Heartbraking end to season Rossi and Yamaha

Valentino Rossi's hopes of securing the runner-up spot in the championship ended in the unluckiest of fashions today, when a technical issue brought the injured Italian's race to a premature end in Valencia. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards also had a disappointing race and finished 13th in his final race for the Factory Team, after starting from 15th. Having broken three bones in his hand after crashing in qualifying yesterday, Rossi bravely decided to race, his 192nd consecutive start since his 125cc debut in 2006. Forced to start from 17th after completing only five laps in qualifying, he needed to finish 15th or higher in order to secure second place in the championship from Pedrosa, who started on pole. By mid-race distance he had gone one better, having passed Anthony West, Shinya Nakano and Makoto Tamada to take 14th.However on lap 18 Rossi ran into unexpected problems with his bike and he was forced to retire, only able look on as Pedrosa went on to win the race and take the championship runner-up spot by just one point. Edwards meanwhile had made up three places from his starting position to 12th, but was limited by a lack of grip and unable to make any headway to the next group of riders. A late battle with Carlos Checa however, who was riding in his last MotoGP race, went the way of the Spaniard and Edwards was forced to settle for 13th across the line and ninth place in the championship on his Fiat Yamaha farewell. Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing, commented after the race, "This final race has been a very disappointing end to a long and hard season. I feel very sorry that our machine failed Valentino today and denied him the second place in the championship that he surely deserved. His ride today with a broken hand showed his fighting spirit and his passion for racing. Colin's last race for the Yamaha Factory Team was also a disappointing end to his season. I would like to anyway thank Colin for his commitment to Yamaha and for his great teamwork during the last three years. We also look forward to having him in the Yamaha family as our next-door neighbour in 2008. Last but not least I would like to thank all members of the Factory Team and the Yamaha MotoGP staff for their tireless dedication and commitment all year long. We will now put our full focus on next year. We have a lot of work ahead of us in order to come back stronger and faster and to return to winning ways for the 2008 MotoGP World Championship."

Colin Edwards - Position: 13th Time: +46.572 "There's really nothing to say about today so I'll just leave that be! It was my last race with the Factory Team and everyone knows I wanted a better goodbye than this, but there was little I could do today. I'm very thankful to everyone in this team for the last three years, which have without doubt been some of the most memorable of my racing career. A huge thanks to Yamaha, to Michelin and to everyone in the team; it's been great fun. I'm very glad I'm staying with Yamaha and now I'm just looking forward to getting started with the new bike!" Valentino Rossi - Position: DNF Time: 11 Laps "I have no words. For sure, after today, I can say that it's not just a matter of misfortune. I did everything I could in order to be on the grid today, because I wanted to try and confirm my second place in the championship, which I think I deserved. I was riding very fast, even though my bike was not perfect. When I got into 14th place, I told myself that my task was done, but I was feeling quite good and I wanted to try to pass some more riders. Unfortunately however I felt that I had a problem with my bike and I was forced to come in. Now we are checking the data to understand what happened, because at the moment it's not so clear. I will need 20 days to fix my hand and then I will be back in Jerez to start my winter testing programme. I'd like to thank Claudio Costa and Marco Montanari, as well as everyone at the Clinica Mobile, because they made a great effort with my hand to enable me to race today." Davide Brivio - Team Director "We hoped for a much better end to the season and we would like to say sorry to Valentino because he made a great effort to race with his broken hand. Unfortunately a technical problem stopped him from getting the second place and we're very sad about this. Our engineers are doing everything they can now to understand what happened today, because Valentino felt that he had a problem and that the engine was not working properly. From our first analysis we are not yet sure what the problem was, so we have decided to send the engine back to Japan for further investigation. Colin was only able to finish 13th and it's a shame also that he couldn't finish the season and his Factory Team career on a better note. We're glad however that he's staying in the Yamaha family and we wish him all the best. It seems that Valencia hasn't been a very lucky track for us over the last couple of years, but what happened today will just give us a stronger motivation for next season. We start testing again this month and we will do everything we can to be at the top of the championship again next year. Thanks to the team and everyone involved; there have been some very difficult moments this year but we will try again in 2008." Season ends on a high note for Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team The Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team finished 2007 at the Valencia Grand Prix with its most impressive performance of the year. Both riders secured Dunlop's best qualifying result in the premier class since 2002 as Sylvain Guintoli and Makoto Tamada started from the second row of the grid in fifth and six positions, respectively. In the race, Sylvain created another personal best being the first Yamaha across the finish line with both riders