli hit problems, as did the Ducatis of Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi, allowing Alvaro Bautista to give Suzuki their best dry result of the year in sixth.

The GSV-R was coming strong in the second half of the season and began to establish itself as the bike to be on outside of the top six. Ducati now had both riders on the GP11.1 and the lack of pace from its original incarnation didn’t seem to be serving Aspar, Cardion AB and Pramac all that well. With a ride in World Superbikes set for 2012, Hiroshi Aoyama’s season had plateaued and Toni Elias’ struggles showed no signs of ending. The emergence of Suzuki was bad news for Tech 3 whose position as best of the rest was slipping away from them. Cal Crutchlow’s season hadn’t managed to reach the heights of the early rounds since his Silverstone agony and was in desperate need of a confidence boost at Misano. Tenth place was a step in the right direction.

On the Thursday before action got underway in San Marino, the news which many had expected all season was confirmed. The championship’s most experienced rider, Loris Capirossi, was calling it a day and broke the news in an emotional press conference at the track. Sharing the stage with long-time rival Valentino Rossi, the Italian revealed his 22^nd season would be his last and the closing six races would be his farewell tour.

The ever-popular Capirossi announced his retirement at Misano (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

Casey Stoner slipped back into his usual routine with pole position on Saturday but 24 hours later he received a reminder that he wouldn’t be allowed an easy ride to the title. Jorge Lorenzo had gone four races without a win and the motivation was obvious in the way he caught, passed and dropped Stoner. Casey later admitted to suffering from fatigue, proven by the way he meekly surrendered second to Pedrosa but that did nothing to detract from Lorenzo’s success. With three-time world champion Wayne Rainey joining him on the podium, Jorge understandably described it as the “one of the best days” of his career.

Round 14 at Aragon would provide one of the strangest with the Motorland circuit losing power on Friday afternoon. Perhaps a loss of power was the only thing likely of stopping the Honda juggernaut as Stoner and Pedrosa took first and second, both on Saturday and Sunday. As in Indianapolis, Yamaha’s finest were forced to scrap over the final podium place but this time, Lorenzo would grab the advantage. Third place served merely to limit the damage though with his deficit to Stoner an ominous 44 points. Only four races remained in which to retrieve it.

The first of those would be the Japanese Grand Prix, a race rescheduled from the spring. The country was struck by an earthquake and typhoon earlier in the year with the Motegi circuit among the places affected. The question of whether the riders would travel to the rescheduled race was one of the sagas of the summer with many, including Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, voicing concerns over radiation in the area surrounding the venue. After a review from the FIM, common sense prevailed and a full complement of riders arrived for the race in the first weekend of October.

Honda also did their bit to support their compatriots by handing two of them wildcards to race in their home grand prix. Kousuke Akiyoshi was one of them, slotting in alongside Toni Elias at LCR, and Shinichi Ito was the other with Honda convincing him to make a one-off return at the age of 44.

Ito qualified where many expected him to while Casey Stoner qualified where he was expected to, first. Lorenzo and Dovizioso rounded out the front row with the latter riding for his future after Honda’s confirmation that he wouldn’t be retained for 2012. He was obviously too eager to get going on race day and jumped the start, ruining his chances of victory but he wasn’t the only one as Simoncelli and Crutchlow had bolted early as well.

After many had indicated a reluctance to attend, the Japanese GP soon turned into a race no-one wanted to win. Even Stoner threw away a winning position with a rare mistake, before Dovizioso gave it up to serve his penalty. All of this left Pedrosa ahead of Lorenzo and a third win of 2011 gave Dani the perfect 26^th birthday present. Stoner’s slip-up cost him six places but a crash from Alvaro Bautista eventually helped him back into third, a major relief for the Australian who found himself on the brink of glory. His home Grand Prix was next.

The task for Casey was to outscore Lorenzo by ten points but with the defending champion joining him on the front row, the situation looked out of his control. On the morning of the race, everything changed though. With the warm-up drawing to a close, Lorenzo lost control of the Yamaha in an apparently innocuous crash but the YZR-M1 landed on top of his left hand, severing the tip of the ring finger.

There was no question of Jorge racing with such an injury, certainly with the championship looking out of reach, and his withdrawal meant Stoner only needed a top six finish to clinch the championship. Yamaha wouldn’t be able to call on Ben Spies either as the American was out injured too after hurting his ribs in qualifying.

With the only serious threat coming from riders on the same motorcycle, Stoner had the race well under control, even when a late rain shower threatened to derail his victory run. The likes of Alvaro Bautista, Valentino Rossi and Cal Crutchlow all came a cropper but Stoner serenely continued on his way, winning his fifth straight Australian Grand Prix and a second world championship to boot. Anything else to make it a perfect day? Oh yes, it was his 26^th birthday as well!

Phillip Island brought the crowning moment for the sensational Stoner (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

With everything decided, the final two races had little more than pride and honour to race for but for John Hopkins, there was great cause for motivation. Just two weeks after agonisingly losing the British Superbike Championship to Tommy Hill, ‘Hopper’ was back in the Grand Prix paddock to offer Alvaro Bautista some competition at Rizla Suzuki. Sadly for the American, injury would strike again. Hopkins should’ve raced the GSV-R in Brno but for an injury sustained in practice and complications from that same problem had caused him to pull out in Sepang. The man just had no luck whatsoever.

With Lorenzo’s finger trouble ruling him out of the last two races, Yamaha called up test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga for his debut in Malaysia and with Ben Spies still sidelined, the Japanese rider had Yamaha’s hopes resting on his shoulders, an impossible task as he qualified at the back of the grid. Unsurprisingly, it was Honda to the fore again as they locked out the top four grid slots. A lap and a half into the race, racing was the last thing on anybody’s mind.

Battling for fourth position, Marco Simoncelli lost the front end of his Honda at turn 11 and slid back across the track. Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi were the riders immediately behind and were powerless to avoid the no.58. The impact removed Simoncelli’s crash helmet and the looks of horror up and down the pitlane said it all. Rossi, one of Simoncelli’s closest friends on and off the circuit, returned to the pits on board his Ducati while Edwards escaped with nothing worse than a dislocated shoulder. Simoncelli’s situation was much more serious and the news that the race had been cancelled to allow the entire medical staff to treat him was the correct one, despite the disappointment of the paying spectators.

Seven days after losing Dan Wheldon to an IndyCar accident in Las Vegas, the motorsport world prayed for good news but half an hour after the cancellation, race direction confirmed the passing of Marco Simoncelli who had succumbed to the injuries at 16:56 local time, around an hour after the accident.

The motorsport community was in mourning and his funeral in Coriano, the village in which he was born, was an emotional occasion. Question marks hung over the final race in Valencia but the popular opinion was that racing should continue, if anything, to honour one of the world’s most popular racers.

On the morning of the season closer, it was time for the paddock to pay its final farewell and in a sight that would make the hairs on your neck stand on end, every bike from the 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP classes lapped the Ricardo Tormo circuit together, led by MotoGP legend Kevin Schwantz on the no.58 itself.  In true Valencia fashion, a firework display completed the tribute, fulfilling father Paolo Simoncelli’s wish for a period of noise to honour his son.

The Valencia tribute to Marco Simoncelli will never be forgotten (Photo Credit: Gresini Racing)

There was still some racing to be done and the Grand Prix didn’t disappoint, despite a tough beginning. Alvaro Bautista dropped his Suzuki under braking for turn one and skittled three bikes with him. The three in question were all Ducatis and in fairness, Randy de Puniet, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden were probably happy to see the end of disappointing seasons. For Suzuki, it was a sad end to what would later turn out to be their final GP season, for now at least.

After setting a blistering pace in qualifying (taking pole by over a second) Casey Stoner set about dominating another Grand Prix, leaving Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa to dispute second with third in the championship also on the line.

Fittingly, the final race of the year had a thrilling finale as the rain that had fallen all weekend returned in the closing stages. Suddenly the all-Honda scrap became one for third as they were both swallowed up by an inspired Ben Spies, back to full fitness on the Yamaha. Within five laps, Casey’s ten second lead had evaporated and Spies capitalised on a mistake to lead two and half laps from the end. In wet/dry conditions, the race leader is always in the trickiest position with no reference point and Stoner came back at him on the last lap. At the final corner, the Yamaha still had the edge but Stoner somehow managed to get an incredible slingshot, drawing alongside the YZR-M1. The finish line seemed desperately distant for the American and a second MotoGP victory would evade him by 0.015s, with Stoner claiming his 33^rd.

