Boris on the Valencia MotoGP #FinalShowdown

The Unclimbed Mountain

Boris Mihailovic

It wouldn’t have taken much to predict what was in the mind of Andrea Dovizioso before the final round at Valencia.

“Here is a track completely unsuited to my Ducati, but entirely suited to Marquez and whatever he happens to be riding. He likes left-hand tracks and he’s won here before. I have never won here. In order for me to win the championship Marquez has to crash, which is always possible. Or I have to win and he has to come 12th. Also possible, but less likely than him crashing. I’m doomed.”

Andrea Dovizioso on the grid at Valencia - Image by AJRN — Andrea Dovizioso on the grid at Valencia – Image by AJRN

And then he would have gone to bed and slept the sleep of the righteous, because at the end of the day, he could do no more than ride as hard as he could.

Which is exactly what Dovi did, but Marquez won the championship anyway. Not a bad effort for a bloke who has crashed 27-times this season.

Dovi did not finish the race and neither did his team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo. And what happened out on track between the two of them has already been dismissed by both the riders and the team – probably in the interests of peace and harmony – and we’ll get to that in a second.

Marc Marquez - Image by AJRN — Marc Marquez – Image by AJRN

What amazed me was that Marquez should have crashed when he sailed off the track after losing the front-end, but once again, he managed to keep it upright and bring home the world championship.

Dani Pedrosa actually won the race, duking it out with a determined and blisteringly fast Johann Zarco, who looked, for most of the battle, like he would win his first MotoGP race.

But just like Dovi’s world title, that was not to be, and Zarco had to settle for second after being overwhelmed by Dani on the last lap.

Dani Pedrosa - Image by AJRN — Dani Pedrosa – Image by AJRN

Marquez managed to bring his Honda home in third, but it wouldn’t have mattered where he finished, or even if he didn’t finish. The moment Dovizioso laid his Ducati over in the gravel after running off at Turn Four five laps from the end, the championship was all over.

Still, Marquez did pass Zarco. He didn’t have to, but…well, this is Marquez, so I guess he probably did have to. But that one single decision could well have cost him the championship. As it turned out, it didn’t. And it didn’t because Marquez once again somehow managed to save a front-end lose. He deserves the title for the amount of times he’s done that this season alone.

So what happened between Dovizioso and Lorenzo?

Speculation is rife Lorenzo somehow sabotaged Dovi’s charge for the lead (and subsequent attempt at the title), by ignoring the repeated Suggest Mapping 8 instructions on his dash, and also seeming to not pay attention to his pit board, which was telling him to let Dovizioso past.

And at times, it did look like Dovi was trying to get around Jorge. Would that have made a difference to the result if he had?

It’s impossible to say. This is not a sport of ifs, but had Lorenzo let Dovi through, Dovi would then have had to catch and pass Pedrosa (a second or so in front), then deal with Zarco and Marquez, and then hope Marquez crashed, in order to secure the championship.

I don’t think that’s a mountain Andrea Dovizioso could climb – even on his best day, and he certainly wasn’t having one of those at Valencia.

I also don’t think Lorenzo was screwing with him. I think Lorenzo genuinely hoped he could tow Dovi into leadership contention – and he actually said this – and then he would have moved over and let him go.

Except Lorenzo could no more catch Pedrosa, Zarco and Marquez than his team-mate could.

And ultimately, we will never really know what was in Lorenzo’s mind, or if he would have helped Dovi, because they both DNFd and the whole argument became moot.

In spectator terms, the race was mostly processional, and apart from the few moments I have mentioned, rather undramatic. Though it was funny seeing Lorenzo’s pit crew wildly gesticulating at Ducati management after their boy repeatedly ignored the pit board telling him to go back a place.

Alex Rins impressed everyone, including himself, by piloting the Suzuki home into fourth, and while it looked for a while like Iannone was gonna make it salty at the pointy end – he did qualify in third – Valentino Rossi eventually relegated him to sixth, just ahead of Jack Miller, who hammered home in seventh after promising great things in practice and qualifying.

Miller has matured greatly this year, and I’m thinking the Octo Pramac Ducati will suit his riding style much more than the satellite Honda he was on this year. And let’s face it, it took Marc Marquez to make this year’s Honda look so good.

Honda secured the “Triple Crown,” comprising the Constructor, Rider, and Team Championships.

The factory Yamahas pretty much shamed themselves and gave both Rossi and Vinales more work than they should have had to do.

Rossi may well have made the championship more interesting had he not broken his leg, but poor old Vinales just never seemed to come back off summer holidays – and he finished 12th at Valencia.