VALENTINO GOES OUT WITH A BANG

Legend finishes his final race with a top 10 finish as winner Bagnaia dedicates his victory to Rossi

MOTO GP legend Valentino Rossi bowed out in style with a top-10 finish at Valencia yesterday as Pecco Bagnaia led a historic Ducati podium lock-out

The Doctor officially retired from motorcycle racing’s premier class after 432 Grand Prix starts, 115 race wins and nine world titles.

And fellow Italian Bagnaia dedicated his fourth GP victory to his former team boss and mentor, after beating Jorge Martin to the final win of the season.

“The only thing possible today to give a present to Vale was to do a race like this, so I want to dedicate this to Vale and say thanks to him for what he has done for us… so this race is for Vale,” said Bagnaia, who raced in a retro Rossi helmet.

“It’s just incredible, the only way to celebrate him was to win with his helmet. I’m very happy as I was not sure it was possible to do a weekend like this. It’s the best way to finish the season.”

Pramac Ducati’s Martin started from pole in front of his home crowd, getting a quick getaway to lead into the first corner as behind, Jack Miller got the better of Ducati Lenovo team-mate Bagnaia to slot into second.

Miller took the lead briefly at the start of lap two, but Martin snatched it back seconds later, as outgoing champion Joan Mir then found a way past into second.

Bagnaia passed Miller for third a lap later before picking off Mir for second, while Mir’s Suzuki Ecstar team-mate Alex Rins was also on a charge, storming through to third before a crash on lap 11 put an end to his race.

After keeping the pressure on Martin up front, Bagnaia finally pounced with 13 laps to go.

He squeezed past at turn 14 and slammed in the fastest lap of the race to put just enough space behind him to storm to the final win of the season, 0.489secs clear of Martin.

Miller, who had dropped to fifth on lap five, battled back for the final podium place, giving Ducati its first ever one-two-three and handing the factory squad the Team Championship.

However, all eyes were on Rossi (top and left), who gave fans a thrilling last show as he crossed the line 10th in a hail of fireworks, cheers and applause from the crowd (below) as the 42-year-old bid an emotional farewell to the sport with trackside celebrations.

“This is so important for me, it means a lot and I can use this result for a long time because I can say in my last race I finished in the top 10,” he said. “I didn’t expect it like this. It was very emotional.

“I rode well and I was able to close my long career with the top 10 riders in the world.”