Dovizioso’s stronger pace in the wet secured him third in the race, and in the championship, but a wonderful battle was taking place just behind involving his future teammate Cal Crutchlow. The Briton led Karel Abraham by one point in the rookie of the year standings and ran nose-to-tail through the entire race. At the start of the last lap, the Czech youngster had the edge but Cal fought his way through at turn four. Abraham responded at the next corner but only succeeded in touching the rear of the Yamaha, sending him into the gravel. Crutchlow continued and even overtook the rain-shy Pedrosa before the finish to take fourth, his best result in Grand Prix racing and a perfect way to end his debut year.

It was also a great day for the substitutes with Nakasuga finishing sixth for Yamaha and American Superbike star Josh Hayes a superb seventh on debut as he filled the space left by Colin Edwards’ injury.

Emotions ran high at Pramac though as Loris Capirossi brought his Ducati home in ninth to bring his 328 race career to a close. His family greeted him on his arrival in the garage and along with Loris’ peers, saluted one of the all-time greats. The fact that he’d raced with Marco Simoncelli’s number 58 in Valencia showed his standing with the sport and the number, fittingly would retire with Loris.

With Jorge Lorenzo absent, Casey Stoner’s winning margin was 90 points in the end which although it emphasises how impressive he was, doesn’t do justice to Lorenzo’s heroic effort in taking the fight as far as he did. Dovizioso pipped Pedrosa to third as the Spaniard was forced to look back on another year where injuries cost him dear. Spies was a solid fifth while Marco Simoncelli was classified sixth, equal on points with his great friend and mentor Valentino Rossi.

Sadly, the story of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship will always be headlined by the tragedy of Malaysia and as seasons come and go, no-one will ever forget that afternoon in Kuala Lumpur. But neither will we forget the lovable figure who simply loved racing, win or lose.

As we say goodbye to the 2011 season, it is only right that we say “Ciao Marco”. 2011 will always be your year.

Stoner's astonishing consistency kept him ahead of Lorenzo almost throughout

2011 MotoGP Riders’ Championship (Final Standings)

Pos	Rider	Constructor	Team	Wins	Poles	FLs	Pts
1 (C)	Casey Stoner	Honda	Repsol Honda Team	10	12	7	350
2	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	Yamaha Factory Racing	3	2	2	260
3	Andrea Dovizioso	Honda	Repsol Honda Team	0	0	1	228
4	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	Repsol Honda Team	3	1	4	219
5	Ben Spies	Yamaha	Yamaha Factory Racing	1	0	1	176
6	Marco Simoncelli	Honda	San Carlo Honda Gresini	0	2	0	139
7	Valentino Rossi	Ducati	Ducati Team	0	0	1	139
8	Nicky Hayden	Ducati	Ducati Team	0	0	1	132
9	Colin Edwards	Yamaha	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	0	0	0	109
10	Hiroshi Aoyama	Honda	San Carlo Honda Gresini	0	0	0	98
11	Hector Barbera	Ducati	Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP	0	0	0	82
12	Cal Crutchlow	Yamaha	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	0	0	0	70
13	Alvaro Bautista	Suzuki	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	0	0	0	67
14	Karel Abraham	Ducati	Cardion AB Motoracing	0	0	0	64
15	Toni Elias	Honda	LCR Honda MotoGP	0	0	0	61
16	Randy de Puniet	Ducati	Pramac Racing Team	0	0	0	49
17	Loris Capirossi	Ducati	Pramac Racing Team	0	0	0	43
18	Katsuyuki Nakasuga	Honda	Yamaha Factory Racing	0	0	0	10
19	Josh Hayes	Yamaha	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	0	0	0	9
20	Kousuke Akiyoshi	Honda	LCR Honda MotoGP	0	0	0	7
21	John Hopkins	Suzuki	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	0	0	0	6
22	Shinichi Ito	Honda	Honda Racing Team	0	0	0	3
23	Sylvain Guintoli	Ducati	Pramac Racing Team	0	0	0	0
24	Ben Bostrom	Honda	LCR Honda MotoGP	0	0	0	0
25	Damian Cudlin	Ducati	Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP	0	0	0	0

The start of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone (Photo Credit: Silverstone Circuits)

Silverstone has launched their first ever Media Awards, searching for the fans’ choice for the best F1 and Moto GP coverage in print and online.

Both major international series held their British rounds at the Northamptonshire track, with more than 450,000 people attending the two events combined.

The awards include categories for the best coverage in a national newspaper, best motorsport magazine and for the best websites, bloggers and tweeters from the two and four wheeled world. A special category seeks to find the best feature produced by the BBC’s F1 team. Six features from six different weekends are shortlisted, including the team’s tandem ride around Silverstone before the British Grand Prix.

You can cast your votes for the awards through Silverstone’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SilverstoneCircuits. The voting closes at 12:00 noon on December 21.

All the fans who votes will be automatically entered into a prize draw for two hospitality places at the 2012 British Grand Prix, or the 2012 Moto GP British GP. Ten runners-up will receive a Silverstone goody bag.

And, of course, don’t forget to use your vote wisely and vote for The Checkered Flag!

Stefan Bradl - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

In 2011, Moto2 had a lot to live up to. The debut season for the 600cc intermediate class produced nine different winners and no shortage of thrills and spills. The destiny of the championship wasn’t quite as unpredictable as the racing itself with Toni Elias winning it three races early, leading the standings for all but the opening two events.

The Spaniard wasn’t sticking around the defend his crown though as the lure of a MotoGP return proved too strong but in fairness, Moto2 had done its job, providing someone with the springboard to start (or restart) their MotoGP career. The question now, was who would succeed him as champion?

Gresini Racing brought in Yuki Takahashi and Michele Pirro to spearhead their title defence but many of the other 2010 frontrunners were gearing themselves up for a title challenge. Julian Simon, Andrea Iannone and Thomas Luthi were all hoping it would be second time lucky while Stefan Bradl and Alex de Angelis were looking to turn occasional victories into a sustained championship bid.

After an eventful debut year in Moto2, British teenager Scott Redding was also tipped by many to join the elite group but he wouldn’t be flying the flag alone as 125cc star Bradley Smith made the graduation from the junior class with Tech 3. Scotsman Kev Coghlan had also signed a deal with Aeroport de Castello to give home supporters three names to look out for.

Despite Simon’s runner-up finish in 2010, all Spanish eyes were on the 18 year old Marc Marquez, widely touted as the brightest young talent in Grand Prix racing. The reigning 125cc World Champion had the might of Spanish bank La Caixa and oil company Repsol supporting his efforts and despite his tender years and relative inexperience, many expected him to figure strongly in the title battle. Former rival Pol Espargaro followed him out of 125s while brother Aleix moved in the other direction.

The dominant force in pre-season was unquestionably Stefan Bradl with the Kalex showing an impressive turn of pace. The German headed to Qatar as favourite but with Moto2 rarely adhering to the form book, question marks surrounded the season opener under the Losail floodlights.

Opening practice quickly set the tone as Bradl and Marquez set the pace comfortably. The two would carry their advantage into qualifying too with the German claiming pole. Luthi, Takahashi and Simon were lurking just behind, as was the ever-entertaining Jules Cluzel.

The stage was set for a duel between the favourite and the electrifying rookie but Marquez decided to exit stage left after just four laps, crashing spectacularly. Bradl’s only serious threat was eliminated and the Kiefer rider waltzed to victory ahead of Iannone who rampaged through the field from 16^th on the grid.  Luthi beat Alex de Angelis to third while Bradley Smith finished an excellent ninth. Scott Redding’s race went downhill on the very first lap and he ended up down in 31^st.

The scale of Bradl’s dominance left many concerned that the title would be decided in double quick time. The early indications in Jerez did little to ease those fears as the German sealed pole position again. Marquez should’ve been on the front row but crashed again, allowing Luthi and Takahashi to sneak in front of him.

The chasing pack received some divine intervention on race day as rain fell from the Spanish skies giving Bradl, not renowned as a wet weather specialist, a major challenge. It should’ve been inevitable that a British rider would thrive in the slippery conditions and Bradley Smith stepped up, rising from fifth on the grid to first at the end of the opening lap.