scoring championship points as victory went to local hero Dani Pedrosa with Sylvain claiming the "Rookie of the Year" award. Guintoli, after being as high as eighth place during the 30-lap race had to settle for 11th place after a race long duel with the factory bikes of Carlos Checa, Tony Elias and Randy De Puniet while Makoto, who celebrated his 31st birthday on the day, was also embroiled in the same battle and finished 15th. Sylvain Guintoli - Position: 11th Time: +38.763 The start of the race wasn't that great but then I got into a good rhythm to have a good battle with Randy and Barros and Elias. It was good fun race and considering my start I am happy to finish where I did and to be the first Yamaha homes as a great bonus. It is pretty emotional for me at the moment. We had such a great season. It was the best season ever for me and I feel a bit sad. I think the team all agree that we did better than we expected. The aim at the start was to progress, learn the category and a MotoGP bike and try to beat my teammate whenever possible. From the start I think we showed that we had the pace and the motivation whilst Dunlop put in an enormous amount of hard work and were equally motivated. The season was definitely very positive for the entire team and I wish them all the best for next year. Makoto Tamada - Position: 15thTime: +56.879 During the race I had a very good pace but after about half way the performance of the tyre dropped down a little bit and I also felt some vibration from the rear so I lost a bit of confidence in pushing hard and lost contact with the riders I was fighting with. I'm not too happy with the race but I would like to thank the team and Dunlop for the opportunity to race in this team. I didn't get the results that I was really looking for but the team and the guys from Dunlop never stopped working to try and improve things. They couldn't have done anything more to help me this year and I wish everyone much success in the future. Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager Definitely a very good weekend for us. Our best qualifying result by far with our two riders on the second row and I was very proud to end up our relationship with Dunlop on a high note in qualifying and a solid result in the race. The race was tough but we managed to keep a good rhythm although the start was not excellent as usual, unfortunately. Sylvain pushed hard through the entire race and there is nothing to be ashamed of. The tyres were consistent all race long, we were the first Yamaha across the line something so that is something I'm really proud of and both riders were in the points again but this is the end of the adventure of Yamaha Tech 3 and Dunlop. I would like to thank all the Dunlop technicians, fitters and engineers that have been involved in the project because they have been behind us 100%, always motivated and always working very hard. I would also like to thank both my riders as we have had a really incredible ambience in the garage all year. There was never any problem between the riders and team and certainly for me on the human side 2007 is the best year I have ever had with two riders. I'm sad to see them leave but happy to see Sylvain go to a good team and I wish all the best to Makoto in his endeavours for next year. I also wish all the best for Dunlop and hope they can return to MotoGP as soon as possible. Meanwhile I'd like to congratulate Dunlop on their 15th consecutive 250cc and 10th consecutive 125cc World Championships. Race 1 - 30 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 46'43.533 2, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 0'5.447 3, John Hopkins, Suzuki, USA, 0'20.404 4, Marco Melandri, Honda, ITA, 0'24.827 5, Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 0'25.804 6, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'25.804 7, Alex Barros, Ducati, BRA, 0'29.470 8, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 0'30.333 9, Randy De Puniet, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'30.895 10, Toni Elias, Honda, ESP, 0'31.030 11, Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, FRA, 0'38.763 12, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'42.506 13, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 0'46.572 14, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'50.220 15, Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, JPN, 0'56.879 16, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 1'15.369 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 1'32.748 Rider Standings 04/11/2007 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 367 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 242 3, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 241 4, John Hopkins, Suzuki, USA, 189 5, Marco Melandri, Honda, ITA, 187 6, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 179 7, Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 166 8, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 127 9, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 124 10, Alex Barros, Ducati, BRA, 115 11, Randy De Puniet, Kawasaki, FRA, 108 12, Toni Elias, Honda, ESP, 104 13, Alex Hofmann, Ducati, GER, 65 14, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 65 15, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 59 16, Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, FRA, 50 18, Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, JPN, 38 Team Standings 04/11/2007 Pos., Team, Points 1, Ducati Marlboro Team, 533 2, Rizla Suzuki, 371 3, Repsol Honda Team, 369 4, FIAT Yamaha Team, 365 5, Honda Gresini, 297 6, Pramac D'Antin, 181 7, Kawasaki Racing Team, 176 8, Tech3 Yamaha, 88 9, Honda LCR, 65 10, Konica Minolta Honda, 47 11, Team Roberts, 14 Manufacturer Standings 04/11/2007 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 394 2, Honda, 313 3, Yamaha, 283 4, Suzuki, 241 5, Kawasaki, 144 6, KR212V, 14