MotoGP: Valencia 2010 race brings several historic eras to an end

Jorge Lorenzo may not be a particularly likeable personality (but his fan club would disagree) but there is no doubt that he deserves his 2010 MotoGP World Championship.

Some say that his success is due to the failure of others, both mechanical and medical, but the facts speak for themselves. He has won 9 races, finished on the podium in 18 races and, on his way to the Championship, has secured the most points in a single season. That's 383. Rossi has held the record for four years with a total haul of 373.

Today, he won again and did so without any concessions from anyone. An early mistake almost cost him a finish as he made a very ill-advised dive under Simoncelli and high-sided, pulling the bike back under him with a spectacular effort. Battling through the field Lorenzo hauled himself up to the back wheel of Stoner, eventually passing him and pulling away - but not before a thrilling three-way battle between Rossi (who had somehow got hustled down to 9th in the first few corners.

It's a very sad thing to say but Rossi's performance hints that he is beginning to feel his age. Whether this is primarily due to his injuries, due to be operated on next week but postponed for a further week because he is determined to get onto the Ducati at the official test in Valencia on Tuesday, or something more permanent remains to be seen.

Rossi's future team mate, Nicky Hayden, finished the season in a way that really does seem to be traditional for him: over-cooking it in a fast corner and watching his bike dash across the gravel as he demonstrated his party-trick of sliding after it, then getting to his feet in mid slide and following it on foot. He gets a lot of practice at that.

Rossi's team wore yellow shirts with the slogan "Bye Bye Baby" as he came home third. There's a kind of karma that he did not win: his race number 46 has been on the top step of the podium 46 times in his stint at Yamaha.

Pedrosa battled with the top three for half of the race until his injuries started to take their toll and he dropped back where he promptly got involved in another four way battle with Spies, Dovizioso and Kallio.

Kallio has had a very on-off season: when he's on the bike he's very quick; but he spends far too much time surveying the scenery at close quarters.

MotoGP has a problem: there are just not enough entrants. With Interwetten Honda leaving and Rizla Suzuki saying if they stay in at all it will be with only one entrant, next year the formula will be further depleted. Where Moto2 is suggesting that there are too many entrants, MotoGP is looking like there may be only 15 starters. On the big tracks that MotoGP visits, that's simply not enough.

And so, one of the most exciting seasons for a very long time with some spectacular racing had brought the end of an era in many ways.

Championship final standings (top seven):

1. Lorenzo Yamaha 383

2. Pedrosa Honda 245

3. Rossi Yamaha 233

4. Stoner Ducati 225

5. Dovizioso Honda 206

6. Spies Yamaha 176

7. Hayden Ducati 163