Despite starting 18^th, Ioda Racing’s Simone Corsi stormed into the lap by the end of lap three but Moto2’s original comeback kid was at it again. By the standards of Qatar, Andrea Iannone had started in a relatively lofty 11^th before overcoming Corsi and mid-race leader Luthi to claim a superb victory. Bradl lost out to the impressive Smith in the battle for fourth but Marquez drew another blank, this time through no fault of his own as Jules Cluzel skittled him out of the race. Redding’s early struggles continued down in 22^nd but Kev Coghlan claimed a career best result in eighth.

Iannone saved his speed for Sundays early in the season (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

Yuki Takahashi crashed out of a podium position at Jerez but that paled into insignificance given the events taking place in his homeland. The nation had already been devastated by the earthquake and tsunami which had put back the Japanese GP until October but Yuki then had to cope with the death of brother Koki in a car accident.

Bravely, the Gresini rider chose to compete at Estoril, the venue for round three, and qualified seventh. Pole position went to… guess who? Stefan Bradl of course. Luthi’s 100% record of starting on the front row continued and Julian Simon showed the pace expected of him in pre-season to knock Marquez off the front row. Neither had won a Moto2 race before and both would come closer than ever.

Luthi hit the front on the fourth lap but wouldn’t see the start of the fifth, crashing at the Parabolica, while Simon would finish a tenth of a second behind the winner. That man should’ve been Iannone who produced another comeback ride to lead from 14^th on the grid but four laps from a second straight win, the Italian slid out at the chicane, handing 25 points and the championship lead back to Bradl. Despite his win, Takahashi’s ride to third was the most impressive feat of all and the Japanese rider took a picture of his late brother with him to the podium, sparking emotional scenes in parc ferme.

Marc Marquez’s Portuguese GP ended the same way as the two that preceded it, in crushing disappointment. The teenager had fallen to eighth and crashed out in his attempts to regain lost ground, taking Scott Redding with him. Two of the season’s pre-season favourites were still stuck in the starting blocks three races in and both were under the microscope heading to Le Mans.

Both made a recovery of sorts by qualifying on the second row, with Bradl on pole for the fourth race in succession, but their fortunes couldn’t have differed more in the race. Redding’s race pace never materialised, dropping him out of the points, but Marquez was inspired as he chased a maiden Moto2 victory.

Bradl had a fight on his hands before Marquez arrived on the scene as Takahashi, Luthi and Simon staked their claim but Marquez picked them off, one by one, with maturity beyond his year to open his account in wonderful style. Takahashi beat Bradl to second but with Iannone crashing on lap one, his title position had been strengthened.

Seldom is a Moto2 race predictable but Saturday afternoons were heading that way as Bradl took his pole tally to five. Aleix Espargaro and Yuki Takahashi joined him on the front row but the greatest challenge should’ve come from Bradley Smith who was second fastest before sliding off the track midway through the session.

The Briton endured a tough start as well, losing several places on the opening lap, but followed that disappointment with successive fastest laps which brought him up to eighth. Ahead of him were Luthi and Takahashi who had also made poor starts and a crash between the two forced him off track, losing him nine positions.

With several big hitters out of contention, the two Technomag-CIP Suters of Dominique Aegerter and Kenan Sofuoglu took their opportunity to battle for a podium place, with Espargaro and Julian Simon also in the mix. The French team’s prospects went downhill in a hurry though with Aegerter sliding out of fourth while Sofuoglu, the 2010 World Supersport Champion, tailgated Simon a few corners later. Both were out on the spot and Simon’s season was put on hold with multiple fractures sustained to his right leg.

It came as little surprise that Stefan Bradl had steered well clear of the chaos. The simple fact was he was already miles up the road. A fourth win out of five was never in doubt but Marc Marquez was continuing to silence those who doubted his consistency, finishing a solid second after reeling in Espargaro.

After a pointless return from the home trio, British supporters were ready to give their young chargers a timely boost at Silverstone. It certainly seemed to help Redding who qualified a sensational second but Smith had a nightmare with constant electrical problems leaving him 28^th on the grid, four places behind Kev Coghlan, but redemption would come in the form of a torrential rain storm.

Conditions were horrendous on race day but while many saw it as a hindrance, Smith saw it as a golden opportunity. By the end of lap one, he was already up to 13^th and within six laps, he was pressing Redding for third. On lap eight, Bradley fought his way through and an error from second placed Sofuoglu gave him a dream second place. At one stage, a victory even seemed possible but Bradl was untouchable again, showing that he was a man for all seasons. He didn’t even need pole to do it this time, with that honour going to Marquez but the Spaniard’s erratic ways returned, following a crash in warm-up with another in the race.

Smith's back-to-front ride at Silverstone was nothing short of sensational (Photo Credit: Tech 3)

Smith wasn’t the only man to stand on a Moto2 podium for the first time as Michele Pirro claimed third for Gresini ahead of Jules Cluzel and a relieved Redding who finally picked up his first points of the year. Kev Coghlan also scored, bringing his FTR home in 13^th to send the crowd home happy.

With six rounds completed, the title race was fast becoming a procession with Bradl holding a 62 point lead over Simone Corsi whose consistent points scoring had lifted him nine points clear of Takahashi on third. After his lightning start, Iannone was a mammoth 78 points off the lead with Moto2 rookies Smith and Marquez snapping at his heels.

For the Dutch TT at Assen, the Grand Prix paddock welcomed its first female entrant in eight years with Elena Rosell filling the void left by the injured Julian Simon at Mapfre Aspar. To describe her debut as a baptism of fire would be an understatement though as a series of accidents left her without a motorcycle fit to race on, forcing her to sit out the race.

Stefan Bradl took his place on the grid and for the sixth time in seven races, at the very front, but Assen saw the first chink in his armour as the championship leader slid out in changeable conditions. In his absence, Marc Marquez took the spoils but only after a race-long dice with Kenan Sofuoglu and Bradley Smith who joined him on the podium. Bradl’s lead still stood at a healthy 57 points but his frustration at crashing indicated a potential turning point in the championship. Mugello would be fascinating.

Sadly it wouldn’t involve Kev Coghlan as the Aeroport de Castello team unceremoniously dumped him, despite scoring points on two occasions. For Italy, the underwhelming replacement came in the form of Italian national rider Tommaso Lorenzetti. His stint at the team would last all of three races before Americans JD Beach and Jake Gagne were given a race each. Experienced Spaniard Joan Olive would inherit the ride for the final six races without scoring a point but Coghlan wouldn’t see a Moto2 bike for the rest of the year, a cruel fate for the Scotsman.

Inter-team politics denied Kev Coghlan from building on a solid start to the season (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

After adverse weather had affected the last two races, Bradl would’ve hoped for a return of the settled conditions which he exploited so well in the early races, his wish wouldn’t be granted though. Heavy rain fell before and during qualifying which set the stage for a desperate scramble in the dying seconds with a rapidly drying track. Alex de Angelis looked to have timed his run to perfection but Marquez pipped him on his final attempt, sending a clear message to Bradl who languished back in seventh behind the likes of Xavier Simeon and Randy Krummenacher who produced career best performances.

Bradley Smith’s wet weather prowess was on show once again as the Tech 3 rider qualified on the front row for the first time in the intermediate class but race day proved that he was a legitimate contender in the dry too, giving the title favourites a serious run for their money. With a handful of laps remaining, the race could’ve gone any one of three ways with Marquez leading from Smith and the recovering Bradl. The Spaniard’s superior straight-line speed made all the difference as he took the chequered flag 0.071s ahead of Bradl who sneaked past Smith on the final lap. The Oxford youngster was visibly ecstatic despite coming within 0.419s of winning and left the world in no doubt that he was a force to be reckoned with in Moto2 going forward.

After his dominant start, the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring should’ve been a triumphant homecoming for Stefan Bradl but as the season reached its halfway stage, the air of invincibility had disappeared. Instead, Marquez was looking like the unstoppable force and proved it with a third pole in four races. Other notable performances came from the returning Julian Simon in fifth while Xavier Simeon upstaged Tech 3 teammate Bradley Smith by clinching seventh, two places ahead of the Brit.

