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MotoGP World Championship
2007 - Round 18 (Final) - Valencia |
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MotoGP World Championship
2007 - Round 18 (Final) - Valencia |
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| The 250 championship was decided at Sepang, the
round leading into Valencia, but the race in Spain would still
surely provide some whole hearted entertainment. The home-town
Spanish heroes would try to claim home glory as the other riders
tried to spoil the party. Away from the line and Mika Kallio got the best of the jumps from pole position, however home-town hero Barbera was bravest under breaks into turn one and snatched the lead. He was quick to relinquish his lead to newly crowned, back to back 250cc champion Jorge Lorenzo a few corners later. Fabrizio Lai crashed out of the race on the opening lap. Lorenzo was looking strong at the front early, if he was to finish either first or second he would set a new record for most points scored in a single season in the 250cc class. Barbera and Dovizioso did their best to stick with the fiery Spaniard. The three riders at the front were slowly edging away from Kallio in fourth as Andrea Dovizioso moved into second and slowed the group down a fraction. Dovizioso was immediately able to up his pace and close right in on Lorenzo. He mounted the pressure on his main title combatant throughout the year as a leading pack of nine riders had formed in the early stages. The group of nine began to feel the pinch as Lorenzo and Dovizioso began to pull away. Alvaro Bautista and Hector Barbera were having a rare old scrap for fourth place, banging elbows, shoulders and fairings. Bike racing is a contact sport isn’t it? Lorenzo and Dovizioso were unable to pull the type of gap they would have liked with their increase in pace. Alex DeAngelis had made his way up to third place, past Kallio, after starting in ninth and set a string of fastest laps along the way. DeAngelis went on to take second place a lap later, moving past Dovizioso. Kallio also moved from fourth to third, past Dovizioso who now rounded out the leading group. The front riders had managed to pull a second gap over Bautista in fifth. Marco Simoncelli made an error and ran off track with 19 laps to run, surrendering his sixth place after qualifying an impressive and career best third place. Alex DeAngelis took over at the front of the race the very next lap, pushing Lorenzo wide with a forceful move as the front group of four had expanded to a rampant group of six, joined by Bautista and Debon. DeAngelis continued to set very fast lap times as he built a gap over Lorenzo in second. Lorenzo wasn’t in second for long as Dovizioso and Bautista pushed past the champion, demoting him to fourth. He was now coming under real pressure from KTM star Mika Kallio. Kallio made the pressure pay off a few corners later and made a move stick, demoting Lorenzo further down the order. Barbera, Debon and Simon continued Lorenzo’s misery, demoting their fellow Spaniard compatriot to eighth place. Lorenzo was clearly suffering some sort of mechanical issue. Meanwhile back at the front, DeAngelis’ lead continued to extend and with 14 laps to run it stood at one and a half seconds. DeAngelis continued to push as the laps rolled on. Bautista in second was involved in a skirmish with Dovizioso and Kallio with a further gap back to the next group lead by wild-card rider Alex Debon. DeAngelis set another fastest lap of the race with 11 to run and increased his lead to over two seconds as Kallio moved into third place past Andrea Dovizioso, the Finn now had fellow rookie Alvaro Bautista in his sights. With 10 laps to go the order of the top ten was comprised of DeAngelis from Bautista, Kallio, Dovizioso, Debon, Barbera, Simon, Lorenzo, Takahashi and Hiroshi Aoyama. Kallio was the next man to set the fastest lap of the race as he and Bautista ahead of him did their best to close the gap to the currently comfortable DeAngelis. Their combined aim of gap reduction began to be achieved, albeit slowly, with seven laps to run as Bautista took over setting the fastest laps of the race. The gap had been reduced from 1.8 seconds to 1.2. Mika Kallio set another fastest lap of the race with six to go, breaking the lap record in the process. As the pace increased, Bautista succumbed and crashed out of second place. The chase for the lead would now be solely in the hands of Kallio, who inherited second place as a result of Bautista’s demise. A few places further down the field, Dovizioso was struggling and coming under pressure from local rider Alex Debon. Debon made a move stick with five laps to be completed and took over the final podium place. He would be aiming to bring the bike home now and earn his first ever podium finish. Lapped traffic came into play throughout the closing laps as Kallio was baulked and lost some ground do DeAngelis. However, the Finnish rookie quickly composed himself and set about catching and overthrowing DeAngelis at the front. With three and a half laps to run, Kallio had closed the gap to DeAngelis to half a second and was looking a sure bet to give DeAngelis a real shake. DeAngelis was well and truly under the pump heading onto the penultimate lap as Kallio was right up the exhaust pipes of the man from San Marino. Kallio made the move for the lead with a brave dive under breaks into a tight right hander, two turns before the finish line to begin the final lap. Over the course of the final lap Kallio managed to push as hard as possible and pull enough of a gap over DeAngelis to win his second 250cc race of the year. He rode a calm and cagey race and did enough to earn a hard fought win. DeAngelis, while denied back to back wins at Valencia, threw his practice and qualifying form out the window to lead for most of the race and take an impressive second place. Alex Debon managed to hold off Dovizioso and give the home crowd something to smile about, while earning his first ever podium in third place. Dovizioso has never finished on the podium at Valencia during his four years in the 250cc class and was forced to settle for fourth place. Barbera, Simon, Lorenzo, Takahashi, Luthi, and Hiroshi Aoyama rounded out the top 10. The 250cc class should prove to be a dynamic contest next year with the likes of Lorenzo, Dovizioso and DeAngelis moving on to MotoGP. The young eager and fiery rookies of 2007 in Kallio, Bautista and Luthi will be the ones to watch for 2008. |
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