Fine skies looked down upon the field for the final race of the 2007 season and the 100th race of the new four-stroke era. A dark cloud however was hanging over Valentino Rossi who had broke some bones in his hand in a nasty qualifying crash but was determined to battle on nonetheless. The Italian would need to salvage a point or two to try and hang on to his second place in the championship if Pedrosa managed to win the race.

Pedrosa had taken pole in a hectic qualifying session but Stoner put in some amazing times during the morning warm up that suggested the new World Champion would be the man to beat.

When the lights went out it was those two men, Stoner and Pedrosa, that got away best while Hayden, Hopkins, Melandri and Capirossi gave chase.

Stoner made his intentions very clear on lap two with a new lap record but Dani Pedrosa was not going to be shaken. The battle for third was hotting up with Hopkins making a fantastic move on Hayden and Hopkins quickly sprinted away from his countryman. Half a lap later Melandri also put a move on Hayden but the 2006 World Champ came straight back at him and the Italian would have to bide his time a little longer. Looking to join that party were Capirossi and Barros running close astern while Randy De Puniet wasn't completely out of the picture either.

Dani Pedrosa slipstreamed past Stoner into turn one to take the lead for the first time after putting in a new circuit record as the two young Dynamos of MotoGP put on a brilliant display for the massive Spanish crowd. Pedrosa looked to have the measure of his young foe and Stoner had the Ducati luridly sideways around many of the turns in his quest to keep the Repsol Honda in his sights.

With one third of the race gone Pedrosa had a full second buffer over Stoner who in turn had four seconds over Hopkins. Next was a quarter consisting of an Italian (Melandri), an American (Hayden), a Frenchman (De Puniet) and another Italian (Capirossi). Brazilian Alex Barros had lost touch with that group and was starting to come under attack from Vermeulen.

Little much had changed by the halfway point of the 30 lap encounter apart from the gaps had changed slightly. Pedrosa now had 1.5 seconds on Stoner and Hopkins was a further eight seconds down but still with a healthy four second buffer over Melandri and Hayden. That pair providing the majority of on track action by dusting each other up numerous times each lap in a torrid tussle over fourth place.

Valentino Rossi retired from the race with 11 laps to run while out of the points. His broken hand not putting him out of the race but instead a broken Yamaha that left him to watch the final stages of the race from the comfort of his motorhome. With Pedrosa looking likely for the win that would mean the Spaniard would pip Rossi out of second spot in the championship by a single point.

Pedrosa and Stoner continued to set the pace up front. That pair of course well accustomed to doing battle in the 250cc ranks and their riding styles on their respective four-stroke mounts markedly different. Stoner choosing to slide the Ducati round the turns in graceful arcs from very early on in the corners while Pedrosa looked more point and shoot. The Spaniard looking to use a more get it in, turn it, point it and shoot it approach resembling the day of 500 two-stroke viciousness.

The battle for the minor placings really started to step another gear with five laps to run. Melandri had finally managed to get away from Hayden as the Kentucky Kid struggled for rear grip. To add further insult Capirossi then pushed the American back to sixth place and shortly thereafter Chris Vermeulen relegated him to seventh place.

The final lap of season 2007 commenced with Pedrosa enjoying a three second gap over Stoner and the Australian enjoying a 14 second buffer over third placed Hopkins.

Pedrosa went on to finish season 2007 the way he hopes to start the 2008 season, with a win. Stoner a sideways second place and Hopkins waves bye-bye to Suzuki with the front wheel of his GSV-R high in the sky. With the championship already done and dusted in favour of Stoner some rounds ago many would think there was little left to battle for but pride in the Valencia finale but nothing could be further from the truth with much of the top order shuffling around in the final wash up. Pedrosa's second place promoted him past Rossi to take the #2 plate into 2008 while Hopkins' podium nudged him past Melandri to earn the right to take the #4 plate with him to Kawasaki next season. And Kawasaki are looking mighty strong at least in the engine department with the highest top speeds of the race hit by both Kawasaki riders, with a Suzuki recording the third highest terminal velocity ahead of Stoner's Ducati.

Four different manufacturers in the final championship top four, two on Bridgestone, two on Michelin. Where is the supposed problem with parity? Or is there only a parity problem when Italian riders on French rubber are not seen to be dominating?

MotoGP Race Results

1. Pedrosa
2. Stoner 5.44
3. Hopkins 20.40
4. Melandri 24.82
5. Capirossi 25.80
6. Vermeulen 25.86
7. Barros 29.47
8. Hayden 30.33
9. De Puniet 30.89
10. Elias 31.03
11. Guintoli 38.76
12. Checa 42.50
13. Edwards 46.57
14. Nakano 50.22
15. Tamada 56.87
16. West 75.36