All three would be in the thick of the action immediately but not in the way thaw would’ve hoped. Smith made a scorching start from the third row and found himself up in third when he arrived at turn one, but that was for a reason. Bradley had left his braking far too late and speared off into the gravel trap while just behind him, Simeon tripped over Simon to eliminate the pair of them from proceedings.

Marquez and Bradl would dispute the victory amongst themselves but not even the capacity crowd could power Stefan to victory as Marquez overpowered him. De Angelis stayed in touch to take third while Scott Redding made a welcome return to form in seventh.

Victory for Marquez on Bradl's home soil sent out a clear message (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

The four week summer break had probably come at the perfect time for Bradl as Marquez’s momentum was halted but the teenager simply resumed his relentless chase of the German at Brno, extending his streak of pole positions. The two were expected to fight it out in the race too but a familiar face returned to show everyone what he was made of.

Since his win in the second race of 2011, Andrea Iannone had scored a grand total of 21 points, a tally Bradl and Marquez had completely eclipsed, and the Italian was out of championship contention. But Brno saw the rebirth of “Crazy Joe”, pulling off the kind of passing manoeuvres that only he can to claim a magnificent victory. Having monopolised the top step of the podium for seven straight races, Marquez and Bradl were forced to settle for second and third but crucially, Marc had the edge once again and continued to chip away at the championship deficit, now 43 points.

The historic surroundings of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway played host to round 11. The ‘motorsport capital of the world’ is the kind of venue where the greats stand up and show their class and Marquez was clearly up for the challenge, so was Simone Corsi. The FTR rider, who threatened a title bid earlier in the season, was on top throughout qualifying but missed out by the tiniest of margins, Marquez pipping him by one thousandth of a second.

The race was much more straightforward as the no.93 disappeared at the front but all eyes were on Bradl who had mountain to climb. The under-pressure German had qualified in an unthinkable 22^nd place and despite a sensational recovery ride, could only salvage sixth. It was a memorable day for the Spaniards with Marquez closing the gap to 28 points while Pol Espargaro and Esteve Rabat stood on a Moto2 podium for the first time in their rookie season.

If Assen was a turning point in the championship, Indy was unquestionably another. From a seemingly irretrievable 82 points behind after six races, Marquez now entered the final six with the destiny of the title in his own hands. Should he win all the remaining Grands Prix, Marc would be the man.

Stefan struck back at Misano with a brilliant pole position, bringing Marquez’s undefeated Saturday streak to a halt, while both Brits followed up top six finishes in the States with a place on the second row. Scott Redding would put in arguably his strongest performance of the year to finish fifth in the race, one place ahead of Smith, and even led for a large spell. There were no prizes for guessing who did take the victory though, with Marquez overtaking Andrea Iannone six laps from home. Crucially, Bradl managed to beat the Italian on the final lap to secure second and limit the damage to his championship lead.

Despite his rookie status, Marquez showed amazing consistency to chase down Bradl (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

The momentum remained with Marquez though and the CatalunyaCaixa Repsol rider had home advantage for the next Grand Prix at Aragon, if the riders ever made it onto the circuit that is. On Friday afternoon, Motorland was struck by a power cut which caused the cancellation of second practice.

Whenever the bikes did take to the track, the power was all with Marquez, aided by an updated Suter chassis. In the fiercely competitive class, pole position by anything over a tenth of a second is impressive but Marquez was a full six tenths clear of Julian Simon and Scott Redding who both edged out Bradl. Surely no-one could stop him in the race? In the end, they couldn’t but not before providing one the all-time Moto2 classics.

Redding, Marquez and Bradl squabbled over the lead early on but the constant position changes brought Andrea Iannone, Simone Corsi and Alex de Angelis onto their tails. Corsi and Iannone each took turns at the front before Marquez decided he’d had enough. With five laps to go, he retook the lead and promptly cleared off, leaving Iannone to hold off Corsi for second but Bradl was in all sorts of trouble with fading tyres. Alex De Angelis, Aleix Espargaro, Bradley Smith and Thomas Luthi all sped past him, leaving him in a terrible eighth. He still led the championship ahead of the rescheduled Japanese GP but Marquez was now within touching distance of him.

For seven consecutive races, Bradl’s lead had been constantly eroded and qualifying at Motegi did nothing to ease his fears. Marquez was on pole yet again ahead of Luthi, Iannone and Smith while Stefan had to make do with eighth. Seeing the title slipping away, Bradl rode like a champion in the race, battling his way past Simone Corsi on the last lap to finish fourth and better news was to come ahead, as Iannone beat Marquez to victory. This was something of a consolation for Bradl, albeit a small one as he now found himself a point behind Marquez for the first time all year.

Perhaps the Viessman Kiefer squad were banking on Marquez losing his composure amid the tension of a championship run-in. After all, their hopes were quickly receding. But in opening practice for the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, they received a huge boost in unusual fashion.

Marquez began his weekend with an innocuous crash and re-joined the circuit in the closing minutes, keen to make up for lost time. Unfortunately for Marc, the session was only 45 minutes long but he hadn’t seemed to notice and pushed on despite taking the chequered flag. As you would expect, everybody else was cruising back to the pits and Thai rider Ratthapark Wilairot found himself directly in the path of a rampant Marquez who ludicrously piled into the back of him. Mercifully, Wilairot escaped serious injury but Marquez’s act deserved heavy punishment. The FIM chose to add a minute onto his qualifying time, ruling that Marquez had ridden in “an irresponsible manner, causing danger to Wilairot”, effectively moving him to the back of the grid.

The title would slip away from the Spaniard, starting with this reckless manoeuvre in Australia (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

With this news made public on Friday night, Bradl had an open goal in front of him going into qualifying but the weather would throw everything up into the air. As in Mugello, the track dried quickly in the latter stages putting Scott Redding’s provisional pole up for grabs. Ioda Racing’s Mattia Pasini was the first to stake a claim before being usurped by Kenan Sofuoglu but the man in the right place at the right time was Alex de Angelis, although Bradley Smith’s Tech 3 teammate Mike Di Meglio ran him mighty close.

Bradl was only eight quickest, negating his advantage over Marquez, but with the opportunity to regain the championship lead he surged through the pack to take the fight to De Angelis. Stefan led entering the final lap but De Angelis dived past him at turn one, claiming the lead despite making contact with the Kalex. Marquez had scythed his way up to third with an inspired piece of riding, although Claudio Corti on the Italtrans Suter chased him all the way in pursuit of his first podium. Third wasn’t enough to hold onto the championship lead but this time Marquez had struck a psychological blow with Bradl failing to win again.

A head-to-head showdown in the final two races looked like a mouth-watering prospect, with three points separating the two but for the second race running, events on Friday morning would prove critical. Again it involved Marquez but this time he was blameless. FP1 at Sepang in Malaysia was barely a minute old when the gravel trap at turn 11 became increasingly populated.

Rain was falling at that part of the circuit although there were no signs of any oil flags to warn the riders. Jules Cluzel was the first to go down and before the Frenchman had had chance to walk away, Marquez’s Suter came cartwheeling towards him with the Spaniard thrown from his machine. That wasn’t all as Bradley Smith slid off too with the Briton’s body crashing into the debris, breaking his collarbone. Smith was out of the race altogether and Marquez’s participation was doubtful at best.

Bradl had been presented with another golden opportunity but he hadn’t bargained for a determined Thomas Luthi who pipped him to pole, his first in Moto2. Marquez did at least take part in qualifying, ending up in 36^th, but simply to give himself time to recover as he was clearly short of fitness. The morning of the race gave us the news we all feared, he was out. Suddenly from a championship point of view, it was Match Point Bradl, if he won the race the title was his.

As in qualifying though, Luthi gave as good as he got, shadowing Bradl lap after lap. With three laps remaining of the 19-lapper, the Swiss rider made his move at the final hairpin, surging into the lead and moments later, he was greeted by a red flag, stopping the race. The cause was an accident involving Axel Pons who crashed before being struck by Kenny Noyes’ FTR which was following him. A result was declared after 17 laps, meaning Bradl only needed to hang on for one more corner to be crowned champion. As it was, he would be forced to sweat it out in Valencia.

Events in Kuala Lumpur remained fresh in everybody’s mind as the paddock convened for the season finale. In the MotoGP race which followed Luthi’s maiden win, Marco Simoncelli was tragically killed in a horrendous accident. The mood was understandably sombre two weeks on but the Gresini team, who ran Marco in the premier class, bravely chose to race on.

