Rossi's Heroic Valencia Charge Wasn't Enough To Deny Lorenzo The MotoGP Title

Following the controversy of the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang just a few weeks ago, the MotoGP title went right down to the wire at the 2015 season finale in Valencia between Yamaha team mates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

Rossi entered the weekend leading the championship but his penalty for the events that occurred in Malaysia meant he started the final round in last place, with Lorenzo claiming pole position at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Spain.

Lorenzo needed to win and Rossi finish third or lower to take the title. If the Spaniard crossed the line second, Rossi would have to be off the podium and if he was third, he needed his rival to finish outside of the top six.

At the start, Lorenzo had a blinding launch from the grid and led the field of riders into the first corner. He soon established a small lead over the chasing Honda pair of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, but they kept Lorenzo in sight.

Rossi had a storming first lap to go from 26th to 15th and he continued to quickly climb through the field with some brave passes. His charge was hardly surprising, but still very impressive, carving his way through to ninth by the end of the third tour, helped by a spectacular crash for Andrea Iannone.

He wasted no time in rising up to fourth place but found himself over 10 seconds behind the leading three, who were still lapping in close proximity. Lorenzo and Marquez continued to lead, with Pedrosa a little further back. However, the man in third found some pace with just a few laps to go and caught the back of the top two.

Pedrosa tried to make a move on Marquez with two laps remaining but he couldn’t make it stick, giving Lorenzo a little bit of room to breathe. The Spaniard put in a faultless drive to claim victory in Valencia and with it the 2015 title.

It was his fifth overall Grand Prix title and third in MotoGP. Marquez, who looked faster than Lorenzo during parts of the race but didn’t make a move (maybe because it would aid Rossi’s challenge?), was second and Pedrosa ran out of time, finishing third.

Rossi was fourth and missed out on title number 10, but he was gracious in defeat and will surely be in contention for the crown next year. Aleix Espargaró and Bradley Smith were fifth and sixth.

A thrilling, rollercoaster MotoGP season ended in typically dramatic style, but so too did the Moto2 and Moto3 campaigns. The Moto2 round was red flagged after a big first corner pile-up but the restarted event saw Tito Rabat win, with champion Johann Zarco seventh. In Moto3 Miguel Oliveira claimed victory but ninth was enough for Danny Kent to claim the crown, becoming the first British Grand Prix Motorcycling world champion since Barry Sheene in 1977.