The final race of the 2011 MotoGP season is this Sunday at Valencia. Casey Stoner has already secured the championship and Jorge Lorenzo is safely in second place. But this weekend will see the third place position decided as Repsol Honda teammates Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso are separated by just 4 points.
But the battle for third could be a distant thought as the MotoGP riders take to the track this weekend, as the final race of the season will be a celebration of Marco Simoncelli, who died after a crash last weekend in Malaysia.
The Gresini Honda team announced that they will be participating in the Valencia GP to honor their fallen rider and many of the riders on the GP grid are expected to pay tribute to Super Sic.
Simoncelli is currently tied in 6th place with Valentino Rossi.
Ben Spies should be able to hold on to fifth place. The American is currently fifteen points ahead of Rossi. Rossi would need a race win and a poor finish from Spies if he wants to take fifth.
Rossi hasn't scored a win all year, but if there is a race to do it at, it's at Valencia. Jorge Lorenzo may not race due to an injury. Casey Stoner may not be pushing himself since he's already won the championship. It's unlikely, but possible, that Rossi captures a race win before the season is over.
The final race of the MotoGP season will also see feature an AMA racer. AMA Superbike champion Josh Hayes will be filling in for Colin Edwards at the final race of the season.