The events of qualifying did much to put a smile on the faces of those involved with the Italian team as rain fell ten minutes in. That wouldn’t cheer anyone up but Michele Pirro and Yuki Takahashi were first and second at the time, giving the team their first pole of the year. Marco’s rain dance had clearly worked.

As in Malaysia, there was a sideshow taking place in the pits as everybody waited to see if Marc Marquez would take part. If he didn’t qualify for the race, Bradl would be champion by default but the CatalunyaCaixa team were prepared to wait until the last possible moment. Marc was still suffering from double vision and the sight of him in his civvies during qualifying told us, and Stefan Bradl, all we needed to know. The championship was over. Bradl visited the Spaniard’s garage during the qualifying session to offer his congratulations at the end of a fascinating season. Emilio Alzamora and the team responded with a warm round of applause to their season-long rival.

Bradl clearly wasn’t bothered at qualifying fourth and didn’t shine in the race either, crashing early on. With the two main men both out of action, the door was wide open for someone to claim a rare victory. Yuki Takahashi picked up the baton early on but a spectacular crash handed it over to teammate Pirro. The cold, drizzly weather conditions made life horrendously difficult but in Pirro’s own words, “Marco did the rest from on high. He was with me throughout the race”. In the circumstances, there could have been no more fitting a winner for the Valencian GP and Pirro’s victorious moment prompted team manager Fausto Gresini to burst into tears. He wasn’t the only one. Mika Kallio rounded off a largely disappointing season with second while Dominique Aegerter claimed his first podium in third, receiving an impromptu hair cut from the Technomag team as a result.

Emotions ran high as Pirro gave Gresini a dream victory in Valencia (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

In the midfield, Andrea Iannone and Alex de Angelis raced to the wire with third in the championship the prize. Iannone got the better of the JIR rider to finish 11^th in the race but the bronze medal was his. De Angelis ended the year in fourth while Luthi’s late win gave him fifth ahead of Simone Corsi.

The season came to a rather underwhelming finish for the Brits as Bradley Smith and Scott Redding both crashed out in Valencia. Smith showed his potential with a stunning run of podiums mid-season to claim seventh overall while Scott will see 2011 as a missed opportunity and will look to bounce back in 2012.

Stefan Bradl will follow in the footsteps of the championship’s only other champion, in fact he’s taking Elias’ job at LCR Honda MotoGP, while Marquez will be back to try and clinch the title that evaded him this year.

It already leaves us eagerly anticipating another year of Moto2 and the category has already built an identity within two years. Packed grids and thrilling action are guaranteed. It also gives us a glimpse into MotoGP’s future. As far as Marc Marquez is concerned, the future looks very bright but this year, it was his inexperience that cost him when it mattered most.

It’s a shame that an injury eventually decided it but there can be no doubt that Stefan Bradl is a deserving champion. He was consistent, quick and calculating and always kept himself out of trouble. In 2011, he was indeed the last man standing.

Despite an astonishing run of victories, Marquez couldn't recover from Bradl's lighting start

2011 Moto2 Riders’ Championship (Final Standings)

Pos	Rider	Bike	Team	Wins	Poles	FLs	Pts
1	Stefan Bradl	Kalex	Viessman Kiefer Racing	4	7	3	274
2	Marc Marquez	Suter	Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol	7	7	2	251
3	Andrea Iannone	Suter	Speed Master	3	0	7	177
4	Alex de Angelis	Motobi	JIR Moto2	1	1	2	174
5	Thomas Luthi	Suter	Interwetten Paddock Moto2	1	1	0	151
6	Simone Corsi	FTR	Ioda Racing Project	0	0	0	127
7	Bradley Smith	Tech 3	Tech 3 Racing	0	0	1	121
8	Dominique Aegerter	Suter	Technomag-CIP	0	0	0	94
9	Michele Pirro	Moriwaki	Gresini Racing Moto2	1	1	0	84
10	Esteve Rabat	FTR	Blusens-STX	0	0	0	79
11	Yuki Takahashi	Moriwaki	Gresini Racing Moto2	0	0	0	77
12	Aleix Espargaro	Pons Kalex	Pons HP 40	0	0	0	76
13	Pol Espargaro	FTR	HP Tuenti Speed Up	0	0	1	75
14	Julian Simon	Suter	Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2	0	0	0	68
15	Scott Redding	Suter	Marc VDS Racing Team	0	0	0	63
16	Mika Kallio	Suter	Marc VDS Racing Team	0	0	0	61
17	Kenan Sofuoglu	Suter	Technomag-CIP	0	0	0	59
18	R. Krummenacher	Kalex	GP Team Switzerland Kiefer	0	0	0	52
19	Yonny Hernandez	FTR	Blusens-STX	0	0	1	43
20	Max Neukirchner	MZ-RE Honda	MZ Racing Team	0	0	0	42
21	Jules Cluzel	Suter	NGM Forward Racing	0	0	0	41
22	Anthony West	MZ-RE Honda	MZ Racing Team	0	0	0	40
23	Mike Di Meglio	Tech 3	Tech 3 Racing	0	0	0	30
24	Mattia Pasini	FTR	Ioda Racing Project	0	0	0	28
25	Claudio Corti	Suter	Italtrans Racing Team	0	0	0	23
26	Xavier Simeon	Tech 3	Tech 3 B	0	0	0	23
27	Alex Baldolini	Pons Kalex	Pons HP 40	0	0	0	18
28	Kenny Noyes	FTR	Avintia-STX	0	0	0	11
29	Kev Coghlan	FTR	Aeroport de Castello	0	0	0	11
30	Ratthapark Wilairot	FTR	Thai Honda Singha SAG	0	0	0	4
31	Ricard Cardus	Moriwaki	QMMF Racing Team	0	0	0	2
32	Axel Pons	Pons Kalex	Pons HP 40	0	0	0	1

Nicolas Terol - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

The days and weeks preceding the opening race of a Grand Prix season are normally filled with excitement, expectation and unpredictability but ahead of the final 125cc World Championship before Moto3’s introduction, most two-wheel experts were in no doubt as to the destiny of the title.

Had it not been for a mid-season injury and the stunning form of Marc Marquez, Nicolas Terol may well have been the 2010 champion and after deciding to stick around in the junior class for one more year, it seemed the Alcoy youngster had a clear run to his first world crown. But the 125cc category has never failed to produce future stars and the class of 2011 would keep Terol on his toes all the way until the final showdown in Valencia.

Pre-season testing seemed to suggest that the greatest threat to the Bankia Aspar rider would come from within. Hector Faubel, back after an unsuccessful stint in Moto2, had taken up the second seat with the Aprilia squad and topped the timesheets at Jerez. The German duo of Sandro Cortese and Jonas Folger, each chasing their first victories in the upcoming season, were third and fourth.

A pair of 16 year olds were also turning heads in testing with CEV Buckler Spanish Championship challengers Maverick Vinales and Miguel Oliveira carrying their rivalry onto the world stage. Both finished testing in the top six but the serious business was still to come.

125 stalwart Danny Webb was charged with the task of leading Mahindra in their debut Grand Prix season while Danny Kent, Harry Stafford and Taylor Mackenzie all lined up for their debut season, completing the British contingent.

As the sun set in Qatar on March 17^th 2011, the glorious sound of two-stroke motorcycles kicked off the 2011 season and immediately, many forecasters saw their worst fears realised as Terol lapped a second quicker than the rest of the field in opening practice. To everyone’s relief, Sandro Cortese established some respectability in qualifying, getting within a tenth of a second, but Terol still had enough for pole with Derbi rider Efren Vazquez joining them on the front row.

All eyes may have been on Terol when the lights went out on race day but nobody saw him for dust, with 7.7seconds the winning margin. Cortese was a comfortable second but Vazquez lost his grip on third as the experience of Sergio Gadea prevailed. Gadea, another Moto2 refugee, was fully aware of the need to establish superiority over his impressive new teammate Vinales and the mission was certainly accomplished in round one, with Vinales down in ninth.

The British quartet had a tough start with Danny Kent the only to score points in 13^th although Taylor Mackenzie might have joined him but for a late off-track excursion. Both had shown their talent though and some familiar weather presented them with a golden opportunity two weeks later.

