Honda Powersports

World Champion Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC212V) won a thrilling, last-gasp victory at rain-dampened Valencia, passing Ben Spies right at the stripe. His margin? Just 0.015 of a second.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) stood on the podium too. His third-place finish put him third overall in the 2011 MotoGP championship.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) finished the last race of MotoGP’s 800cc era in fifth position. Valencia saw Honda riders finish 1-3-5.

Stoner was out front from the moment the lights went out and kept building his advantage, despite drizzle falling around much of the track.

When the drizzle turned into rain, stoner backed off and was caught by Spies and Dovizioso. In the last lap, though, he gassed it and made a run for the finish.

How Stoner won: Pure and simple, his Honda simply out-powered Spies in a drag race to the finish line.

Dovizioso and Pedrosa went into the last race of the season separated by just four points.

The finishing order was finally decided when heavier rain arrived and Pedrosa eased off.

Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP RC212V) ran a good, consistent pace throughout much of the race, but like many riders he struggled to find grip when the rain intensified. He finished his last race with the LCR team in tenth place.

Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) had a challenging final race in the MotoGP class, coming home 12th and last after struggling all weekend to find confidence in the difficult conditions.