Jorge Lorenzo capped off his title-winning 2010 season in conquering style on home turf yesterday at Valencia. The 23-year-old Spaniard took his ninth victory and 16th podium of the year and in doing so amassed a total of 383 points, breaking his Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi’s record of 373 points scored over a single season – a tally that also put the Lorenzo 138 points clear of championship runner up Dani Pedrosa.
After falling back as far as eighth position during the early stages of the race, Lorenzo fought his was back to the front passing Ducati’s Casey Stoner with seven laps remaining and then opening up a four and a half second lead. Valentino Rossi finished third in his final race for Yamaha before riding for Ducati next season. In an emotional farewell to the Japanese factory team, the 31-year-old seven-time champion hugged his M1 and said, “It has been a great experience and I have enjoyed it a lot”.
Lorenzo has announced that he’ll be changing his race number from his current 99 to 1 for the 2011 season.
2010 Valencia MotoGP Results
1. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 46m 44.622s
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 46m 49.198s
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 46m 53.620s
4. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 47m 2.265s
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 47m 3.782s
6. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 47m 5.296s
7. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 47m 11.419s
8. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 47m 13.910s
9. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 47m 14.073s
10. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 47m 14.482s
11. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 47m 16.383s
12. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 47m 18.226s
13. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 47m 21.244s
14. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda 47m 23.59s
15. Carlos Checa ESP Pramac Racing 47m 40.791s
DNF:
Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team
2010 MotoGP Riders’ Championship
1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 383
2 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 245
3 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 233
4 Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 225
5 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 206
6 Ben Spies Monster Yamaha Tech 3 176
7 Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Team 163
8 Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 125
9 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 116
10 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3 103
= Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda Gresini 103
12 Hector Barbera Aspar Racing Team 90
13 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 85
14 Alex Espargaro Pramac Racing Team 65
15 Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten Honda 53
16 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 44
17 Mika Kallio Pramac Racing Team 43
18 Alex de Angelis Interwetten Honda 11
19 Roger Lee Hayden LCR Honda 5
20 Kousuke Akiyoshi Interwetten Honda 4
21 Wataru Yoshikawa Fiat Yamaha Team 1
= Carlos Checa Pramac Racing Team 1