Round two saw the first of four Spanish showdowns but the conditions were more akin to a winter weekend at Silverstone. Strong winds throughout qualifying allowed Cortese to claim a shock pole position but Terol took over when the rain arrived on race day.

Teammate Faubel stepped forward to challenge him, keen to atone for a poor 11^th place in Qatar, and looked poised to attack Terol on the final lap before crashing out, leaving him in 11^th once again. Jonas Folger and Johann Zarco were the main beneficiaries, claiming second and third, but their delight was nothing compared to Kent and Mackenzie, who finished higher than ever before in fourth and fifth respectively.

Danny Kent made a name for himself with fourth at Jerez (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

The unfortunate postponement of the Japanese GP gave the riders a month off before regrouping for round three in Portugal, but the four week layoff had done little to slow Terol. After seeing his 2010 championship hopes all but extinguished on the same piece of tarmac, the series leader was on a mission from the moment the pitlane opened on Friday morning. The fastest man in FP1, FP2, FP3, Qualifying and the warm-up, Terol duly completed a clean sweep by beating Cortese to victory by 3.5 seconds. The German was the only man remotely capable of keeping him in sight while Zarco’s emergence as a legitimate threat continued with third, although he needed a photo finish to see of Vinales. Like the Blusens rider, Miguel Oliveira’s stock was rising with every passing weekend. Although he couldn’t do better than seventh on home soil, the Andalucía Banca Civica youngster had already put himself on the map by qualifying on the front row. The newcomers had put the established cast on notice, and another giantkilling act would follow in France.

Terol and Faubel comfortably headed the grid but Vinales’ presence on the front row drew plenty of attention. Not only did he start next to Terol though, but Vinales actually stayed with him in the race. Lap after lap ticked by with onlookers waiting for the inevitable acceleration from the elder Spaniard. Vinales matched him corner for corner until just two remained, pressing Terol into an error at the double-apex right hander at the end of the final lap. For the first time in four perfect races, Nico cracked and at the age of 16 years and 123 days, Maverick Vinales was a Grand Prix winner, the third youngest in history.

From a seemingly untouchable position, Terol’s judgement and temperament under pressure was coming into question. Johann Zarco was the latest to ruffle his feathers as the two went head-to-head and ultimately elbow-to-elbow in their pursuit of victory in Catalunya.

A race which started in drying conditions culminated in a final lap contest between the two and Zarco looked to have grabbed the advantage as he dived up the inside into the final corner. His desperation to win his first GP was clearly evident as he elbowed Terol onto the grass, before triumphantly leading him over the line. The Frenchman’s joy lasted all of two minutes though as race direction gave him a 20 second penalty on his way to parc ferme. Terol thus inherited the win, extending his lead in the championship to 48 points over Cortese who could only manage fourth.

Fortunes for Britain’s finest were fluctuating with Barcelona certainly ranking among the low points. Danny Webb and Harry Stafford, still chasing their first points of the year, came together on the opening lap while a tyre gamble backfired for Mackenzie, dropping him out of the points to an eventual 28^th. Danny Kent scored points in 11^th but all four would have welcomed a journey home, and round six at Silverstone provided the required morale boost.

Northamptonshire also provided a torrential rainstorm which threw the race wide open, leading to a second debut victory of the year. Agonisingly, Zarco would come up short in his quest for victory with Jonas Folger taking the honours. Terol’s wet weather prowess deserted him on this occasion but with Cortese only taking seventh, one place ahead of him, his title lead was safely intact.

The passionate (and sodden) home supporters were rewarded by four points finishers. Danny Kent returned to the top ten for the first time since Jerez with Danny Webb scoring his first points in the silver of Mahindra. 12^th brought four more points for Taylor Mackenzie while a special cheer was reserved for John McPhee. The Scottish teenager capitalised on a wildcard entry by overtaking Niklas Ajo on the final lap to score a point in 15^th.

The 125s switched the home of British motorsport to the “Cathedral of Motorcycling”, the spectacular Assen circuit in the Netherlands. Home favourite Jasper Iwema wouldn’t have shared that opinion after a weekend of mixed emotions. On Friday, the heavens opened five minutes into qualifying, leaving the Dutchman on provisional pole and praying for further rain. His dream wouldn’t come true though as he dropped to 33^rd on a drying track, with Maverick Vinales bagging pole position.

Iwema scythed his way through the field in similarly tricky conditions during the race but a collision with Bankia Aspar’s third hotshot Adrian Martin took him out altogether, infuriating the 21 year old. At least he got to race on home soil though, as a crash on Friday morning took out the championship leader. Terol slid out of final practice, fracturing the little finger on his right hand before doing further damage with a fall late in qualifying. Somehow, he’d still managed to qualify eighth but the injuries caused him to sit the race out.

With the main man out of action, the rest of the field provided an absolute thriller with as many as ten riders joining in the battle for victory. Luis Salom, in particular, made a name for himself with some sensational overtaking moves while Efren Vazquez and Johann Zarco took the concept of teamwork and threw it out of the window.

The lead changed on over a dozen occasions but Vinales was in the right place when the music stopped, or more to the point, when the rain started, and claimed his second career win. Salom’s aggression paid dividends with second place while Sergio Gadea scored a much needed podium in third. Danny Kent joined in the fun at the front late in proceedings which saw him claim a superb sixth with Danny Webb scoring again in 13^th.

Vinales managed to get his nose in front during a chaotic Dutch TT (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

Although the season was now well into the summer, mixed weather was becoming something of a recurring theme in 2011. For the fourth GP in succession, rain would have a major say in the result, this time in qualifying. As in Assen, drizzle would fall early in the session but this time it wouldn’t cease, handing Zarco his maiden pole position ahead of Salom and Gadea with the recovered Terol back on the second row.

24 hours later and another pattern of the year was on display, Johann Zarco’s misfortune. An assured ride despite pressure from Terol put him in prime position to win his first Grand Prix but once again, he would be denied in heart-breaking circumstances. The Avant-AirAsia-Ajo Derbi was unable to keep up with the Aspar Aprilia down the long pit straight and Terol simply waited until the end of the last lap before breezing past for his fifth win of the year. The margin of victory was a mere 0.167s and as Zarco would discover in Germany, 125cc racing was getting closer and closer.

With Terol languishing back in fourth, the stage was set for Zarco to finally claim that elusive victory although Maverick Vinales and Hector Faubel also had their eyes on the prize. As the trio descended from the Sachsenring’s famous ‘waterfall’ section, Faubel had the edge but Zarco attacked exiting the final bend and official timing gave him first position at the end of the final lap with Faubel second. Closer inspection of the timing screens revealed that the gap between the two was measured as 0.000s and for the first time in history, Grand Prix racing had seen a dead heat.

No-one seemed to have told Zarco though who celebrated by proudly waving the tricolour on his way back to the pits. MotoGP regulations however determined that the winner would be decided by the man with the faster race lap and on a tiebreak, Faubel was given a first win in 58 races.

Nothing could seperate Faubel and Zarco in Germany (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

The 27-year-old’s success was a welcome boost for Aspar team boss Jorge Martinez ‘Aspar’ who had seen Terol fail to challenge the leaders and Martin crash into Harry Stafford. The Briton was well placed to score his first championship points until their final corner collision but his wait wouldn’t go on much longer, with 13^th place bringing him some deserved reward next time out in Brno.

The Czech Republic would also see title race blown wide open with Terol’s Aspar Aprilia suffering a rare breakdown. Surely Zarco would win this time then? Well, not quite. The nearly man of 2011 came up short yet again as he lost out to, arguably, the only man with a greater desire to win his first GP.

After his impressive start, Sandro Cortese’s season had plateaued with a run of six races without a podium. The German had slipped from being Terol’s closest challenger to a distant fifth in the series, 60 points off the pace. But the vital breakthrough finally came after a thrilling duel with Zarco which culminated in contact two corners from home. A furious Zarco was second again although Terol’s retirement allowed him to close the gap in the title chase to just 12 points.

Brno also saw the emergence of yet more future stars. Alberto Moncayo, who had seen teammate Oliveira steal the headlines earlier in the season, made a name for himself with his first ever podium, the Portuguese youngster having crashed out at the last bend. Home favourite Jakub Kornfeil also shone with seventh while Malaysian teenager Zulfahmi Khairuddin claimed a career-best result in ninth. Danny Kent could, and arguably should, have been up there too but for a reliability problem on his Aprilia.

