Jorge Lorenzo secured the 2015 MotoGP World Championship with a win Sunday at the season-ending Valencia GP.
It is the Spaniard’s fifth MotoGP World Championship, his third in the premier class.
Coming into the race at a seven-point deficit to teammate and championship rival Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo became just the third rider to come from behind in the final race to win the premiere-class MotoGP World Championship, as Valentino Rossi could only salvage a fourth-place finish after starting at the back of the field. The other two times it has been done were in 1992 when Wayne Rainey beat Mick Doohan and 2006 when Nicky Hayden took it from Valentino Rossi.
Jorge Lorenzo led the field away for 30 laps on Sunday around the Circuit Ricardo Tormo while his teammate and championship rival Valentino Rossi started from the back of the field.
However, Rossi was quickly able to pick up spots and found himself in 15th position on the first lap.
Rossi continued to pick up spots early and was gifted ninth place when Ducati rider Andrea Iannone crashed out in the early laps.
By lap 13, Rossi had worked his way up into fourth position, but was 11 seconds back of the leading trio of Lorenzo and Repsol Honda riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa.
Marquez rode behind Lorenzo until the closing laps, when Lorenzo’s tires started to go off and Pedrosa started to run both of them down.
The two Honda teammates then switched back and forth for second position but finished the way they were before, with Lorenzo leading Marquez, Pedrosa and Rossi to the line.
Full race results:
