Who would ever thought that the final race of the 800cc era would actually go to the line? Casey Stoner and Ben Spies gave fans something to watch in final laps of the Valencia race and it was the first time since the debut of the 800’s that we’ve seen a race won by a mere 0.
015s margin.
For Stoner it was his first fought out win of the entire season, but for Spies it was a fantastic comeback after missing the last two GP races due to head and rib injuries and another woeful crash on Friday afternoon.
Both riders will be testing their respective 1000cc machines on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“My heart was in my throat! “ said Casey Stoner.
“We did such a good job all the race and then it started to rain heavily.
Being the first one to arrive to the conditions on the track, I wasn’t sure how hard to push so I slowed up to ensure I finished the race and I thought if they come past I can stay with them.
Then coming onto the back straight I made a slight mistake when I went into neutral instead of first gear and Ben came past me.
I tried to stay with him but he was riding very well, fast and smooth and he looked confident in the conditions, more so than me.
In the first half of the final lap he made a nice gap but I knew we were quick in the second half of the lap.
I thought to myself, we haven’t been able to take any risks all season, this is the time to take one and see what we can do.
I knew I had a better exit line out of the final turn and I kept my head down and went for the line.
It’s amazing to win this on the finish line, I’ve had it done to me in the past a few times but I’ve never done it to anyone else! I’m sorry for Ben, he rode a great race, a big thanks to my team for all their hard work this year”.
“The conditions were really tough today, with the rain it was so difficult to know how hard to push so I was just concentrating on bringing the bike home.
We were able to follow Dani and Dovi and get past them eventually and then get past Casey when he made a small mistake.
When there’s no rider in front of you, you don’t have a judge on how slippery the track is so it’s difficult to judge speed in that last lap.
When we came out of the last corner I got the paint sucked off the bike by Casey as he went past! I’m happy enough; we made a huge charge at the end and finished well.
Considering how the last month has gone it’s a great way to end.
We’ll focus on the test now and aim to be up there and even more competitive next year.
A huge thank you to Yamaha and my crew who made sure I had a great bike to ride today.
This morning we all came out to make some noise and say goodbye to Marco, I’m pretty sure he heard us and I know he would have approved!” said Ben Spies.