The bike in question wasn’t the RSW that he’s been racing with earlier in the year though, with Jonas Folger’s illness giving him the opportunity to ride the higher-spec RSA model. Kent would keep the factory bike for the next two races and further demonstrate his undoubted potential.

With the 125 skipping Laguna Seca, Indianapolis would play host to the championship’s sole race in the States. Despite coming one week after his nightmare at Brno, Terol was in devastating form, reminiscent of the performances in the Spring which established him as the man to beat.

Terol won the Indianapolis GP at a canter to reopen his championship lead (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

Pole position and victory by over three seconds were the perfect answers to those who’d doubted him and it was the turn of Zarco to face difficulties. The previously bulletproof Derbi started to leave trails of smoke in the sweltering Indiana heat and forced Johann to make do with fifth, surrendering the initiative which he had taken in the championship fight. Misano on the first weekend of September presented a chance to strike back, only for another win to slip through his fingers. This time though, he could only have himself to blame.

Several of the battles between Terol and Zarco had been tactical, at times even physical, but this time mind games came into play. Zarco led the race into the closing stages and took the unusual approach of turning his head on the back straight to apparently stare down the Spaniard. Even when Terol dived through at the penultimate corner, Zarco held the lead but entering the home straight, it would all go wrong.

Instead of putting his head down and charging towards the finish line, Johann looked behind for the second time, seemingly to intimidate Terol again. It later transpired that he was making a point and demonstrating the Derbi’s apparent inadequacies in a straight-line but either way, the upshot of it all was that Terol beat him to the chequered flag by 0.022s, striking a critical blow over the Frenchman.

The Terol-Zarco rivalry was rightly hogging the headlines but Misano saw the value of wildcard entrants as a Czech teenager introduced himself in fine style. Plenty can be said about the concept of wildcards with many riding for one race only without making any impression but by the same token, others have used their opportunity to build a reputation. John McPhee’s point-scoring display at Silverstone did the trick, as did Toni Finsterbusch’s efforts in Germany which yielded 12^th place, and in San Marino, Miroslav Popov stuck his Ellegi Racing Aprilia on the second row in just his third GP. For a rider younger even than Maverick Vinales, this was a sensational achievement and has surely cemented his name in the future of Grand Prix racing.

Five races remained and Terol knew he’d have home field advantage in two of them starting at Motorland Aragon. Zarco meanwhile was engaged in a feud with another Aspar rider, with Hector Faubel less than impressed with Zarco’s riding in Misano. The pair had collided twice on the opening lap as Zarco defended pole position and ahead of round 13, the oldest rider in the field had left Zarco in no doubt that he wouldn’t stand for it again.

Perhaps his plan was to get as far away from the Derbi as possible as Faubel stormed to pole position while Vinales and Terol separated him from Zarco on row two. Vinales was effectively the sole hope for the Blusens squad with Sergio Gadea leaving to take up a ride in Moto2. While Josep Rodriguez was drafted in as a replacement, his relative inexperience prevented him from troubling the frontrunners.

Another rider change would take place at Andalucía Banca Civica as the unfortunate issue of finance in motorsport reared its head. With sponsorship money drying up, Miguel Oliveira’s rookie season was brought to an early end. South African Brad Binder would fill in for the remainder of the year.

With Aragon featuring one of the longest straights of the year, the smart money had to be on the Aspar riders and Terol promptly left the field for dead, leaving Zarco and Faubel to renew hostilities in the battle for second. Zarco was becoming rather familiar with final corner showdowns and was embroiled in another only this time, he came out on top as Faubel’s aggressive attempt to aid his teammate sent him into the gravel trap, with Zarco emerging unscathed. The consistent Vinales finished third while Danny Kent took sixth, although this wasn’t enough to keep him on the factory Aprilia. The RSA would return to Folger for the remaining four races, starting in Japan.

After the natural disaster earlier in the year, MotoGP made a welcome return to Motegi at the beginning of October. The stage was set for Zarco vs. Faubel – Round 3 as the two locked out the top two positions in qualifying but Terol loomed ominously behind them in third. As in Aragon, a runaway victory was the result but this time, Zarco was the dominant force. There were no mind games, no last lap histrionics, just a triumphant salute to signify his first Grand Prix victory. For once, Terol had to settle for a distant second with his title advantage standing at 31 points with three races remaining.

Zarco's breakthrough victory finally came in Japan (Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)

Mathematically, the Australian Grand Prix presented the first opportunity for Terol to clinch the championship, although he needed Zarco to finish lower than he had in any race this year. Zarco was clearly buoyed by his debut win though and outpaced Cortese and Folger to take pole, despite crashing late in qualifying. Terol was back in fourth.

The notoriously changeable Melbourne weather threw another variable into the mix on Sunday morning, leaving the riders with a horrible decision to make. Patience was one of the many virtues needed as Zarco and Terol tumbled down the order early on due to their choice of slick tyres. Wet-shod runners like Alexis Masbou and Adrian Martin leaped to the top of the order on lap one.

Their joy only lasted as far as one-quarter distance as Cortese moved into the lead having coped best among the dry-tyre riders. He cruised to his second win of the season with Luis Salom taking a fine second while Zarco made superb progress to recover up to third. Terol also put in a fine recovery ride but having lost 11 places on the opening lap, he could only make it as high as sixth. The championship lead still stood at 25 points though, meaning he only had to finish in front of Zarco in Malaysia to wrap up the title.

When qualifying came to a conclusion, that task seemed a mere formality. Minutes into the session, Zarco lost the front end of the Derbi and with just one flying lap completed, he soon found himself bottom of the timesheets. To make matters worse, the bike broke down when he finally made it back out and it wasn’t until the final ten minutes that Zarco re-joined. On his last attempt, Zarco finally climbed up to 15^th but Terol was busy taking pole at this stage, giving him a 14 place head start ahead the hottest race of the year.

Securing the championship looked a formality but that feeling lasted all of three miles with Zarco slicing his way through the field, moving up to fifth at the end of lap one. Almost unthinkably, the title protagonists were nose-to-tail by lap eight with Vinales and Cortese leading the way. The two would dispute the victory amongst themselves as Terol turned his attentions to keeping Zarco at bay.

Just one lap from home, the advantage still lied with the Spaniard but with heat exhaustion causing him difficulty, Terol slipped off the road at turn five, causing the title to slip through his fingers. Although he salvaged fifth, third for Zarco kept him in the hunt ahead of the season finale in Valencia.

The atmosphere was understandably sombre at the Ricardo Tormo circuit with Marco Simoncelli’s tragic death in the Malaysian MotoGP race fresh in everybody’s mind. What the paddock was desperately looking for was a good news story and the final ever 125cc qualifying session delivered in sensational style.

Rain on Saturday morning provided a sodden race track for the start of qualifying and Australian teenager Jack Miller was among those to shine. With less than ten minutes to go, three riders decided to roll the dice and chance it on slick tyres.

Alexis Masbou was the first to gamble with fourth on the grid his reward with fellow countryman Louis Rossi taking a stunning second, but Danny Webb would grab the headlines with an expertly timed run. With Mahindra’s top brass watching on from the garage, the Briton clinched his and the team’s maiden pole position along with a place in history as the final 125 polesitter.

With Mahindra's top brass watching, Danny Webb chose the perfect time to grab pole position (Photo Credit: Mahindra)

Amid the euphoria, Zarco had managed to wrestle his Derbi to third on the grid, six places ahead of Terol who simply needed to finish in the top 11 to mark his home GP with the championship. Zarco’s task was simple – win or bust.

Sadly for the Frenchman, the latter would come to pass with his extraordinary run of top-six results ending at the worst possible moment. Having dropped to fifth at the start, Johann needed to make progress, and fast, but his exuberance cost him dearly with the Derbi finally escaping his control hallway around lap three.

The tense decider everyone had hoped for was out of the question but as it happened, Terol kept his end of the bargain anyway. In the closing stages, it looked as though he might even win the race but Maverick Vinales had other ideas and rounded the most successful rookie season ever with a fourth victory, pipping Sandro Cortese to third overall in the process.

