Racing: Stoner a non-starter, Pedrosa wins

Dani Pedrosa doubled his race-victory tally for the season in the final race of the year with a start to finish win at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia on November 8, as Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo completed the podium.

The drama started before the race had even commenced, as pole position holder Casey Stoner's highside crash on the warm-up lap meant he was unable to take his place on the grid. That allowed Pedrosa to lead the charge from his position on the front row, and after taking the first corner in the lead the Repsol Honda rider never relinquished it, sealing third spot in the overall standings in the process.

"I'm very happy with this win because I really wanted it. All through the week I was thinking only about this race," said Pedrosa. "In practice we struggled a lot, but the team did a great job and I want to thank them for the job they did. Also to all the fans that came to the track, they supported us and it's unbelievable. I think they enjoyed the race.

"With Casey out of the race it was easier, but in the end we had a great race so thanks again to everyone around me."

World champion Rossi followed the Spaniard home in second place, finishing 2.630secs behind Pedrosa as he ended his title-winning season with his 13th podium of the campaign.

The Italian's Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who did well to hold onto his bike when a moment on the opening lap almost threw him off, was a further 0.283secs behind as he took third, having already sealed second spot in the championship by virtue of Stoner's non-start.

The Australian ended the season in fourth place overall, with Colin Edwards' fourth place in the race allowing him to snatch fifth in the 2009 standings from Andrea Dovizioso.

The top five on the day was completed by Stoner's Ducati Marlboro team-mate Nicky Hayden, who held off the challenge of Toni Elías as the Spaniard came in sixth in his final race with the San Carlo Honda Gresini team.

Wildcard rider Ben Spies rode to an impressive seventh-placed finish, and in depriving Dovizioso of that spot - the Italian finished eighth - played a direct role in helping his future Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Edwards take fifth in the championship.

There were also top 10 finishes for Rookie of the Year Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini).

Australian Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) was a disappointing 15th in his final MotoGP race before heading back to world superbike.

Meanwhile, Hiroshi "Hiro" Aoyama and Honda won the last 250 world championship at Valencia. It was Honda's 16th riders' title since 1961.

Aoyama secured the title with a resolute ride to seventh place, giving him the crown ahead of Hector Barbera (Aprilia) and Marco Simoncelli (Gilera).

Next season the Japanese ace will move up to the premier MotoGP class, riding a Honda RC212V. And the thoroughbred 250s will be replaced by the all-new Moto2 class.

The race at Valencia was a real cliff-hanger. The 2008 world champion Simoncelli was the only rider who could beat Aoyama to the crown, but the Italian needed to win the race with Aoyama lower than 11th to take the title. At one-third distance Simoncelli was ahead when Aoyama ran off the track, rejoining in 11th place!

The title was finally decided when Simoncelli crashed out of the lead with seven laps to go.

In the 125cc class, Julian Simon (Aprilia) had already wrapped up the title at Phillip Island, and he finished the season in flying colours with another victory over team-mate Bradley Smith.

Click the following link for final championship standings in all classes.