Danny Webb’s dream weekend turned sour with a crash in the race with none of the other Brits able to round off impressive rookie campaigns with points finishes. John McPhee made a welcome return though and capped another wildcard appearance with a career best 14^th.

The last 125cc World Championship in history will go down as one of the all-time classics. Despite being billed in pre-season as a forgone conclusion, we saw wheel-to-wheel, shoulder-to-shoulder competition as well as final lap thrillers (and the occasional dead heat!) but in the end, the final 125cc champion was deserving of his crown.

As Nicolas Terol brought his Aspar Aprilia back into the Valencia pitlane, a gold number one replaced his regular no.18. The message was clear and undeniable, Nico was the gold standard in 2011.

Despite occasional blips, Terol always had an edge in the title race

2011 125cc Riders’ Championship (Final Standings)

Pos	Rider	Bike	Team	Wins	Poles	FLs	Pts
1 (C)	Nicolas Terol	Aprilia	Bankia Aspar Team 125cc	8	7	5	302
2	Johann Zarco	Derbi	Avant-AirAsia-Ajo	1	4	4	262
3	Maverick Vinales	Aprilia	Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing	4	3	3	248
4	Sandro Cortese	Aprilia	Intact-Racing Team Germany	2	1	2	225
5	Hector Faubel	Aprilia	Bankia Aspar Team 125cc	1	1	2	177
6	Jonas Folger	Aprilia	Red Bull Ajo MotorSport	1	0	0	161
7	Efren Vazquez	Derbi	Avant-AirAsia-Ajo	0	0	0	160
8	Luis Salom	Aprilia	RW Racing GP	0	0	0	116
9	Sergio Gadea	Aprilia	Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing	0	0	0	103
10	Alberto Moncayo	Aprilia	Andalucía Banca Civica	0	0	0	94
11	Danny Kent	Aprilia	Red Bull Ajo MotorSport	0	0	0	82
12	Jakub Kornfeil	Aprilia	Ongetta-Centro-Seta	0	0	0	72
13	Adrian Martin	Aprilia	Bankia Aspar Team 125cc	0	0	1	45
14	Miguel Oliveira	Aprilia	Andalucía Banca Civica	0	0	0	44
15	Marcel Schrotter	Mahindra	Mahindra Racing	0	0	0	36
16	Simone Grotzkyj	Aprilia	Phonica Racing	0	0	0	32
17	Louis Rossi	Aprilia	Matteoni Racing	0	0	0	31
18	Zulfahmi Khairuddin	Derbi	AirAsia-Sic-Ajo	0	0	0	30
19	Danny Webb	Mahindra	Mahindra Racing	0	1	0	24
20	Luigi Morciano	Aprilia	Team Italia FMI	0	0	0	23
21	Niklas Ajo	Aprilia	TT Motion Events Racing	0	0	0	19
22	Alexis Masbou	KTM	Caretta Technology	0	0	0	18
23	Jasper Iwema	Aprilia	Ongetta-Abbink-Metaal	0	0	0	16
24	Taylor Mackenzie	Aprilia	Phonica Racing	0	0	0	15
25	Alessandro Tonucci	Aprilia	Team Italia FMI	0	0	0	12
26	Hiroki Ono	KTM	Caretta Technology	0	0	0	8
27	Manuel Tatasciore	Aprilia	Phonica Racing	0	0	0	5
28	Harry Stafford	Aprilia	Ongetta-Centro-Seta	0	0	0	5
29	Toni Finsterbusch	KTM	Freudenberg Racing Team	0	0	0	4
30	Miroslav Popov	Aprilia	Ellegi Racing	0	0	0	3
31	John McPhee	Aprilia	Racing Steps Foundation KRP	0	0	0	3
32	Josep Rodriguez	Aprilia	Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing	0	0	0	3
33	Giulian Pedone	Aprilia	Phonica Racing	0	0	0	1
34	Sturla Fagerhaug	Aprilia	WTR-Ten10 Racing	0	0	0	1

Tomorrow… 2011 Moto2 Season Review

Michele Pirro - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Michele Pirro will make his MotoGP debut with the San Carlo Honda Gresini team next year after signing a deal to ride their CRT motorcycle. The Italian sparked emotional scenes at the final round in Valencia by winning his first Moto2 race for Gresini, just two weeks after the tragic death of Marco Simoncelli.

That performance has earned him the opportunity to lead Gresini’s debut season as a Claiming Rules Team in the premier class with the bike set to feature an FTR chassis and a Honda Fireblade CBR1000RR engine.

The 25 year old admits he was planning to stay in Moto2 for another season but couldn’t turn down the opportunity to represent Gresini in MotoGP.

I am happy to have made this choice and proud to be competing with Team San Carlo Honda Gresini in this new adventure. It wasn’t an easy decision to make because my initial priority was to build on my results from 2011 in Moto2 but the faith shown in me by Fausto Gresini at the end of the season left me in little doubt which route I should take. I am honoured to remain part of this fantastic group of people and to be joining them as part of an ambitious project that represents the future of MotoGP. Hopefully I can pay back the faith they have shown in me with some good results and technical development.”

Pirro will partner Alvaro Bautista who will ride a 1000cc Honda RC213V and team manager Fausto Gresini believes he has deserved his chance.

We have decided that it feels right for a new project such as CRT to give Michele Pirro the opportunity to show his talent. He demonstrated in the closing stages of the 2011 Moto2 World Championship that he has the technical ability to improve further as a rider and we believe that he can be one of the leading CRT riders. His fantastic and truly unforgettable win at Valencia was emotional for all of us and it convinced us that he is worthy of this chance. We are also obviously an Italian team so it is also important to us to carry this new project forward with an Italian rider in Michele.”

Alvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

Suzuki Motor Corporation have confirmed that they will take no part in the 2012 MotoGP World Championship, citing the global financial crisis and the recent natural disasters in Japan as the reasons.

The Rizla Suzuki team’s participation had been in some doubt for months as the Japanese manufacturer remained silent on their plans for 2012. At first, the British-based team had hoped to continue, albeit with an 800cc bike which they tested at Valencia, before introducing a 1000cc challenger midway through the season.

But on Friday, the manufacturer confirmed in a statement what they called a “temporary suspension” of their MotoGP activities and still plans to return for the 2014 season.

“Suzuki Motor Corporation has decided to suspend temporarily its participation in FIM Road Racing Grand Prix MotoGP from 2012”, they explained.

“This suspension is to cope with tough circumstances mainly caused by the prolonged recession in developed countries, a historical appreciation of Japanese Yen and repeated natural disasters.

Having an eye to returning to MotoGP in 2014, Suzuki will now focus on developing a competitive new racing machine for that class.

Suzuki will continue motocross racing activity and support of road racing activities using mass-produced motorcycles, by obtaining FIM homologation and co-operation with the supplier of its development racing kit parts.”

The withdrawal now leaves Honda, Yamaha and Ducati as the only remaining manufacturers in the championship as Suzuki joins Kawasaki in pulling out of GP racing in the last three years.

Stefan Bradl testing the Honda RC212V at Valencia - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com

The reigning Moto2 World Champion, Stefan Bradl, will move up to the MotoGP class in 2012 after signing a two-year contract with the LCR Honda team. The German pipped Marc Marquez to finish top of the intermediate class before catching the eye of LCR during a two-day test at Valencia last week.

Bradl will replace the previous Moto2 title holder Toni Elias and will hope for better luck than the Spaniard who struggled throughout 2011 on the RC212V. After testing the same bike at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, Bradl is confident that the team will help him make his debut MotoGP season a success.

“This is simply fantastic like a dream that comes true! When I tested the RC212V in Valencia I realized that LCR Team is very professional and well organized so I am sure they will do their best to support me: making my debut in the premier class aboard the RC213V is great and I can’t wait to get back on track”.

Team Manager Lucio Cecchinello believes Bradl has the potential to be successful in the 1000cc era of Grand Prix racing, justifying his multi-year contract.

“Next year will be very important for the MotoGP; starting from next April the championship will be rich of new technical rules and participants. Together with Honda we have considered several riders and Stefan was one of our candidates. After the test in Valencia we were very impressed by his potential and his determination: Stefan is young and fast and he just clinched the Moto2 World Title so we believe we can grow together with the Team in the next two years. He already knew the technical staff and today I am happy to give him our warmest welcome in the LCR Team!”.